Events and Pollutive Effects

After 2 consecutive years of being cancelled, Coachella, one of the most anticipated music festivals in the U.S., finally returns this year and will be held in April from the 15th to 17th and 22nd to 24th. With big names like Harry Styles, Doja Cat and Billie Eilish, tickets are confirmed to sell out. Recently, Coachella (along with other large-scale music festivals) have been getting criticism from environmentalists due to its massive pollutive effects. The Coachella organising committee is aware of this and has dedicated a page to sustainability covering a range of the efforts undertaken to ensure eco-friendliness and mitigate negative environmental consequences. There are also reminders for festival-goers to reduce carbon footprint by ride-sharing and to minimise waste whenever possible. According to a paper by Larasti (2019), some of these efforts have indeed been successful in mitigating the environmental impacts generated. However, the carbon footprint generated from travelling

Holi 2022 celebration in India.  Source: National Today Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is a religious Spring festival celebrated by Hindus. This year, Holi falls on the 18th of March. Although celebrated a little differently according to cultural practices, the more common ways of celebrating are by lighting bonfires and throwing water and powder paints of various colours to commemorate love, spring and new life (BBC, 2022). Holi is also celebrated in Singapore, and the biggest scale event is organised by Rang De Holi every year, where people get to throw rainbow-coloured powders in an open field. But this event is celebrated on an even larger scale in India and Nepal due to its historical and cultural significance. As with all events and festivities however, this celebration has also drawn the attention of environmentalists for its toxic effects on humans and ecosystems. Taking a look at a research paper by Gardner and Lal (2012), the impacts of Holi celebrations are fou

 As we officially enter into April, I immediately think of Easter. A few days ago, I noticed that supermarkets have started selling Easter-related goods such as chocolate eggs, plastic eggs, paint sets and confetti. Easter is celebrated by a handful of people in Singapore, and egg painting is often seen as a fun activity for younger children. However, seeing as there is a large amount of consumption associated with this holiday, I am interested in finding out what environmental footprint it leaves behind, if any. Apparently, this article by Independent reveals that excess egg packaging and chocolate production for Easter is problematic and has been heavily criticised by environmentalists. Similar to Valentine's day (which I wrote about earlier), this holiday promotes consumerist behaviour which becomes particularly problematic when there is excessive waste generated.  Easter eggs (plastic and chocolate) and their packaging are contributing significantly to the problem of plastic p

A test-firing of a missile in North Korea in January 2022. Source: REUTERS Last week, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the testing of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Hwasong-17. This launch reportedly flew higher and for a longer time than previous missile tests, landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and was largely condemned by the G7 leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during their summit on 24th March (Smith & Shin, 2022). While this is devastating news, nuclear weapons testing is by no means unfamiliar to us. We can already expect some level of consequences to either the environment or humankind. The United Nations terms nuclear testing as the 'cruellest' environmental injustice due to its many lasting effects including radioactive nuclear waste causing lethal health impacts (United Nations, 2020).  Specific to North Korea, their missile testings have already significantly impacted