Green Drinks was first started in London by Edwin Datschefski and friends in 1989, as an informal gathering of people working or interested in the environmental field. It has now grown organically to over 630 cities. Anyone is allowed to bring friends along, and one always finds new and interesting people at each Green Drinks. It is a totally decentralised and non-profit event with each chapter being allowed to do its own thing.

The Singapore chapter was founded by Olivia Choong and Wilson Ang in 2007.  Though Green Drinks are unstructured, low-key events, Olivia has shaped up the Singapore event from a pure networking session, into one where people from the environment sector can also showcase their product, service or concept in a speech accompanying dinner. Past events have featured people from a wide range of fields such as green vehicles, eco-cities, biofuels, permaculture, wet cleaning, biological pest management, biodegradable plastics and so on.

This is Green Drinks Singapore’s third year, and looking ahead, Olivia plans for the event to be more collaborative in nature. She hopes there will be space for talks, as well as screening of movies, and the continued exchange of ideas and connections.

The Green Drinks on 28th January 2010 was something quite unprecedented in Singapore. It brought together many of the environmental groups in Singapore under one tent for the first time. Some of the groups which attended were ECO-Singapore, the Nature Society, the Vegetarian Society, Wild Singapore, Social Innovation Park and Ground-up Initiatve.  Also present were members from the green blogging community such as Eco-Business, AsiaIsGreen, Green Business Times and EcoWALKtheTalk, student environment groups as well as other independent eco-consultants in the green building, green jobs and sustainability areas. Representatives from the government sector included the Ministry of Environment and the National Parks Board.

There was also a good mixture of people from other non-environmental sectors such as multi-national banks, information technology, schools and colleges and government agencies.

Everyone was given time and space to share their backgrounds and aspirations for 2010 and of course, a wide range of thoughts came through, such as sustainable urban farming, government policy, green living and blogging, green jobs, organic and fair trade goods in Singapore, meat reduction and biodiversity.

Let’s find out from a few people who attended the Jan 28th event, why they like to come for Green Drinks :

Green Drinks Singapore is held on the last Thursday of the month, at a chosen vegetarian restaurant in town. For more information, check out the website.   You can also join the Facebook group “Green Drinks Singapore” to get event invitations.

Look for a Green Drinks in your town or city and if there isn’t one, feel free to start one by writing to Green Drinks International!

Hope to catch you Green Drinking next month!

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1.  Recycle while spring cleaning Any festival is a great opportunity for spring cleaning prior to the celebrations, and CNY is no exception. Sort items for recycling such as paper, plastic and cans. Give away old clothes and furniture to charities such as the Salvation Army,  instead of throwing things away.
2.  Minimise the use of packaging,  paper and disposables.  According to Green Power, Hong Kong, “Every year after Chinese New Year, at least 70 million red packages are disposed, equivalent to logging down 3,600 trees.” During Chinese New Year wrapping papers used for gift packaging consumes nearly 1,600 trees and 170,000 litres of petroleum as fuel annually.
*  Instead of using new banknotes every year for hongbao (gift money), the production of which requires the cutting down of trees, use notes that look new, rather than going for the brand new freshly printed ones. If anyone in your family receives new notes during the year, do a swap with them. Give them old notes and keep the new ones, so they can be used for the occasion.

*  Instead of using red-packets which get permanently sealed, use packets that are reusable. Also use packets that do not have the year’s zodiac sign printed on them, so they can be used again next year.  If you have to give different packets to different members of the family, give one packet for the entire family, rather than individual packets.  You may also recycle hongbao envelopes into colourful lanterns as shown here.

*  Make your own hongbao envelopes using old gift wrappers or recycled paper using this template.  Go in for non-disposable diu lian (wall scrolls) [2]which can last for several years. Similarly, make your decorations at home using recycled materials, or buy decorations which are long-lasting and can be reused for many years instead of the throwaway ones. Colourful paper lanterns can be made using old magazines or paper.

* Minimise the use of gift wraps, as a lot of resources go into their making, only to be thrown away. Use recycled bags, or reusable bags instead.

* Avoid disposable cutlery if you’re having guests over, as it adds to the waste after the event. If disposables are a must, then at least get the biodegradable ones made of vegetable matter.
3.  Avoid eating endangered species like shark fins and reef fish. Many species are facing extinction because of overharvesting.  According to Wikipedia, ” Over 100 million sharks are killed every year, a portion of which due to the demand for shark fin soup.Major declines in shark populations have been recorded in recent years—some species have been depleted by over 90% over the past 20–30 years with a population decline of 70% not being unusual.”

