![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
11-11-2021, 03:30 PM
Ho Xiang Tian
11 Nov 2021 06:22AM
(Updated: 11 Nov 2021 06:23AM)
SINGAPORE: There is a little-known tracker called Earth Overshoot Day, and it gives us a sense of resources humans use.
Data is calculated based on how fast people consume resources such as energy, timber and paper, and food and fibre. Consumption and waste products generated are then compared with how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources.
Based on this, it gives a date where we’ve gone over the threshold – and used up the entire year’s worth of resources.
......
In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day was on December 30. This year, it happened on Jul 29.
......
It also tracks individual countries and Singapore’s resource consumption per capita ranks at 24 in the world, with our 2021 Overshoot Day falling on Apr 10.
It ranks second in ASEAN, just behind Brunei whose Earth Overshoot Day falls two days earlier. In comparison, Malaysia’s is more than a month after Singapore’s, on May 30, while Indonesia’s is Dec 18.
What this shows is there’s huge room for reducing Singapore’s resource consumption, and to me, online shopping platforms are a good place to start.
Unlike most other business activities needed for essential living (driving, eating, using energy), retail shopping can encourage mindless consumerism because there’s a possibility, we buy things we don’t need.
......
Or things are poorly manufactured and of low-quality, which means they stop functioning as intended and eventually end up in the bin.
......
Singapore aims to reduce the per capita waste to landfill by 30 per cent by 2030. Increasing recycling rates will help but reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place is even more important in reaching this goal
......
It may be an impossible idea, but perhaps limiting the amount of advertising from online shopping platforms may help. In addition to offering greater recycling options, making returns less convenient could be another way to discourage excessive purchases.
......
When it comes to a capitalist economy, it is wishful thinking to hope businesses will change their practices if it means less revenue. So, regulation could be key to reducing the impacts from online shopping platforms.
......
if businesses are taxed based on their emissions and footprint – and costs cascade down to consumers, then people may think twice before buying.
The concept of Extended Producer Responsibility could also be another way to curb excessive sales. If companies were responsible for collecting and ensuring proper recycling of products, the items listed and promoted on the platforms would quickly shift to those that are easier to recycle.
......
societal mindsets about our consumerist culture must shift and online shopping platforms can play a role by not encouraging this mindless consumption too.
Much better to read full article at: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commenta...nt-2303021
11 Nov 2021 06:22AM
(Updated: 11 Nov 2021 06:23AM)
SINGAPORE: There is a little-known tracker called Earth Overshoot Day, and it gives us a sense of resources humans use.
Data is calculated based on how fast people consume resources such as energy, timber and paper, and food and fibre. Consumption and waste products generated are then compared with how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources.
Based on this, it gives a date where we’ve gone over the threshold – and used up the entire year’s worth of resources.
......
In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day was on December 30. This year, it happened on Jul 29.
......
It also tracks individual countries and Singapore’s resource consumption per capita ranks at 24 in the world, with our 2021 Overshoot Day falling on Apr 10.
It ranks second in ASEAN, just behind Brunei whose Earth Overshoot Day falls two days earlier. In comparison, Malaysia’s is more than a month after Singapore’s, on May 30, while Indonesia’s is Dec 18.
What this shows is there’s huge room for reducing Singapore’s resource consumption, and to me, online shopping platforms are a good place to start.
Unlike most other business activities needed for essential living (driving, eating, using energy), retail shopping can encourage mindless consumerism because there’s a possibility, we buy things we don’t need.
......
Or things are poorly manufactured and of low-quality, which means they stop functioning as intended and eventually end up in the bin.
......
Singapore aims to reduce the per capita waste to landfill by 30 per cent by 2030. Increasing recycling rates will help but reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place is even more important in reaching this goal
......
It may be an impossible idea, but perhaps limiting the amount of advertising from online shopping platforms may help. In addition to offering greater recycling options, making returns less convenient could be another way to discourage excessive purchases.
......
When it comes to a capitalist economy, it is wishful thinking to hope businesses will change their practices if it means less revenue. So, regulation could be key to reducing the impacts from online shopping platforms.
......
if businesses are taxed based on their emissions and footprint – and costs cascade down to consumers, then people may think twice before buying.
The concept of Extended Producer Responsibility could also be another way to curb excessive sales. If companies were responsible for collecting and ensuring proper recycling of products, the items listed and promoted on the platforms would quickly shift to those that are easier to recycle.
......
societal mindsets about our consumerist culture must shift and online shopping platforms can play a role by not encouraging this mindless consumption too.
Much better to read full article at: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commenta...nt-2303021
