My ever so slow CNY project

I have only 5 days to CNY and I still haven't really started. I should really get cracking; hopefully tomorrow. Anyway, I am on leave from work for a two full weeks - woo hoo! Managed to get 2 old red t-shirts - yay!  If you're interested in seeing what happens, please follow me on the side bar!

Here's one from my good friend V. She donated her Nemo tee....

Donated Tee

Snip, snip, snip! (Sorry, V)

Rolled up all the fabric into a ball - hopefully will start this weekend!

Climate change - getting people to change

Courtesy: Arinas74

A lot of naysayers and "I don't know" people with regard to the topic of climate change, so how do you get them to reduce their carbon emissions? Perhaps, we could look at it from a different angle. Instead of repeatedly (or rather bombarding them) with information about changing weather patterns and the natural disasters that could be related to carbon emissions, maybe we could look at it from the personal level. 


a) It's about reducing our country's dependence on foreign imports of oil - there's a finite amount, and some day it's going to dry up, maybe not now, but maybe during our future generation's time. 


b) It's about creating jobs - if we reduce dependence on foreign oil, we're looking at transforming the energy sector (e.g. solar, wind) - new skills, different job scope, hence more jobs. 


c) It's about saving money - if we can reduce our energy consumption at home, we're going to save money. Turn off the air-con; switch to a fan; take public transport.


d) It's about making our country environmentally better, something you can be proud of  :-)

Red Packets for Chinese New Year 2

We have the tradition of giving money in red packets (aka lai see or ang bao) to children for Chinese New Year. So, instead of presents, the kids get money.  Only married folk who are older than the kids can give away the red packets. Last time, I blogged about keeping the old red packets given to your kids and reusing them for the next new year (with the money taken out of course! Hee).  But I think we should also stop getting the freebie red packets that are given everytime you visit the bank or make a purchase at the shops just before Chinese New Year.  I was offered free red packets at a restaurant yesterday and I politely declined. So, make your preparations for Chinese New Year a little bit greener by declining to get the red packet freebies!

Hoo are you!

I saw this on nightowlcrafting and had to link up mainly because I'm a working mum, plus I stay up late to do all my crafts too. Secretly, I desperately want my toddler to fall asleep quickly so that I can start whipping up my green crafts! Shh! Onto the questions: 
1. Do you wear glasses or contacts, if so for how long? I wear glasses and have been wearing them since 11 years old. The only time I wore contacts was when I got married.
2. What was your favorite board game as a kid? Monopoly!!
3. What is a word that you use all the time? Hurry! (This is usually to my son)
4. What is your favorite day of the week? Friday, the last day of the working week , and when I look forward to a nice weekend with the family. I would probably be daydreaming (shhhh!)
5. Did you graduate high school from the town you grew up in? Yes, that was in Hong Kong.
Update - I had better get my crafting up to speed soon - Chinese New Year decorations and my skirt!! Less than a week to go!

Craft it Forward! I was excited when I saw Simply Peaceable's entry on crafting it forward. According to Simply Peaceable (via Brigette’s blog via Ginger Urchin’s blog post) once you sign on....

"I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They in turn must post this statement and send something they make to the first 5 people who comment on their blog post."

"The only other rules are that (i) it must be handmade by you and, (ii) it must be sent to your 5 people sometime within 2011."

So guess, what? I signed on, and Simply Peaceable made this lovely brooch in a few days. 

Since this is a green blog, I've decided that my handmade crafts will be made from recycled items.  Please leave your comment down below, and hopefully I can whip up a green craft just like Simply Peaceable (nervous smile). Oh, and be prepared to leave me your email at my Green Issues email (located on the right hand side) when you have signed on so that I can contact you for an address once it's been made! Good luck :-)

Monks Recycle in Thailand

'Toxic oranges' probe in Shanghai

I get rather worried when a lot of our food is imported. Recently there was a scare in Shanghai, China, with the skin of oranges dyed with industrial dye to make them look fresher. Vendors would then command a higher price for them.  With Chinese New Year coming, I hope our mandarins, which are mainly imported from China, won't be affected.

My skirt under reconstruction

Here's the before pic. This is a polyester spandex like A line skirt that I've had for ages (is 5 years considered ages?) and it's lost a bit of it's shine lately. The waist part is elasticated.

Sorry about all the creases. It's been sitting in my cupboard ever since I had it done up for my son's Halloween about a year ago.  For those of you who remember, it got turned into a magician's cape.

Original skirt - I'm planning on turning it into a top.

Hedley Environmental Index

Since our family shifted to Singapore, my hubby's sinus problem has gone away. Then when he was travelling to China every now and then, it would come back and he would be desperately trying to clear his throat. Eventually he bought a netty pot and that solved the issue when he was travelling.  I think it's due to the air pollution (stressing the think), but recently research adviser, Anthony Hedley, has come up with the Hedley Environmental Index, which tracks the public health and economic costs of Hong Kong air pollution in real time. 

