Decoupage shoes

This reminds me of when I spiced up my wedding shoes with black lace, but the ones in the tute look more funky and fun!

I used craft glue on mine because my shoes were satin rather than leather. The decoupage will make it waterproof but you have to becareful when using it as you might get shoes that bite and crack....

My shoes >>

Green water?

Not sure what to make of this... think Nausi blogged or emailed me about this a while back.... it sure looks a load of greenwashing to me. Shipped all the way from Fiji to Singapore! Just drink tap water!

Organic stuff

My brother and family came over from England and helped me buy some organic deodorant and some Imses. They were purchased on twinkleontheweb.

The deodrant is 85% organic (according to the label) and it's from Green People. I chose Rosemary and it smells yummy and relaxing at the same time....

As for the organic Imses, well if you're a lady and have used luna pads, you will know what they are. I actually find the Imses less bulky. With the luna pads, I have trouble adding more than 2 liners due to the tight rickrack at the ends. The only downside with the Imses I bought is that they're white and you can see the stains....

24 Jun 2010 - I have to say I still prefer the Lunapads over the Imses. The liners for the Imses fell out pretty often and one fell into the.... ahem.  Anyway, I only use them at night to avoid that problem!  As for the deodrant, I had issues with it staining my white clothes.  The deo is actually a cream colour product so if I put on too much w/o realising it it would transfer onto my tops and they're difficult to remove. Otherwise, its' a good product to use! Only wish they sold it in Singapore :-)

Nanyang Optical goes eco

The first optical shop in Singapore to go eco (or so their website says).

"exclusive range of eco-friendly eyewear
LinkSkin
Flexis
Urband
LinkSkin is World’s first eco-friendly eyewear – manufactured by using recycled materials.
Even the paint works are RoHs compliant – no lead, mercury & cadmium.
To reduce emission of CO2, we do not use soldering for production of LinkSkin."

They also have a recycling project. U can drop your specs, bottles, contact cases at their stores.

My thoughts:

a) I'm sure they are selling other brands as well to appeal to the masses; I wonder what % of the specs they sell are from the above 3 eco brands

b) Are they local? Did they have to ship them or air freight them in?

c) Get their customers to stop wearing contacts and switch to specs -- that might be difficult

d) I wonder whether they will be stocking up on an eco-friendly contact solution? Like, Clear Conscience Cruelty-Free contact solution?

Updates - hopped down to the store at Causeway Point! The frames do cost a lot. The cheapest costs SG$188 and they can only be fitted with the plastic lenses, which are also expensive, mind you!

Recyling books

This is the kinda thing that I like to see more of - swaps, exchanges, barters (remember all those times I blogged about this? I'm starting to sound like a broken record so I won't repeat myself)...For a bigger version of the poster, please go to NLB's webpage.

Info below from their website:

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Time: 10.30am to 6pm
Venue: The Plaza, National Library Building,100 Victoria Street

3 easy steps to exchange your used books for new reads:

1. Bring your used books to any Public Library from 11 to 24 April,
11am to 8pm. On 25 April, used books are accepted only at the National Library Building.
2. Drop off your used books and get a book exchange coupon indicating one-for-one exchange for the books accepted.
3. Bring your coupon to The Plaza, National Library Building, on 25 April to redeem for used books dropped off by other book lovers.

Terms and Conditions:

1. Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 30 used books. There is no age limit for participation.
2. We accept children's and adults' fiction and non-fiction books (eg. cookbooks, travel guides and romance novels) in any of the four official languages. We also accept used library books bought from previous Library Book Sales. Textbooks, magazines and audio-visual materials will not be accepted.
3. Used books for exchange should be in relatively good physical condition.
4. Please check your coupons carefully after they are issued to you.
5. Coupons issued are transferable. You may pass them on to your family members or friends to help you redeem.
6. Lost coupons are not replaceable. You are advised to keep your coupons properly till the event on 25 April.
7. Plastic/carrier bags and delivery service will not be providedon Sat, 25 April. You are advised to bring your own carrier bags and/or arrange for transportation of books redeemed.

For enquiries, please call NLB Helpdesk at 6332 3255 or email: helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg

Note: NLB reserves the right to change the terms and conditions at any time.

Being fat = More carbon emissions?

I just read this article on how carbon emissions are being fuelled by obesity.
Personally, I dont' think it is the being fat part. It's the lifestyle. There are many thin people out there who use cars, eat lots of meat. I think it's being lazy that fuels carbon emissions, not being obese.

Topography

Visually appealing. Supposed to read "Forest/Woods/Tree/Death". Although, I believe the last character is "ten" and not death. Perhaps representative? Not sure if the ad works though.



Here's an interesting interactive idea. Getting the consumer to participate in the advertising is a good way to increase recall.






via adsoftheworld.com

WWF baby ad

Oh my, kinda scary, but attention grabbing no?


Via adsoftheworld.com

Sharks need your help! 18 Apr

ACRES is looking to gather over a 1000 pple at Speakers' Corner to show the world that 'Animals Matter' here in Singapore.

Saturday 18 April (2 - 4pm)

http://www.acres.org.sg/

The road to ruin....

