【Susi's Newsletter vol.2】Cut down on waste from NOW!
Hong Kong is small but dense. So are our landfills! Environmental Protection Department published a statistic report in 2017, stating that the average daily quantity of municipal solid waste (MSW) of each Hongkonger reaches 1.5 Kg. The number is still going up. MSW charging could be implemented as soon as the end-2020. By then, people will have to pay extra to the government for waste disposal. For our Earth and for our next generation, Oi Kwan Community Organizer, Susi Law, has decided to brainstorm with our neighbors. By changing our daily habits bits by bits, everyone can go green and save cash! Surprises may await!
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Among Oi Kwan neighbors, there are many Master Green! Here are two of them who can’t wait to share their tricks with you. Let’s grab a seat and take some notes!
“ My daughter got loads of clothes! But as a mighty mum who shines from inside out, reducing waste is just a piece of cake!” — Mommy Chan
Step 1: Kids’ clothes become unfit so quickly. Plus, their clothes look so adorable. It’s just so easy for us to overbuy them. I often remind myself not to make unnecessary purchases and try to reuse second-hand clothes from my friends and relatives.
Step 2: Give my friends and neighbors our unfit but intact and clean clothes!
Step 3: If no one around us could reuse the clothes, I will put them into used clothes recycling bins for people in need via charities.
Step 4: We may turn absorbent clothes into towels. Or we could repurpose them by cutting the clothes into pieces and weave a mat out of it!
What is ‘repurpose’?
It is to give trash that was originally on its way to landfills a new purpose. This new concept is a bit different from ‘recycle’. ‘Repurpose’ requires us to pull a make-over on the trash and make it into a new thing that comes with a different function. For example, we could make yellow dye with onion skins from our kitchen waste and give our socks a new look!
“ Kitchen waste takes up one-third of our MSW. It really matters to cherish our food all the time.” — Chef Fat
Step 1:Don’t overestimate our appetites. Buy as much or little as we can eat! It may also ensure that our food stays fresh.
Step 2:Share our favourite dishes and food with our neighbors. It serves more than our taste buds, but also our hearts.
Step 3: It is everyone’s job to save food, not only for our environment but also out of respect to our chefs and food. For ‘Best Before, Still Great After’ food, we can still safely consume it even after its ‘Best Before’ date, as long as its taste remains the same.
Step 4: Inedible kitchen waste, such as eggshells and rotten vegetables, can be used as fertilizer in the soil!
How good is ‘Best Before, Still Great After’ food?
It means pre-packaged processed food that is behind its ‘Best Before’ date. Although the food may not be in its best state, it doesn’t mean they are not safe to eat.
Of course, don’t forget to check its smells and tastes before enjoying them.
Susi’s Ways to Reduce Waste
Just because we don’t need them anymore, it doesn’t mean they have to become trash. Let’s follow the little tips below to handle our things (or our shopaholic desires). It will surely reduce the trash we need to dispose of in a great deal.
- Reduce it
Don’t hoard food or groceries. Buy no more than what’s enough for us. I often replace plastic bags with my own tote bags or lunch box. Before I put my money down, I always ask, ‘Do I need it or just want it?’
2. Utilize it
If we can still use it, don’t throw it! It’s fun to get creative and change the original purposes of items we plan to get rid of. For example, it’s so resourceful to clean plastic rice bags and turn them into document or paper folders.
3. Better it
Be nice to ourselves! Choose quality and suitable products, instead of fast fashion or short-lived goods. The more durable our clothes and things are, the slower we need to replace them.
4. Fix it
If something is broken, fix it! By hiring a repairperson or by learning the skills from them. There is a little tear on our clothes? Let’s sow it back. Our grandparents used to fix their clothes again and again, didn’t they? The marks left by time make them even more special.
5. Recycle it
Categorize our waste and put them into the right recycling bin. Don’t forget to clean the items first. If they are dirty, it’ll be very hard to recycle them.
Susi’s Chat Box
‘Enormous trash volume has become one of the most severe social problems in Hong Kong and in the world. For an ordinary plastic bag, it takes more than 200 years to dissolve. During the process, it will release harmful materials to our environment and water. We have to be responsible to our nature and our next generations. Don’t further jeopardize our Earth. Every day, I bring my own handkerchief, water bottle, and utensil instead of using the disposables. As long as we can insist on these little things and make them our habits, we will reduce a lot of trash in the long term.‘
Some of collection point in Wan Chai
St. James Settlement People’s Food Bank Collection Points
Address:Next to the Information Centre of C.C.Wu Building (302–308 Hennessey Road)
Nature: Do Accept — Dry food, such as rice, noodles, oats, milk powder, canned food that can constitute a full meal without requiring other foods, biscuits, and canned soup, etc. Don’t Accept — any opened, expired, rotten, damaged food or Chinese and Western Medicine
Salvation Army Collection Centre on Wood Road
Address : G/F, 31 Wood Road (opposite to the PCCW Telephone Exchange) From Mon to Sun, From 9a.m. to 7p.m.
Nature : Do accept — Clothing, footwear, handbags and accessories, either brand new or used in clean condition ; Small home electrical appliances in working order and in good condition; Toys, stationery, books, gifts, and premiums, etc; Software / DVD / VCD / CD with copyright
Waste-no-mall in Tai Hang
Address :Tung Lo Wan Road Sitting-Out Area
Every second and fourth Sat, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Nature: Do Accept — All plastic (Except #3 PVC), form plastics, paper, metals, paper boxes (if clean).
Water for Free
Address : Some of the locations: Wan Chai Environmental Resource Centre (221 Queen’s Road East); Hong Kong House of Storie-Blue House (72A Stone Nullah Lane); Southorn Playground (130–150 Hennessey Road)
Nature : Public water fountains (Please bring your own bottles)
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