Not surprisingly, Hedley has "escaped" Hong Kong to the Isle of Man in the UK!


Via: The Standard, Hong Kong.

New Year's Resolution - Not to buy more stuff

Louisa at The Really Good Life wrote that this year she will not buy any more than 12 pieces of clothing. It is difficult especially in Singapore when you're surrounded by malls (I live next to one and pass by it everyday to get to work) and sales. I joined the Wardrobe Refashion, and last year I ended up buying new clothing (I was going through a tough 2010, but I guess that's no excuse). Hope to restart this year! In fact for this Chinese New Year, I won't be buying new clothes (which is a tradition for the Chinese).  I will be turning my dress into a top. I've already cut out the pattern and hopefully this weekend I'll find the time to sew it up.

I'm also trying to convince my hubby that there's no need to buy new stuff to replace slightly worn out things. A lot of friends overseas like to do DIY or reupholster furniture. I hope to do some of that this year but will be tough as I've never done it before.

Update on 20 Jan - came across the experiment Six Items or Less. Participants pledge to wear only 6 items of clothing in a month and post on the website, how they feel. It basically gives you self-awareness on how you can reduce your consumption. There is even a discussion forum on the temptation to shop!!!! Do you think it can be done on a long term basis? :-)

Ideas to reduce food waste

Through cooking? In Hong Kong, the Greeners Action Group, is having a competition on how you could reduce food waste in the kitchen.

Photo via Greeners Action

But, a lot of Singaporeans I know eat out most of the time due to hectic schedules, so why not try this idea? The "Less Rice for One Buck Less" campaign which will roll out next week. If you order less rice then you get a dollar off.

Or maybe, even offer discounts for wedding banquets which serve less courses.....

Chinese New Year is coming soon - cut down on your waste!

Close on the heels of Christmas and the New Year is Chinese New Year (2 Feb). Have been looking for old red t-shirts (managed to get one from my good friend, V) for my new craft idea and I think it won't materialise considering I only have less than month to make it! My hubby's football (soccer) team wear red jerseys and they're going to change into a new one next month, but by then it will be too late!!! Will have to think of other ways to decorate :-)

Wedding favours?

One of my good friends is getting married in April and she's trying to make it as green as possible.  I had posted one entry last year on green weddings. She couldn't decide on what sort of wedding favours to hand out to her guests - jars of honey? coasters? wine glass charms? bookmarks (yes, I've received one of those)?  The problem is that if you're going alone to the wedding, you'll only get one, and unless you're going as a family of four, one coaster or wine glass charm will look a bit out of place at home and might end up unused, or ahem, in the dustbin.

Well, over lunch I told her that in lieu of the money spent towards the wedding favours, the money could be donated to the charity that is the most popular with the guests. Perhaps when the guests arrive at the wedding reception they could cast their votes between two charities that she and her fiance would like to donate to.  Would be useful to have info on the charities at the reception, or even slipped into the invitations? What do you think? It's not wasteful, and it will make the wedding socially responsible! :-)

Recycling Your Keyboard 2

After taking out the keys from my grotty keyboard (hee) for my Christmas decorations, I was left with the casing and the wire. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to do with the casing - if anyone has ideas on what to do, please email me!

Here's what I did....

IT and the environment

A few things came to my mind last night......

a) Easier ways to lodge a complaint
I wanted to make a smoky vehicle complaint today. There was a van that was spewing black smoke. I didn't have a pen and paper to take down the license plate number, and I didn't have my phone either.  Even if I did remember the license plate number, and find the responsible agency's number or email hotline to lodge the complaint, my brain, being a human brain, would have decided that it wouldn't be worth the effort anymore, and may be someone else would lodge the complaint instead. I was just thinking that if my phone could take a picture of the van with the license plate no at that moment and with a click of a button then send it through cyberspace to the environment agency with all my details and where I was standing, wouldn't that be great?   In case you're wondering, by the time I got home, I had forgotten the license plate number of the van......

b) Website where the Singaporean public can share their energy consumption and saving practises
80% of us live in public housing (HDB flats). Since the configurations of the HDB flats are the same, or similar, it would be relatively easier for Singapore to compare energy consumption between households (e.g. I live in a 4A type flat).  If everyone put their energy consumption on a platform for all to see, we can all see where we stand, instead of the national average we see on our monthly utility bill.  We can also exchange ideas on how we save energy, and review the energy efficient performance of the products we buy. Just an idea.....

c) We should think about what we want to view on the web or do on our computer before we switch it on - some of us just surf aimlessly - waste of energy, right?