Events and Pollutive Effects

 When I was checking my Shopee app on my phone a few days ago, the first thing I saw was this ad that popped up:  A clickable advertisement that re-directs users to the discounts and Vouchers page. I also noticed other e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Zalora having massive promotions commemorating the 15th of March, or World Consumer Rights Day. The idea is to of course attract consumers to the low prices and encourage them to purchase items that they have been meaning to purchase. These advertisements aimed at increasing e-commerce sales is seen as beneficial and necessary for boosting Singapore's economy following the pandemic and for achieving Singapore's goal of becoming Asia's leading e-commerce hub (Bala, 2021). However, according to Consumers International, the original motive of this day was to promote awareness for the protection of the rights of consumers, which include: the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be...

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! Singaporeans (including myself) generally don't celebrate this holiday but regardless, I think it's a nice excuse for me to wear green. Taking a look at other countries, particularly the U.S., St. Paddy's celebrations there are grand and extravagant. I was surprised to learn that in honour of this occasion, Chicago dyes its river green! This has been a long-standing tradition ever since plumbers in the 1960s accidentally turned the river fluorescent green by using dye to detect sources of illegal sewage discharges (Russell, 2010).  This accident was then intentionally incorporated as part of the annual St. Paddy's parades. While photos reveal that it is quite an interesting sight, making the city look like a comic book scene, I also wondered whether there were any toxic environmental impacts on the ecosystems in and around the river.  Chicago River after it was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day, 2022.  Source: CNN Initially, the dye - oi...

 On the topic of Budget 2022 and the increase in car prices, it appears that more Singaporeans are opting for Electronic Vehicles (EV). Finance minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech that around 4% of new car registrations last year were EVs, which is a small albeit significant increase (Chew, 2022).  Singapore's Ministry of Transport also plans for all vehicles to be low emission vehicles by 2040 by implementing incentives for the purchase of EVs such as the electric vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (Teo, 2020). Just four days ago, in an effort to work towards net zero-emission, the government set a target of reducing land transport emissions by 80% from Singapore's 7.7 million tonnes in 2016 (Mohan and Lim, 2022). Some proposed efforts in place to achieve this include making equipping HDB car parks with EV charging ports and electrifying the public buses. These measures, along with the increasing taxes and fuel costs, is said to drive up demand for EVs in the ...

 With the ongoing and steady rise in residential property prices in Singapore, I am starting to lose hope in getting my ideal home. HDB resale prices are predicted to increase by about 8 per cent in 2022, although this increase is said to be 'gentler' than other years (Goh, 2022). This led me to fantasise about my own future home by watching Tiny House Nation, a reality show where 2 builders design and construct a tiny house (around 20 - 55 square meters), usually mobile and made out of shipping containers. Throughout the show, the designers make mention of the sustainable concept of small homes and how carbon and energy-efficient they are, which is what attracts the homeowners. Recently, this concept was brought to a few locations in Singapore, such as the SG Hotel On Wheels (SHOW) in Pasir Ris and the Shipping Container Hotel (SCH) at OneNorth. These shipping container hotels seem to be changing the hotel industry in Singapore due to their unique concept and sustainability fa...

Since La Liga season is ongoing right now, it is a good opportunity to talk about a pollutive event that occurred in 2020, which resulted in postponement of games. A few weeks before the football game between Eibar and Real Sociedad, a landfill holding thousands of tonnes of industrial waste collapsed in Basque, an autonomous community in Spain. Two workers were declared missing and presumed dead following this, while a few fires also broke out near the town of Zaldibar, sparking not just town-wide but nation-wide concerns as toxic pollutants significantly contaminate the air (Hedgecoe, 2020). Reportedly, the quality of the air was found to be 40 times more toxic than usual levels following the incident. This is likely to be from the burning of plastics or materials which release Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP). Several water supplies were also contaminated with industrial chemicals, including ammonia. Locals in nearby towns Ermua and Eibar, where the football game was supposed...

Recently, on 25th February, an earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.2 hit Indonesia's Sumatra, wounding many and killing at least 11 people (The Guardian, 2022). Thousands were displaced in the aftermath and tremors were felt even in neighbouring countries Singapore and Malaysia. The effects were of course devastating as rescue is still being carried out in affected states. But apart from immediate injuries, how do earthquakes affect the health of those living nearby? According to NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS), earthquakes of similar magnitude can result in 14 groups of Infectious Diseases, including respiratory, water-borne, skin, vector-borne, and many more. These are often an indirect consequence of the earthquakes, termed secondary Earthquake Environment Effects (EEE) and more badly affects countries/areas with poor access to healthcare, sanitation and clean water.  Location of Epicentre of Sumatra Earthquake. Source: DW Earthquakes also significantly affec...

 Happy Recess Week! Although I didn't get to go for a staycation this week, I was living vicariously through other people's vacation experiences by watching hotel review videos on Youtube. Then I became curious as to what happened to left-over hotel amenities, like unused bars of soap or shampoo bottles. Do they get thrown away? If so, then that would mean a lot of waste is generated from hotels every day! Luckily, I found a video that helped satisfy my curiosity. Take a look:  Source: Tech Insider   Apparently, Hilton and a couple other hotel companies have been taking part in Clean the World, a social enterprise based in North America, which is dedicated to collecting and recycling soap bars that are left over for redistribution to children and families in need. Although it might seem off-putting that used soap is being recycled and repackaged, it's certainly better than being thrown away! What is most notable to me in the video is the statement "Hilton has pledged t...