There is enormous cruelty in the process of getting the fins. The sharks are caught and their fins are often cut off when they are still alive. The sharks are then thrown back to sea and are left to die a slow and agonising death.

4. Beware of the use of colourings, artificial flavourings and preservatives in the seasonal sweets like steamed puddings, fried dumplings, sweetened fruits and vegetables, glutinous rice balls, and seeds. Foods coloured deep red, to symbolise the New Year, contain chemicals that can be harmful to human health. Some of the preservatives which are misused are Benzoic acid and sulphur dioxide. Orange is another overused colour in Chinese New Year confectionaries.

5. Make more vegetarian or vegan dishes as they are healthier for the body and the environment. Why not try a vegan version of Buddha’s delight and the Chinese New Year Cake Nian Gao(Sticky Rice Cake)? Yum!

6. Avoid or use in moderation seasonings and sauces that are high in salt like plum black yellow bean sauce, soya sauce and oyster sauce. Instead try flavourings from ginger, garlic, pepper and five-spice powder (fennel, clove, cinnamon, peppercorn and star anise).

7.  Minimise the use of fireworks. Fireworks are often used during many celebrations including Chinese New Year. Many toxic chemicals and heavy metals are used in the manufacture of fireworks which contribute to air and water pollution.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, dear friends…and here’s to a planet friendly celebration!

Other links you may be interested in:

Saving the Planet with a Green Christmas

Celebrating a Green Diwali

How to celebrate a Green Holi

How to celebrate a Green Birthday Party

The Zodiac Story of the Chinese New Year

Discover your Zodiac sign according to the Chinese calendar

NOTES:

[1]  Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the ” Lunar New Year” by English speakers. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as chú xī. It literally means “Year-pass Eve”.  (Source: Wikipedia)

[2] Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”. According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nien (Chinese: 年;pinyin: nián). Nien would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nien ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nien was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nien was afraid of the colour red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nien. From then on, Nien never came to the village again. (Source: Wikipedia)

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Here are some ways to have a fun-filled Christmas, while treading softly on our planet:
1. Use real Christmas trees instead of plastic ones.  Plastic ones use up more fossil fuels in their production, transportation and from the materials used such as PVC, steel and lead.  According to the Victorian Environment Ministry (Australia),  fake trees lead to the emission of more than double the greenhouse gases of a natural one.

They also stay in landfills for years when discarded or have to be incinerated.

2.  Use locally grown trees instead of  ones imported from far away which add to fossil fuel consumption in transportation. The tradition of decorating and displaying fir trees during Christmas started in temperate countries as recently as the 16th Century.

Given that people all over the world are celebrating the festival in the 21st century, including tropical countries where it is too warm to grow fir trees, perhaps tradition could be accomodated for the sake of our planet, to allow for locally available ones to be used for decoration. Just a thought!

According to Victoria  Vaughan in the Straits Times (as quoted in Wild Singapore’s How Green is your Christmas tree?), the benefit of having a real tree is negated if it has to travel all the way from say, Norway to Singapore.  “A plastic tree that is reused for three to five years will have lower carbon emissions than a real one, which is replaced yearly after travelling thousands of kilometres to Singapore.”

3. Recycle Christmas trees. Most of them are thrown away. Try to buy one that can be replanted after Christmas or find someone who can make it into chips or mulch for further reuse.

4. Be mindful of the amount of food that you order or cook during the celebrations so that there is very little wastage.  Reduce the quantity of meat cooked, as meat is associated with a host of environmental problems such as a heavy carbon footprint, high embedded land and water use, and use of chemicals in livestock farming such as antibiotics and hormones which find their way into human bodies.  Use locally available, organic ingredients as far as possible.

5.  When sending cards for Christmas, use e-cards. If you receive cards, recycle them at recycling points or use them to make your own, out of recycled paper, like old calendars, cut outs from old cards etc.

6. Reduce outdoor decorative lighting to conserve energy. Try LED lighting which are more energy efficient.

7. Avoid impulsive purchases of decorations, that are inevitably thrown away after the festivities are over.  Instead of cheap tinsels and glittery stuff, try using flowers in a pot, or dried flowers.

8. Say no to gifts from family and friends. Ask for donation to a charity instead. Isn’t that what the festive spirit is all about – giving to the less privileged? Recycle unwanted gifts as a Christmas gift to the less fortunate. Save the packaging for another use.

9. Give gifts that help spread the green message. Use recycled paper or homemade wrappers for gift-wrapping. Give gifts of books and notebooks made with recycled paper or sustainable forests. Plants are great gifts to give. Use or give organic and fair-trade products.

