Malaysia is leading the charge for ASEAN on banning single-use plastics and a 15-year-old is making a change because adults aren’t. Our world is in shambles but with more people speaking out, change is gaining momentum.
Big changes are afoot in the region. Check out these hot sustainability headlines from all over the globe in this week’s Conscious Scoop.
1. Malaysia to ban single-use plastics by 2030
Southeast Asia has some of the biggest plastic polluters in the world, who’ve been contributing large masses of waste to our oceans for decades. The first country to do so in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has just imposed a nation-wide ban to stop the use of single-use plastics by 2030. We hope the region follows suit!
2. 15-year-old Swedish teen cutting class for the environment
Who needs class if our forests are burning down? Not your typical kind of environmental activism, but Greta Thunberg can be seen sitting on the cobblestones outside parliament in Stockholm handling out leaflets that says “I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.”
If the even next generation is speaking out, shouldn’t we speak out too?
3. How one beer company is ditching plastic six-pack rings
Onwards and upwards, Carlsberg is waving good-bye to plastic rings. Their six packs of beers will now be held together by an innovative new glue. This move is estimated to reduce more than 1,200 metric tons of plastic a year- the equivalent of 60 million plastic bags! After 3 years of testing and over 4,000 different types of glue, they’ve finally found a winner.
We’re stuck together like some kind of superglue, baby.
4. Flexitarian fast food options coming soon to Singapore
4FINGERS, a Singaporean crispy chicken fast-food chain, has just bought 50% of Australian brand Mad Mex; So we may be seeing Mad Mex arriving on our sunny shores soon! Mad Mex has been long been a fan-favourite for gluten-free and dairy-free customers, and this collaboration might see more of such options coming to our fast food scene.
They’re not the easiest to understand, there are just so many of them. With no regulations about what ‘organic’ really means in Singapore, we don’t really have a way to get to know these things easily. So what’s the stink about some of our labels? CNA uncovers the truth behind ‘organic’ and ‘sustainably fished’ labels.
*Cover photo is taken from The Guardian, the photo taken by Michael Campanella.