Have an Eco-conscious Christmas

No, it doesn’t feel like winter at all, and it is really quite a bummer for those of us who aren’t used to spending Christmas like our counterparts in the Southern Hemisphere do. But who can we blame but ourselves, for the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming?

It’s not too late – we hope – to go green, especially during festivities like Christmas, when we tend to consume more than we normally do. Here are a few tips on an eco-conscious Christmas.

1. The Tree: We still remember the excitement of putting up the tree and decorating it with all things imaginable when we were young. But disposing of the tree is always a problem. If you’re going for real trees, know that Hong Kong Environmental Protection Association runs a collection programme where unwanted Christmas trees are taken to a recycling centre in Tuen Mun, and turned into organic fertiliser used to promote green projects at schools.

2. Gifting: You’ve probably realised that the older you grow, the things that you want for Christmas tend not to be things that money can buy. For many of us, in fact, a hearty home-cooked dinner with family and friends is a gift in itself. But if you must buy a gift, make it a meaningful purchase – buy from fair trade, ethical and environmentally responsible producers, or better still, sponsor an endangered animal or a sustainable programme.

3. Wrapping: I don’t know many people who would actually keep the wrappers, except artists who repurpose the wrappers, so if you must wrap your gifts, use recycled paper or newspaper.

4.  The feast: Naturally, you would want to spoil your loved ones at the dining table, but make sure you buy only what you can consume, and nothing goes to waste. There are umpteen ways to recycle the remnants of your Christmas feast, all it takes is a little creativity! Also, source locally to minimise your carbon footprint. While you’re at it, make sure the utensils and plates are reusable or biodegradable.  

How Would You Like a Landfill Salad?

Credit: Huff Post Good News, UN Spokesperson’s twitter

Curious about what a landfill salad consists of? Apparently it’s made with vegetable scraps, rejected apples and pears, and chickpea water. Together with the ‘burger and fries’ made with off-grade vegetables, repurposed bread bun, bruised beet ketchup, picked cucumber scraps, and cow corn fries, the landfill salad was served to Ban Ki-moon – yes, the United Nations Secretary-General, and about 30 world leaders including French President Francois Hollande, at a high-level working lunch at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York last month. 

The menu was the brainchild of award-winning chef Dan Barber, and former executive director of first lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign, Sam Kass. The menu was so designed to hammer home the point of food waste as an ‘overlooked aspect of climate change’, with food manufacturing, distribution, consumption and disposal consuming an exponential amount of energy, mostly derived from fossil fuels, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

If you ask me, I think similar food waste menus should be served to all and not just world leaders to cultivate the habit of sustainable food consumption, as well as raising awareness of the sheer amount of food we dump into the landfill on a daily basis. Here’s the thing: most of the foods that are dumped are still perfectly good to eat, and just as nutritious as their better-looking counterparts; they’re dumped because advertisers and marketers tell us that the foods are too ugly to be presentable. But that doesn’t make sense, especially if you come to think of the time, energy and effort put into growing food.

So, what’s on your food waste menu tonight? 

Live Off-grid in an Egg

Credit: Ecocapsule

It comes with the tagline ‘Dwelling with the spirit of freedom’, and we have to agree, because what is off-grid eco-living if not ‘freedom’?

Measuring 4.5 metres in length, 2.4 metres in width, and 2.5 metres in height, the Ecocapsule, designed by Nice Architects, features a total usable floor space of 8 square-metres, comfortably sufficient for two adults. Despite being a portable home that boasts an ‘immense off-grid life span, worldwide portability and flexibility’, the Ecocapsule is equipped with a folding bed, two large operable windows, a working/dining area, shower and flushable toilet, built-in kitchenette with running water, and even storage space. The eco-friendly part of Ecocapsule is that it is powered by a built-in 750W wind turbine and a 2.6-square-metre array of high-efficiency solar cells; in times of low solar and wind activity, the egg-shaped portable home will stay operable with a high-capcity battery (9,744Wh). The rounded shape is more than just aesthetics issue, but also for rainwater collection optimisation. Weighing 1,500 kilograms, the Ecocapsule can easily fit inside a standard shipping container, meaning you can ship it to your travel destination for a green escape, instead of booking yourself into a hotel.

The price is expected to be announced end of the year, and meanwhile, Nice Architects are looking into further reducing the size and weight of the pod for easier transportation. So eco-fancy, don’t you think? 

Last Living 9/11 Search and Rescue Dog Gets Big Birthday Surprise

Credit: BarkPost

I couldn’t wait to write this piece when I stumbled across this story, and I knew you would want to hear about Bretagne the dog’s birthday surprise too, as I finished reading the story with tears welling up my eyes.