Use Experience Gifts that give an experience to cherish and remember, such as a trip to the theatre, or a movie, or to a restaurant.

It’s cool to even give second hand gifts, like the French! According to a study by Deloitte, “about 30 percent of French consumers will give second-hand items as gifts to stretch out their tight budgets but also to do their little bit for recycling.”

8. Enjoy some really simple and heart warming Christmas ideas in this video:

Spread the message of love, hope and generosity of spirit during Christmas rather than that of consumerism.  Merry Christmas, dear friends, and have a great New Year ahead !!

Photo Courtesy: HikingArtist.com

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Holi hai!! Holi which is just around the corner, is the most energetic and vibrant of Indian festivals. People literally take to the streets in India and play with a riot of colour, smearing it all over the faces and clothes of friends, families and even strangers. This is done with coloured powders or “Gulal” or coloured water using syringes or “pichkaris.”

Colour is a symbolic way to denote the passing of winter and to welcome the brilliant hues of spring blossoms under the warming sun.

In earlier times till about the 1950s, Holi colours emanated from the very same flowers that blossom in spring, such as the bright red ones from the Flame of the Forest(Kesu) or the Indian Coral Tree (Parijat).

However now, what is commonly used is a gamut of colours made of chemicals which are quite toxic to human health and to the environment. According to Toxics Link, a think tank investigating chemical use in India, dry colours are made of bases which are usually asbestos (a known carcinogen even in minute quantities) and silica which can dry the skin intensively. Colourants used in Gulal comprise mainly of heavy metals like lead, chromium, cadmium, nickel, mercury, zinc, iron. These are systemic toxins which get deposited in the kidneys, liver and bones and may disrupt human metabolism, apart from causing nervous system disorders and allergies.

Download a document from Toxics Link website called “The Ugly Truths behind Holi” pastes, dry powder and water colours. It outlines in greater detail the kind of chemicals and metals in their composition apart from the specific health effects.

In our joyous fervour, we need to be mindful of the impact of these colours on our health, as well as on the air and water which are polluted during production as well as in end use. We are also exposing factory workers in India manufacturing these colours, to toxic effects which come from touching and inhaling these chemicals.

There are many organisations and NGOs in India promoting the use of eco-friendly Gulal. CLEAN India which stands for Community Led Environment Action Network teaches school children all over the country to prepare Gulal from natural sources.

Kalpavriksh is an Indian NGO which encourages the extraction of Gulal from the flowers and herbs grown by a womens farmers group called Vanastree. This provides valuable income to women farmers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder as well as provide a truly eco-friendly alternative to chemical colours. The brand, Rang Dulaar is marketed by a social enterprise called E-coexist  and is available in a few stores in India such as Dorabjees( Pune), The Bombay Store(Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore), Spencers Hypermart(Mumbai and Pune), Either Or( Pune), Nilaya(Pune), Temple Tree( Pune), Namdharis(Bangalore) and Gifts of Love( Delhi)

Here’s a video showing their joint efforts:

Organic India is another company that has introduced organic HOLI colours. These can be ordered online at www.organicindia.com or bought in India.

With a little bit of imagination, exciting, natural and eco-friendly colours can be made at home too. Feel free to experiment textures and strength of colours to your taste.

For dry powders you may use these:

GREEN: Mehandi or henna powder or powder from dried tulsi
RED: Grind dried petals of hibiscus or rose flowers
YELLOW: Grind dried petals of marigold or chrysanthemum flowers, or use turmeric powder
BLUE: Grind dried petals of jacaranda or blue hibiscus flowers

To increase the bulk to the above, you can add any flour such as chickpea flour(besan), wheat flour(atta or maida) or rice flour:

For wet colours, you can derive them in the following manner:

GREEN: Grind into a fine paste spinach, mint, coriander and dilute with water
RED: Soak pomegranate peels or red hibiscus petals in water overnight. Juice of tomatoes and carrots give an orange-red colour though they need to be strained and diluted
YELLOW: Boil turmeric in water to get a concentrate. Allow to cool and dilute as required. Alternatively, boil marigold or chrysanthemum petals in water, and leave overnight to cool.
MAGENTA: Grate beetroot and soak in water. To get a stronger colour, boil and allow to cool.
BROWN: Boil tea and/or coffee in water and strain
BLACK: Boil dried Amla(Indian Gooseberry) in an iron pot (kadai) and cool overnight. Dilute as necessary. Alternatively, grind black grapes, dilute and strain.

