Pantry, take away, delivery are integrated in our office’s routine and whether on an individual level or an organisation level, we can limit our environmental impact with minimal effort.
This section is mostly about raising awareness and reducing waste, including single-use items - such as but not limited to plastic: bags, cutlery, packaging...
Check out the BYO (Bring Your Own) Campaign launched in 2017 by Zero Waste SG. So far, 2.5 million pieces of plastic disposables were avoided through the campaign.
If you don't measure it, you can't manage it!
- Start recording your food and drinks consumption/ waste
- Implement a proper procedure to measure across all departments
- Set annual reduction targets of food and drinks consumption/ waste to achieve environmental sustainability, economic outcomes and food security
10-fold
cost reduction is achievable by optimising the office coffee machine servicing: no single-use cups, no over-maintenance, etc. Check out this testimonial to learn more.
Target a Zero Waste objective. Among other ideas to decrease your F&B consumption:
- Avoid over-ordering F&B for meetings, workshops, trainings, events. It is usually sufficient to order for 10–15% less than the number of guests attending.
- Serve tap-water in reusable glass bottles
- Make sure to share the leftovers with others or offer to take them home.
S$ 342 million
worth of wasted food every year in Singapore, equivalent on average to S$258 per household.
(Todayonline)
~50%
of the yearly food waste is generated by non-domestic sources (manufacturers, retailers, hotels, malls...).
(Todayonline)
Singapore's tap water is perfectly safe to drink without any further filtration. You can add a filter to the tap water if you wish.
Use reusable cups!
x1,000 cheaper
Tap water is approximately $3 per 1,000 litres, comparatively to bottled water, which is approximately $3 per litre.
(The University of Queensland)
x1,500 more energy intensive
It takes 1,500 times more energy to produce a bottled water than to treat & distribute tap water.
(The University of Queensland)
Singapore’s tap water quality is good within the Singapore Environmental Public Health Regulations (Water Suitable for Drinking) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.
Over 500,000 tests are conducted annually on physical, organic, inorganic, radiological and microbiological parameters.
Prefer pipe-in Water Dispensers. Direct piping dispensers are plastic bottleless and typically connected to the water source (piped-in) in the office, with/ without filter.
91%
of the world’s plastic bottles are not recycled.
(JerseyIslandHolidays)
1 Mil/ minute
plastic water bottles are consumed worldwide.
(Kablo)
Westcom Solutions Pte Ltd (WCS) was established with the aim to conserve and improve the eco-green system environment and overall well-being. Their team is always committed to discover, updates and devoted to developing and producing a wide range of equipments and products from food waste recycling technology to water and bio-toilet technology.
Westcom Solutions Pte Ltd provides alkaline water (pH 9.0) and hydrogen water dispensers alongside food waste composting & recycling machines.
- Reuse plastic, paper, tissue bags
- Create a "bags box" for employees for their take-away lunch or other purchase. To do so, collect existing bags from home or the community, instead of producing new ones
820 mil. plastic bags
from supermarkets are used in Singapore every year, representing 126 Gardens by the Bay land surface.
(SEC)
Get rid of single-use plastic/ styrofoam cups, plates, cutlery, boxes... Replace them with reusable in the pantries.
4% only
of plastic waste is recycled in Singapore. One major hurdle is waste contamination.
(NEA)
Left-handesign is Singapore's 1st Plantable sustainable stationery & lifestyle brand playfully designed with light & love. They celebrate collections inspired by simple joys of travel, art, nature, food, impressions as seen in day to day life.
Under left-handesign they design the ‘Plantable Series’ called BĪJ a Sanskrit word that means Seed. Their range of products includes Pencils, Pens and Notebooks, Gift tags which you can plant into an herb like tomato, chili, marigold, tulsi (indian basil), spinach, okra, morning glory, mustard seeds.
Left-handesign was founded with a simple mission: put Nature back into peoples' lives. Through their "PLANT A TREE IN YOUR NAME” Program, they plant a tree for EVERY purchase.
Bamboo Straw Girl works directly with makers (fair-trade) and focuses on producing meaningful lifestyle products that are low-impact from production to delivery and usage.
The founder Melissa Lam aims at engaging eco conversations, starting with the simple bamboo straw. The novel item became a small ripple at the beginning of the growth of the zero-waste movement in Singapore. Melissa is a TedX speaker and actively promotes the environmental message through her school and corporate talks. With her team, she focuses on waste reduction and on impacting the communities of artisans they work with in South East Asia.
The company conducts corporate talks, lunchtime info sessions, educational workshops, and pop-up retail booths. They also produce corporate gifts that are curated to suit the corporate theme and guide their clients in selecting the most relevant item to promote their green message.
Your Sustainable Store is a Singapore-based online store created to make a wide range of curated, stylish and affordable sustainable products easily available. They are constantly on the look out for more amazing products. They hope that by offering practical yet stylish alternatives, they can inspire more people to lead an environmentally aware lifestyle.
