Life hacks to save the environment

Singapore generated over 7.7 million tonnes of waste in 2017 – a sevenfold increase from 40 years ago with no signs of slowing down, enough to fill about 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools per day.

In a nation where trash becomes ash via incineration plants, this results in two major repercussions – our only landfill running out of space by 2035, and the increasing severity of the greenhouse effect.

Not good for Clean and Green Singapore.

Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has designated 2019 as the Year towards Zero Waste, a year to highlight the waste issue and kick start the nation’s march towards a circular economy.

The Challenge

Singaporeans are no strangers to environmental consciousness.

What is needed are the behavioural nudges to encourage individual actions, instead of leaning to our very capable government agencies to save our environment.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) wanted to nudge Singaporeans into practicing the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), to drive a sense of personal responsibility. Every individual act counts because they add up to a lot.

The Insight

Singaporeans are pragmatic but also altruistic.

In fact, it is often in giving that you receive.

Doing good for the environment can also be good for the family, fame, fashion and even fortune.

The Idea & Work

Sophia Huang, mother of two, upcycles unwanted items into one-of-a kind toys. Not only does she get to save on the costs for her kids’ gifts, she also gets to unlock their creativity and inculcate the right values in them.

Sophia Huang

Sofia Khanafie, full-time student, participates actively in clothes swapping and DIY fashion events. By doing so, she gets to chase her fashionista pursuits in a wallet friendly manner, while getting to meet more like-minded fashionable peers.

Sofia Khanafie

By fronting the campaign with everyday heroes, we packaged a typical environment message into a series of life hacks to meet the needs and wants of the various segments of Singaporeans.

Relatable, inspiring and practical; we capture Singaporeans’ attention and get them to understand that doing the environment a favour can be personally beneficial too.

Environment and Us

Together with Sophia and Sofia, we featured 4 other green advocates to launch the first phase of the campaign. Check out their stories on https://www.cgs.gov.sg/what-we-do/keepsgclean/environmentandus.

The Results

With an interesting take on how to be environmentally friendly, our campaign cut through the the cynical minds to the common good.

Besides being picked up by Channel Newsasia and TODAY, YouTube garnered more than 100,000 views on average per story.

Comments poured in too; with many amazed with the efforts of everyday Singaporeans in working towards a zero-waste nation.

Which goes to show: Environment can be good for the family, fame, fashion and even fortune.