(preparation ideas condensed from www.holi.org)

All these home made preparations are totally harmless, and can be quite therapeutic. You could use the dry powders, along with multi-coloured lentils for making a chemical-free rangoli for your Holi decorations.

Wish you a really fun and “green” Holi!

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Expectations of this generation are so much more. Birthdays are elaborate, with a lot of planning to be done. I’m not complaining, but I’m aware that the consumption of resources is definitely higher than what we used as children.

Here are my tips to CELEBRATE A GREEN BIRTHDAY for a new generation. These are the ones that I was able to follow last week:

BEFORE THE PARTY

1. Encourage your children to go for a simple, family based event, or a smaller group of friends, and then once in a few years, have a more elaborate party, rather than doing this every year. This will help to reduce resource use, and teach children to simplify.

2. Send email invitations instead of paper invites to save paper.

3. Inform guests in the email invite you’d like to be eco-friendly, and request hand made birthday cards. It’s a great way for children to show their creativity.

4. A no-gifts policy would be great. If your kids are not yet mature enough to say no to gifts, request in the invitation for less/reusable/recyclable packaging

5. Use the back of used poster paper (that children may use for school projects) for various cutouts and party decorations. I was able to use several bits of poster paper accumulated over the years to do the “Happy Birthday” sign as well as the other characters which I drew in line with the party theme.

6. Recycle paper printed on one side to do all the party planning, shopping lists etc.

DURING THE PARTY

7. Use biodegradable cups, plates and spoons made from vegetable matter. I was able to get ones made with corn and yam. I put a polite little label on the juice table requesting visitors to reuse the cups during the party to avoid wastage. Often enough, several cups are used for refills and that’s a wastage of disposable cups.

8. Borrow any extra party costumes or decorations from your friends, relatives or neighbours, as it’s a one-off event.

9. Recycle any packaging you accumulate in the party preparations such as carton boxes, plastic packaging etc.

10. Avoid helium balloons. Helium balloons mostly use foil that can be swallowed by wildlife, like plastic. Use natural latex balloons which biodegrade and cause less harm if disposed of correctly  .

11. Avoid carbonated drinks.  Carbonated drinks unhealthy because they contain large quantities of sugar, calories and caffeine.Recent research reports from the United Kingdom say that the common preservative used in carbonated drinks which is sodium benzoate can switch off essential parts of DNA, which may bring on premature aging and trigger diseases associated with old age.  Use fruit juices with the least possible preservatives, colouring and flavourings. It’s good on the children’s health, and good for the environment, as we encourage less use of chemicals that ultimately pollute our air and water.
10. Home made food is anyday preferable, as you can control the ingredients. Offer fresh fruits as appetisers, and healthy home made party food. Parties are becoming an excuse to serve unhealthy junk food like pizzas, crisps, carbonated drinks. If you’re pressed for time, simplify the menu and make it wholesome. This also reduces the use of unnecessary resources (such as in pizza packaging, cartons, paper napkins, mini sauce packages, aluminium foil etc)

11. Give pencils made from FSC certified sustainable plantations, if activities are planned using pencils. Stabilio is one such brand.

12. As prizes for party games, support a human or environmental cause. Eg. I was able to distribute bookmarks and calendars by the Foot and Mouth artistes in Singapore as prizes. Or perhaps you could find a gift made of recycled materials.

AFTER THE PARTY

13. Send thanks using email.

14. Preserve any gift wraps, if gifts have still been gift-wrapped despite your request to guests for leaving out unnecessary packaging. Cut out the edges with the cellotape and send for recycling. The remaining gift-wrap can be arranged nicely for future use. When I did this, I also got to admire the beautiful artwork in some of the gift wraps. It’s seems such a waste to rip open gift wrap and dump it in the bin without a second look.

15. Distribute leftover food with guests(using returnable containers), or have it the next day.

Some more ideas, which I’d love to implement next year or for the next celebration.

1. Have a no gifts policy. You could come up with innovative ideas for implementing this.
- Request guests to bring money donations. Your child may want to donate the entire to a charity, or say for sponsoring an animal in the zoo or on WWF or say an organisation like BOS. Your child may want to use a part of the funds for one big gift that he or she would like and donate the rest. 

- You could use an online service such as www.echoage.com which manages the donations for you.
- Or you could ask for hand made gifts for children, using stuff they have at home.

2. Use recycled paper napkins to sandwich between plates. I have heard of Seventh Generation recycled paper napkins, and went looking for them, but couldn’t get them in the last minute. (I did away with paper napkins completely and noticed that guests managed to use cloth towels provided and their own handkerchief pretty well. Only a few needed to use the napkin box.)