Products range from cutlery, cups, to cosmetics and cleaning accessories.
- For take-away meals, encourage your employees to refuse single-use (bag, box, cutlery,...), to bring their own (BYO) reusable containers or use reusable containers app solutions such as Muuse or BarePack.
- Refuse plastic carriers if packed food can be held in the hand.
- For BYO, glass, stainless steel or BPA-free plastics are some recommended material options from a safety standpoint.
- Join the BarePack Corporate Program providing employees benefits and on-site collection.
10 Olympic swimming pools
This is the volume of single-use items such as plastic bags and takeaway containers used in Singapore every year.
(SEC)
Bring Your Own (BYO) Singapore movement gathers over 1,000 retailers who offers incentives to customers who bring their own reusable bags, bottles or containers.
BarePack is an app to rent & return reusable containers (boxes & cups) to make zero-waste the new norm for takeaway & delivery.
They help corporates in their very offices' cafeteria/ restaurant with a collection/ drop-off system. Once your staff are members through your corporate plan, they can use the solution across Singapore anytime, any day.
The brand is born from the frustration felt having to choose between the convenience of single-use waste and sustainability. "Takeaway great food – not trash!"
They are now also available on Deliveroo, GrabFood and Foodpanda for delivery.
Muuse promotes reuse to reduce single-use waste in Singapore. Through their QR-based system, you can borrow and return eco-stylish reusable cups and food boxes to and from 50+ outlets. They're also on GrabFood and Foodpanda so you can save on waste the next time you order! To get started, just download the Muuse app.
Muuse is subscription-based but you can sign up for a FREE month trial of Muuse Pro. All first-time users can try out the app before committing to an active monthly or annual plan!
- Some products can be found in bulk to limit transport and packaging: coffee, tea, sugar, fruits...It can be the opportunity to promote healthier/ better quality of products, such as organic nuts and dry fruits.
- Make sure you don't over-order and waste. It is usually enough to order for 10%-15% less attendees than planned.
- Use proper containers to avoid wastage (e.g. airtight boxes, resealable packaging...)
1/3
of Singapore domestic waste is packaging waste (by weight).
(NEA)
31 kg
of plastic packaging waste is produced, on average, per person per year in the EU.
(Plastic Education)
Shiokfarm brings affordable and organic fruit and vegetables to families and companies in Singapore. Most of their products come from Malaysia and Thailand to limit carbon footprint.
They have a corporate offer "Fruitsintheoffice" to deliver fresh fruits to companies' office every week.
Their program allows to drastically reduce food waste as their members commit for a 6 month period and Shiokfarm commits with their farms for 2 years.
Herbal tea has been used for centuries and has many proven health benefits, depending on the plants used. Mint, chamomile, lemon balm, dandelion etc. can be grown indoor or outdoor in Singapore. Herbs are easy to work with. Once harvested, they just need to be dried and enjoyed. Use this indoor garden to raise awareness about food production.
Learn more on how to grow different herbs here.
1,300
community gardens are maintained in Singapore.
(NParks. Find your closest garden)
Provide fresh fruits to your employees once or twice a week (prefer package free, chemicals-free, local products)
Meat consumption contributes to climate change. Encourage your employees to learn more about this issue, and adopt a vegetarian-diet-day once a week.
Take a look at Green Monday.
Hold an optional monthly or quarterly potluck to encourage people to eat a healthy, home-cooked lunch. Employees will have the opportunity to share a good meal, strengthen relationships and meet people they don’t usually interact with. Check this example.
50%
reduction in meat and sugar consumption would be necessary to help feeding a growing world population of 10 bn people by 2050 - among other drastic changes.
(The Lancet)
Shiokfarm brings affordable and organic fruit and vegetables to families and companies in Singapore. Most of their products come from Malaysia and Thailand to limit carbon footprint.
They have a corporate offer "Fruitsintheoffice" to deliver fresh fruits to companies' office every week.
Their program allows to drastically reduce food waste as their members commit for a 6 month period and Shiokfarm commits with their farms for 2 years.
If you need to order food delivery:
When you order food via delivery platforms or directly from your favourite restaurants & stalls, don't forget to specify you don't need disposables such as plastic cutlery, tissue, cups...
2,2 mil
straws consumed in Singapore every day are not recycled.
(Eco-Business)
BarePack is an app to rent & return reusable containers (boxes & cups) to make zero-waste the new norm for takeaway & delivery.
They help corporates in their very offices' cafeteria/ restaurant with a collection/ drop-off system. Once your staff are members through your corporate plan, they can use the solution across Singapore anytime, any day.
The brand is born from the frustration felt having to choose between the convenience of single-use waste and sustainability. "Takeaway great food – not trash!"
They are now also available on Deliveroo, GrabFood and Foodpanda for delivery.
Muuse promotes reuse to reduce single-use waste in Singapore. Through their QR-based system, you can borrow and return eco-stylish reusable cups and food boxes to and from 50+ outlets. They're also on GrabFood and foodpanda so you can save on waste the next time you order! To get started, just download the Muuse app.