Everyone has been talking about who are the culprits behind the financial turmoil that's doing its rounds globally. Almost everyone and anyone in the higher echelons of the financial world has taken a beating (that includes the previously labelled financial maestro, Greenspan).


No one seems to care about who are the culprits behind the ruins of our environment. All of us are so engrossed in the economics of everything. You may remember me blogging about the evils of global capitalism, well, I found this great thought provoking article by Bert Olivier on "Capitalism and the Environment". Gosh, I wish I could write like him :-)

Oh, by the way, Obama has decided not to lift the embargo on Cuba so I guess we won't see a Starbucks/McD's invasion ! :-p

Plastic bags again

I've always liked Free Range Studios works, which have been creative, interesting, thought provoking and humorous. This one I find is only semi-interesting and not as impactful as the ones before. So, why am I including it? I guess it still has the basic good message of using less and hopefully it will bring some points across to those who are new to this topic. However, as I discussed before, let's not be penny wise and pound foolish regarding environmental issues and concentrate all our efforts on only one project.

Remember -

awwww, are we done with plastic bags yet?

'Bring Your Own Bag Day' campaign gets positive response (??)

Envirosax and Reisenthel Review (by Coboypb)

Green campaign losing steam

Pledge experiences

The plastic bag pledge 2

the plastic bag pledge

Pledge at the side

ah...forums

What is "going green"...squeezing in another two...:)

Recycling being the law

I have decided!

After making a pair of trousers for TH, I have decided to make a waist coat :-)

Will update all on the status..... hopefully will finish within the wk....been driven crazy by work.... endless meetings....ugh....

Cardboard cooker wins global climate change competition

My hubby's verdict of the netty pot!

After finding info about the netty pot, we went hunting for one. Well, my hubby didn't buy the tiny teapot but he managed to find a more medical looking contraption from Guardian. It comes in a trial packet but after a while we realised that you don't need to buy the packets of saline from the pharmacists - ie waste of money. You can actually make your own at the right concentrate using cooking salt..... take care to use the amount of salt as you may end up with a sharp pain in your nose as my hubby discovered when he misunderstood the measurements! Anyway, he adds 1/4 tsp to the 240ml bottle, and he squirts the solution....

My hubby now uses it everyday and I can tell you that he no longer needs to clear his throat constantly (he has post-nasal drip). Sorry, folks, my hubby wasn't willing to pose with this up his nose!! :-p

Nice?

Interesting ad by wwf. Although it seems that the situation may be worse (two black lungs!), but perhaps with one lung out of order is serious enough.

Via I believe in advertising

The Age of Stupid

Have you seen this movie? I don't think it has been released in Singapore yet but I hope it does.

Synopsis taken from website: "Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at “archive” footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

The Age of Stupid: EPK clip 1 - Titles from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.

eco-designers

Ugh, feeling extremely lazy about blogging at the moment. Still trying to recover from my cough.....which I've had since last week.....

Check out the eco-designers who are selling their wares in Singapore..... http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/shopping/feature/green-is-the-new-black

I'm in awe

I am truely in awe of Kristy at lower your presser foot. She has sewn her own nappies (or diapers, if your American :-) ). You can make your own too. Just go to this website to download the pattern.... http://www.thenappynetwork.org.nz/diy.php

Your crocs can be recycled!

If you have a pair of worn out crocs, you can drop off them off at the Crocs outlet at Plaza Singapura, Dhoby Ghout.

Tweets

We have added a twitter widget at the side for short updates. An idea I had as I haven't contributed lately due to lack of time to really sit down and research the posts as much as I would like. Do add us on your twitter. :)

Agy asked me today about looking into changing the banner. I told her if I did so I would probably make the site black. ;p ok, so it isn't exactly black (it's charcoal grey!). I know I know, I should really be more adventurous but I really do like black! Things somehow just don't look right if it's not black...

Well, don't be alarmed at the changes. Experimenting now and perhaps it'll look different tomorrow....

Comments welcome and don't forget you can email us at greenissuessg@gmail.com.

Button T-shirt

The Guardian did a piece on pepping up a tired T-shirt. I think this is a great idea for anyone with almost zero sewing skills. All you need are thread, sewing needle and lots of colour buttons that you may have hoarded (like me).

Photo: Perri Lewis

Paperless newspaper

I think this is amazing. The Guardian will become paperless and go onto Twitter!

Earth Hour - burning candles

I think most of you may have read the forum in the Today paper this morning. I checked out several websites and really, it depends on what kind of candles you use, how many of them you burn, and where you get your electricity from.

According to Christian Science Monitor, most candles are made of paraffin, a heavy hydrocarbon derived from crude oil. Burning a paraffin candle for one hour will release about 10 grams of carbon dioxide. Instead, you should be burning beeswax and soy candles which are mostly carbon-neutral because any carbon they release by burning was only recently absorbed by plants from the atmosphere.

I also read this which says that burning paraffin candles actually increases CO2 emissions. It says that "for every candle that is burned to replace electric lighting during Earth Hour, greenhouse gas emissions over the course of the one hour are increased by 9.6 g of carbon dioxide."

Anyway, my verdict is at the next EarthHour, don't turn to candles. They produce heat, indoor air pollution (if you're indoors), a fire hazard and many times less efficient than a light bulb!