16-year-old Bretagne is a golden retriever that was one of the search and rescue dogs that helped saved lives in the wake of 9/11, and what makes her special is that she is the last one known living, which is why BarkPost reached out to 1 Hotel Central Park to throw a big birthday surprise for the hero dog. What happened was Bretagne and her handler and mum Denise Corliss, both members of Texas Task Force 1, were flown to New York to be received by 1 Hotel Central Park, where they were escorted to a room equipped with a comfortable dog bed and lavished with dog treats and toys; Bretagne even got to dive into a gourmet burger especially made and delivered through room service. The duo were then taken around New York City – the city they served 12 years ago – on a vintage yellow cab, where they stopped by a park and were greeted by New Yorkers who wished to express their gratitude. The day ended with a surprise birthday party at the hotel, where Bretagne got to pick her favourite toy and tuck into the birthday cake.

So it’s not some heart-wrenching story, I know, but it’s one that makes you cry happy tears nonetheless (I did anyway) because a dedicated working dog definitely deserves the best! 

Perfect Working Holiday for Booklovers

Credit: The Open Book

Booklovers rejoice, as we’ve got the perfect working holiday for you! The travel destination? Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town.

A listing on Airbnb, The Open Book is a bookshop with an apartment above that enables you to manage the bookshop for a week or two while paying a minimal fee for your stay, as The Open Book is a non-profit. The residency programme was created by The Wigtown Festival Company to celebrate bookshops and encourage education in running independent bookshops.

If you’re planning to travel light, no worries, as a laptop and Wi-Fi will be provided should you want to connect with the outside world during your stay. Bicycles are also available if you wish to explore the National Book Town’s breathtaking scenery, such as Galloway, ancient woodlands, castles, whisky distillery, nature preserves and farms.

New to the town? Fret not, as there is a team of volunteers to make sure your stay is free of hassle, and a bookseller will be there too to offer you an orientation. Sounds an ace holiday idea, no? Seriously, nothing beats manning a bookshop by the sea! 

Conscientious Consumption in Hong Kong

Credit: A Boy Named Sue

So here are two things we didn’t know for sure until last week: (1) our current system allows pretty much every corporation to externalise both environmental and social costs; and (2) when you took the externalised costs into effect, essentially none of the industries is actually making a profit. So yes, what you suspected for quite a while is now official. And do you know what we can do to change this collective level of hypocrisy that’s sweet-talking us into believing our money is invested in a sustainable future while it isn’t? Support brands that are making actual social and environmental effort, and who are being transparent about it.

A Boy Named Sue is an ace brand to start with. With its vision conceptualised at a faux French café in Hong Kong in 2012, A Boy Named Sue is the brainchild of Sam Wong, a Parsons NY graduate with a degree in fashion and sustainable design, and Tania Reinert-Shchelkanovtseva, a London School of Economics and Political Science graduate who was looking for a solution to Hong Kong’s pollution problems. Called ‘cool clothes with a conscience’, the brand’s garments are sourced from all over the world, by designers and brands that are committed to upcycling, ethical business practices, and natural, toxic-free manufacturing process.

Similarly, PhatRice is an online shopping platform that showcases designers and brands that are known for their social and environmental initiatives, such as Portovelo, which is dedicated to combating child poverty by seasonal partnerships with charity organisations, who in turn benefit from consumers’ purchase of Portovelo’s shoes; Shark Savers, which is on a mission to save sharks and mantas through building awareness and education, and sales of its eco-leather card holders; and Handsome Co, Hong Kong’s own design consultancy that upcycles discarded parts of old taxis into new products.

For the home, consider Bamboa, a brand and resident in PMQ that carries products made from locally harvested bamboo, made by local communities throughout Asia. A fan of yoga? Make your mindful pursuit an environmentally conscious one too by supporting A Day with Fé’s eco luxe yoga pants, composed of recycled polyamide such as fishing nets. Meanwhile, outdoorsy types will love EARTH.er’s outwear and sportswear, made from used or wasted fabrics, as the brand strives for zero environmental damage and wastage while implementing fair trade practices.

There really isn’t a dearth of options when it comes to conscientious consumption in Hong Kong, so go explore! 

Get Your Parcel Delivered by Your Neighbour’s Car

Credit: Roadie

You’d be no stranger to the Uber affair in Hong Kong lately. Whatever your stance in this issue, this article is not about passenger-carrying Uber or Lyft or the likes, but the cargo version of Uber, more like.

Meet Roadie, an app that claims to be the first neighbour-to-neighbour shipping network, created by a man called Marc Gorlin, who thinks that the cargo space of your car can be put to better use by helping to deliver something that needs to go in the same direction that you’re going. The way Roadie works is simple: you take a photo of the item that you want delivered (as long as it fits into a car or truck), put in details about the location of the item, and Roadie will provide registered users who are going to that direction and willing to help out. By delivering the item, the Roadie (registered user who does the delivery) gets paid a fee which can be used to cover the cost of gas for the trip, even though he/she is going to that direction anyway.

There’s also an eco-friendly side to Roadie too, as now that it is delivered in a car, it doesn’t really need packaging. “We say your cargo can ride commando,” said Gorlin. “It actually can – it’s not going to have to bounce through four trucks and an airplane to get there. It’s going to sit in a blanket safely in my backseat. You’re reducing packaging materials by at least 80%.”  

How does the idea sound to you, Hongkongers? Perhaps not too useful for those living on outlying islands like Lamma Island, where delivery from the city is almost non-existent?