Greenies of the World Unite!

Greenies of the world unite

We'll show them how the Greenies fight

We'll walk through the fields with our heads held high

Cos ain't nobody gonna break our stride

-adapted from a cheer I used to shout in Cedar Girls. (Wow I actually remembered!)

"Going Green"

We've heard about it but done little. The three pillars of going green are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I always prided myself as an educated undergrad who takes up the call to action with the knowledge I've been receiving. Friends who know me will testify to how I will try my best not to buy bottled water on days I forgot to bring my bottle, how I try to squeeze just-bought products into my handbag because I refused the plastic bag, and lately, my experimentation with vegetarianism.

A half-baked Greenie though...

I'm big on Reducing. I try not to buy stuff I don't need now, I refuse plastic bags, and I reuse them if I don't. But when it comes to recycling, I'm thoroughly ashamed. I hate recycling! Firstly, I have to carry it around and wash that sticky glass bottle/can at the toilet, then walk half a mile just to look for the recycling bin. And when I finally find one yellow bin under the hot sun, it's loaded with garbage! Tell me, who wouldn't give up on recycling?

The way recycling bins are positioned in Singapore is terrible. Let me use the photos to explain the situation at my HDB estate.

Firstly, don't they look dirty? Where's that clean and cool image recycling should have? And secondly, the instructions to handle your recyclable items are written in fine print at the bottom right hand corner of the bin. Are you kidding me? It's weird how they have one common recycling bin for every recyclable item! It'll be messy. No wonder no one takes recycling seriously. Come on, we're supposed to be a first world country. We can do better than this! Veolia, I hope you read my blog.

Enough about the 3Rs.. Moving on...

"We are morally conscious eaters"

2 months ago, my sweet boyfriend bought a book from Amazon and read on it on his Kindle. (Or did he pirated it? Can't remember) Anyway, it's called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. And every time Joshua finishes a chapter, he summarizes (and scares) it to me on the phone. Basically, it's about how cruel the mass meat production industry is. Poultry, red meat and seafood. (There are still some people who thinks the seafood industry is not affected, they are the "vegetarians" who eat fish) So after all the talking, I always ask, what are you going to do about it? Initially he was reluctant but finally we both agreed to try an experiment. I'm gonna be a vegetarian twice a week for a year and Josh 2 months straight. Twice a week might seem weak and lame but trust me, I'll go into serious cold turkey if I became full vegetarian. We decided to brand ourselves as the Morally Conscious Eaters.

The Bible states that God has given us dominion over all animals and that whatever God has created is good. It's perfectly alright to eat meat and give thanks to the abundance God has provided us. But meat, in the olden days, was never meant to be eaten every meal. Maybe once a week, or once in two weeks. Our appetites have changed pretty drastically since then and the methods of mass meat production are different from what we used to know. (It's very processed and cruel) For full details, please read the book. Or talk to Joshua.

And that's why we want to become morally conscious eaters. More than just being vegetarians, it's about forcing ourselves to take up the call of action rather than to ignore it. We don't want to study for more than 10 years and still not yet learn how to respond rightly to knowledge.

In days to come, I'll write on what it's like being vegetarians. (I'm not really a vegetarian though, just Tues & Thurs) So stay tune.