Muuse is subscription-based but you can sign up for a FREE month trial of Muuse Pro. All first-time users can try out the app before committing to an active monthly or annual plan!
Responsible F&B, Open Farm Community aims to be a centerpoint at which the various sectors in food service can find solutions for sustainable hospitality. First and foremost a restaurant with a large organic herb garden focusing on indigenous species, they support local farms (as soon to have the first in soil farm in urban Singapore themselves), and believe in the importance of food that is both tasty and relatively healthy.
They host green weddings, climate conversations, and masterclasses with artisans who are practicing their craft responsibly. They are a founding member of the F&B Sustainability council here in SG.
Open Farm Community recycles, limits single use plastics, as well as water & food waste and optimises electricity usage. Unique delivery drop programs using re-usable plastic bins.
The venue sits on a 35,000 sqft of green-land.
SaladStop! is an international brand which motto is Eat Wide Awake.
Some of their initiatives for health, people and the planet include in-store Recycling bins, composting program, non-toxic detergents, BYO campaign, reusable containers, packaging made of recycled PET, water consumption & energy efficiency, etc.
Reuse / Donate / Compost used coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are 100% natural and have various practical usage related to gardening, cleaning or technological usage such as fire retardant material. Contract with a specialist to collect them.
If you want to compost it by yourself, be aware that used coffee grounds must be detoxified by composting for a minimum of 98 days for plants to benefit from the potassium and nitrogen contained in the roasted beans.
2 bn cups
of coffee are consumed every day across the globe.
(The World Economic Forum)
6 mil. tons
of coffee grounds are thrown away every year.
(The sustainable Coffee Guide)
A1 Environment was created in 2012 by a team with over 20 years' experience in recycling. A1 Environment was set up to provide more flexibility and better used coffee recycling services to organizations.
The « green journey » may feel overwhelming sometimes, but you are not alone.
Our Buddies have tried, succeeded, failed to implement change in their companies. They share their experience so you can learn, take shortcuts, get inspired and ask questions.
Everybody can become a Buddy and give back to the community; if you are keen, get in touch with us.
Increasingly concerned about the environment, for the past few years, Alya has taken steps to live a more sustainable lifestyle, with the digital learning manager refilling goods at plastic-free stores, making her own skincare from scratch and composting her kitchen waste. Since she has embarked on her ‘green journey’, Alya has been taking actions to keep on raising awareness towards sustainability – from organising free workshops and holding talks, to creating a neighbourhood chat group to reduce waste & increase sharing amongst neighbours. In 2021, Alya has been featured on BBC News for tracking her carbon footprint using the Capture app.
In 2022, Alya has founded GreenPush, a knowledge + community platform to help eco-conscious individuals grow. 🌱
Passionate about travels, Benoit left France in 2011 for Asia, lived in Hong Kong then landed in Singapore 6 years ago, working for Credit Agricole CIB. With 15 years of experience in IT across different sectors and industries, he is now managing a team focusing on IT application support. In 2017, he was one of the founders, and now the leader, of their first green team in Singapore.
Coming from a background of digital media, film-making, and digital marketing, Yen-Lyng fell into the sustainability field when she joined a waste management company as a Recycling Ambassador. During that time, she saw the many intricacies and challenges facing the very overlooked and underappreciated world of waste. So, when given the opportunity of working on a coffee recycling project, Yen-Lyng jumped at it. She will tell you more about her why and what of coffee recycling in her sharing and the challenges of lauching sustainable projects.
In charge of Customer Experience for Lyreco Asia, Mary joined the company in 2018 to accelerate Digital and Marketing activities. In 2020, she was appointed sustainability ambassador as well for the region, as the topic was becoming a strategic one for the company. Thriving to drive the change internally and externally, she launched a Green Team that she is co-leading with her colleague.
Prior to this role, Mary had made her career essentially in the hospitality industry at global and regional role, from trade marketing, sales to Digital marketing. Before moving to Singapore in 2015, she was based in Dubai, UAE and France.
Before joining Chanel, I was General Manager of BSI Singapore for 2.5 years. Prior to joining BSI, I held different job assignments for the international retailer Carrefour. For them, I oversaw Quality, Food Safety and Sustainability in China and then at the Group level.
I spent most of my career working in Asia: in Shanghai, Hong Kong and I have been happily settled in Singapore for 8 years now.
I have a real passion for sustainability and nature conservation and I love to share the knowledge and experience I gained in this field. I am also a volunteer for the Singaporean NGO called Climate Conversation which aims to raise awareness on climate change.
Virgile is an academic researcher who works for the CNRS (France) and the National University of Singapore. He heads an international collaborative lab between Singapore and France at the mechanobiology institute.
He is also in charge of the transition towards more sustainable practices in the lab and in the institute. He has already implemented various actions covering energy efficiency, consumables usage reduction, waste management...