3. Use beeswax candles as opposed to petroleum based ones..and reuse them next year. This is something I need to search for.

4. Use organic colouring in the birthday cake. I could not provide the cake maker organic colouring as I could not find this in Singapore. But hopefully, a little bit of search would help me get it in time for the next party. I would love to go organic on many of the other ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables too.

5. Use markers with non-toxic ink. I used markers for making my decorations. The permanent markers contain toxic chemical compounds such as xylenee and/or toluene.

6. Return Gifts – I gave reusable folders with notebooks and Stabilio pencils. But I’d love to get something with a stronger environmental message, such as books made from recycled paper. Little pots of plants make for excellent, planet-friendly gifts which help children understand the value of nurturing.

EcoWALK is a journey. Keep innovating and trying, and get better and better each year in the quest to save resources and using ones that harm the environment less. Would love to hear if you have any ideas too.

These are some of the ideas you’ll find in the free 160 page e-book on this website called “A Quicklist of 1001 Steps to Save the Planet “  which covers a range of topics from actions that you can take at home, at the workplace, within the community as well as ways to influence government policies.

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Diwali is the spread of light to remove our “inner darkness” or ignorance. This is usually symbolised by lighting of diyas (earthern lamps) in the house and outside. It’s a beautiful tradition.

While customs and traditions must be maintained, we must also relook at some of things we do and the way we celebrate important festivals, and weigh the kind of effects it has on the environment.

Here are some ways to celebrate an environmentally friendly Diwali or Deepavali:

1. Use less fireworks, or avoid them if possible (unless someone invents non-toxic ones). Fireworks like crackers, sparklers and pots spew out a wide range of toxic chemicals, like sulphur dioxide, and heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, lead etc. 
For a more detailed look at the kind of chemicals present in fireworks, and the health effects, here’s a website worth visiting: http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/diwali.htm

Firecrackers create a lot of noise pollution and cause a lot of distress to animals and birds. Avoid them if possible or localise their use in a community to an open field. Do help to clear up the mess in your neighbourhood once the festivities are over. Luckily in Singapore, there are restrictions on noise pollution, so we are spared the noise of firecrackers.

Fireworks are non-biodegradable, and in places like India end up clogging up drains or end up in rivers. The residues of toxic chemicals enter streams and rivers.

Most of the fireworks in India are made using child labour. Children exposed to such heavy metals and chemicals often suffer in health. Here is a video showing young children working at a factory which makes matchsticks and fireworks:

2. Distribute sugary sweets in moderation. Fresh and dry fruits make excellent alternatives for processed sugars, which are not good for health. Sugar plantations extensively use chemicals and there is heavy pollution in the wastewater discharged in the production process.

3. Avoid chemically coloured powder for making rangoli designs. Instead, try to use rice flour, plain sand, turmeric powder, coloured pulses, cereals and henna. 

4. Refrain from excessive shopping and consumption. Many retailers discount items for Diwali and actively promote shoppers. Buy only what you need. Ultimately whatever you buy requires the use of precious natural resources.

5. Avoid giving gifts with excessive packaging, be it paper or plastic, as this leads to a waste of resources. If this packaging is not recycled, it will end up in landfills or as carbon emissions if incinerated.

6. Moderate or do away with your purchase of gold, which is a common custom during Diwali. I risk taking off the shine during the festive season by saying that production of gold is one of the most polluting of mining activities, ruining rivers, threatening wildlife and natural areas and in several cases, fuelling human conflict.  For more information, look at http://www.nodirtygold.org/dirty_golds_impacts.cfm As of now, I don’t know of any certifications in Asia that guarantee that retailers source their gold manufactured in an environmentally friendly way. So, when in doubt, restraint is a good idea.

It does take a tough mindset, sometimes to go against tradition. I grew up looking forward to the fireworks during Diwali. It’s usually the most fun and enjoyable part of the festival. To many, including me, Diwali without fireworks would be unthinkable. Similarly, it is easy to get carried away with the festivities, when it comes to shopping and the purchase of gifts.

Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth is worshipped very devoutly during this festival. Does real Lakshmi come from all the goodies, gold and diamond jewellery that we bestow on our children, or does She come from the pure air, water and soils that we leave as lasting legacies for the future generations?

Between a few hours of enjoyment, a few years of vanity and preventing lasting damage to the environment, I’d choose the last. That’s the light of awareness we need to spread around us. 

Wishing you a green Diwali, bringing you, your family and our Earth, abundance and prosperity!

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