1. Lights are turned off when I leave a room.
2. Tap is turned off when I do not need running water. Like scrubbing the dishes or pots, brushing the teeth, shampooing my hair.
3. When washing vegetables, I have a basin in the sink to collect the water. I then pour the water into a pail. This water is used to water the plants. The water collected from washing rice is full of nutrients and help my orchid plants to bloom frequently.
4. Left over food are given to Handsome.
5. Peels from fruits and vegetables used to be kept in a bag and thrown into the forest while walking Handsome as natural compost or food for wild animals.
6. Plastic, paper and glasses are recycled. I tear off the plastic window from envelopes as this flimsy plastic cannot be recycled.
7. I keep jam jars for friends who makes jam.
8. I use grocery plastic bags as rubbish bags instead of buying black rubbish bag.
9. On my letter box, there is a sticker 'No publicity' to avoid junk mail.
10. Since I work from home, I don't flush the toilet after each short usage.
11. I boil hot water and keep them in a hot flask. I notice colleagues boiling a kettle full just for a cup of tea.
12. If the sun is out or if the fireplace is working, I hang the clothes to dry instead of using the dryer.
13. I mend clothes and A2 wears hand me downs from A1.
14. I source for pre-loved items at flea market or on LeBonCoin.fr.
15. Back of envelopes or unwanted papers are used to write shopping list or to do list.
16. I bring my own grocery bags to supermarket. For my rubbish bags, I have friend and family in Singapore who give me supermarket plastic bags.
17. I try to buy local and organic.
18. I eat less meat.
19. I recycled my hair.
Living in this village, I came to know other mums who are eco conscious like me. Some are striving towards zero waste. Kudos to them. We exchange ideas and I came to realise from our discussions that though recycling is good, the best is to avoid having materials to recycle.
That means making our own, instead of buying excessively packaged products from the supermarkets.
For my part, I have cut down on buying cakes and snacks and instead make cookies and cakes once or twice a week. Some friends even made their own cleaning products but I am not there yet.
I wished for a yogurt maker for my birthday and am making yogurts for the boys regularly. This means less plastic yogurt containers to throw since they cannot be recycled. And the boys love my yogurt.
A neighbour takes my veggie and fruits peels for his composter. I no longer throw them in the forest. He in return gives me the rich soil. That started me in creating my vegetable plot this year.
I use a cup to reduce the waste of hygienic pads.
And with these ladies, we are organising events to influence people to care for our planet.
We started a seed library in the village library. Our seed library is basically a box containing small paper bags of seeds. People can share seeds from their gardens or take seeds they want to grow.
Our last event was a clean up of the forest. Our forest looks green and clean. We were expecting small litter and beer bottles. However, the participants found bulky garbage like plastic table top, tyres and a gas heater too.
Our next event in Dec would be on a DIY theme. We shall be making sponges from old socks, cloth produce bags, microwave heat-able bean soft toys and bird seeds feeder.
I am proud that there are movers and shakers in this village making an effort to save the planet despite their busy schedules.
If you have ideas to add in, please leave a comment. All ideas welcome.
