Agy's T-shirt to bag workshop

I joined Agy's workshop held at Bamboo House this afternoon. It was a cosy environment and Agy with her clear instructions and demonstration helped about 13 of us to transform our old T-shirts into useful bags. Erm, mine turns out to be a bit too long :) but I could use it to hold my rolled up clean jacket and office attire in my luggage when I attend the coming few overseas meetings. Hee.

Gift wrappers

On the few occasions where I have to wrap up the gifts for friends, I will activate my stash of wrappers I have saved from old gifts, sis' overseas packages or colourful magazines. I haven't bought any wrappers for the past few years and feel a sense of satisfaction giving the old wrappers a new lease of life :) This gift will be mailed to my friend in US soon.

Take away container

On Fri, when I brought this cute stainless stain container to hold my take away from the vegetarian stall in the office canteen, the stall owners commented that the container is useful. A lady who walked past me asked me where I got it from. My parents bought it from OG at around $14. It was supposed to keep my dinner warm since they eat at 6am and I usually reach home after 7pm.

Indeed it is useful and I feel good not to have my takeaway in styrofoam container since I will be having lunch in the office once a week. I have a pretty lunch box, a gift from SP - that will be handy when I pack sandwich from home :)

金曜日にりょうしんがかったべんとうばこから昼ごはんをたべました。うちからかいしゃまでサンドイッチをもっていくとき、ともだちがあげたべんとうばこ をつかいます。それではっぽうスチロールとビニール袋をあまりつかいません。　

Shoes investment

I like the 2 pairs of shoes I bought recently.

The first pair from this brand "Terra Plana" was bought at Barefoot shop at Orchard Ion. It cost me $159 but I'm happy with the purchase for being environmentally friendly (eg. recycled leather). The right shoe pinched my foot a little when I wore it the first time but subsequently, they feel comfortable.

The 2nd pair is Vibram Fivefingers. I read about it on a friend's blog, checked out online reviews and asked another friend how she feels wearing the shoes. I tried them @ Outdoor Life @ Velocity @ Novena Square and they felt comfortable. There was a 10% discount for cash payments and I got the shoes at $179. I walked in them for a few nights, when feeding the cats. When I jogged in them for the first time @ Botanic Gardens, I got blisters on the inner side of my feet. I rectified that when I wore them a week later by wearing my toe socks. My back leg muscles ached quite a bit and I felt good after the jog and best of all, my knees didn't ache :)

Green Issues and Tree Hugger

These are some websites where I get my regular dose of environment news and green tips and how to simplify life:

• Green Issues
• Tree Hugger
• Care 2
• Guardian
• The Worsted Witch
• Real Simple

Giving magazines and newspapers another life

I receive free magazines (not the lifestyle and entertainment kinds) at work. Usually, I will usually just put them into the recycling box near my workstation. Recently, a friend, through her emails and actions, have reminded us to green our life, whenever possible. When I was flipping through the colourful pages of a magazine, I thought I could keep it to wrap a friend's present. This was what I did.

I think the combination of rolled up newspapers and a bowl as a mini table is innovative. However, it can't work for curious inhabitats like Angel and clumsy humans like me. Hee.

I decided to try this out just for the fun of it. An ugly version :)

Cloth pads

I think Lunapads are a cool invention for females like me who find wearing disposable pads uncomfortable. I got to know about the Lunapads a few years ago and bought a few with the idea of alternating them with disposable pads. However, I wasn’t very committed to using them and still used disposables most of the time.

Last year, I found out that a friend has been using cloth pads from Lunapads and completely phased out the use of disposable pads. I was encouraged and thought I could do the same too. After buying some more Lunapads, I have been using them for the past 3 months, without the need for disposables.

Some of you may feel disgusted by the idea of having to wash your blood-soaked/stained cloth pads. I don’t think it’s icky to do so; after all it’s my blood. Of course, it’s easy to throw away disposable pads but the discomfort they give me pushes me to use cloth pads. I have gradually overcome the inconvenience of having to soak/wash the Lunapads and the liners and bringing extra liners to change them where I’m out. I feel better about myself and don't feel cranky wearing Luna pads. Now I just need to find the best way to reduce usage of water in washing the pads. Then I’ll be on the way to being more environmentally friendly (by contributing less waste and using water efficiently).

I have taken some photos of my Lunapads:

(From left: liner, day pad, liner with wing)

(Top and side views of the pad with the liners attached with the aid of the elastic bands)

I have also read that the use of disposable ones has some health risks. Planet Green has an article on some alternatives to disposable pads.

For any of you who are keen to try, you will have to order cloth pads online since Parenthings who used to bring Lunapads in has stopped its operations. Simply Peaceable (SP) is considering bringing in Sckoon’s cloth pads and baby diapers if there is a demand. If you are interested, you can drop SP an email.

(Underside of the day pad - isn't the design chirpy? :) Wait till you see the Sckoon designs)

(Lunapads' pouch that came free when I bought the liners a few years ago. The recent purchase doesn't have any accompanying pouch)

I’m attracted to Sckoon’s cute prints on the pads and other products (such as leak proof pouch and panty). Lunapads and Sckoon pads are quite similar and the difference seems to be how the liner is attached to the pad. I’ll get some to try if SP carries them.

You can also try making one yourself by following the steps in these websites: Tiny Birds Organics and Adahy's cloth pad patterns. It looks easy!

Seventh Generation

Bam told us about Seventh Generation that has environmental friendly cleaning products.

I was very excited when I saw its products at Naturally Marketplace at Vivocity. I decided to get the shower cleaner as our shower curtain in the kitchen toilet smell a bit moldy sometimes. It could be due to soap stains on the curtain. Anyway, mom has to take care of the family, hamsters, cats and the house. I don't do very much to help her but I could start to use Seventh Generation's Shower cleaner to clean the shower curtain :)

I did that yesterday and there was a slight citrus scent. I left it on the shower curtain and the walls for a few hours and washed it off when I showered. We shall see whether the product really works.

Tiny actions versus Lifestyle changes

I have read this interesting article about tiny actions such as recycling doing little to help climate change as compared to lifestyle changes such as taking public transport and less overseas holidays.

Convincing people to start with tiny actions is a good way to increase the awareness that everyone can do their part for their environment. Some may continue to do tiny actions. Some may find out what more they can do by reading up, joining green NGOs and perhaps decide to adopt some lifestyle changes.

It's really up to ourselves what we choose to do for the environment after learning about the impact of Man's activities. No one can force us unless the government implements legislation, so it's really voluntary action on our part and how affected we are by all the news and information.

Recycling pieces of my life

Newpapers that I have read. Old clothes I no longer want to wear. Plastic and glass containers emptied of skincare stuff I was using. I encourage my family members to contribute their stuff into this bin too.