DIE DIE MUST SHARE LEISURE the Idea of Collaborative Consumption Simply Ling Kai

SEP 2011 Issue 01 G AIA

SEP 2011 ISSUE 01 INTERVIEW Carpooling 2.0

HOME Give It Away

HEALTH Choosing a Healthy Dinner

STYLE Playful Elegance DIE DIE MUST SHARE LEISURE The Idea of Collaborative Consumption Simply Ling Kai

“ I don’t believe we can achieve sustainable lifestyles without a clear vision of what the mountain summit we are being asked to climb towards, looks like. ” Alan Knight

2 CONTENTS

19 16 23

04 NEWS 19 HEALTH Choosing a Healthy Dinner – 2 07 FEATURE Tasty Vegetarian Recipes Die Die Must Share – The Idea of Collaborative Consumption 23 STYLE Playful Elegance – Organic Clothing 12 INTERVIEW Mix and Match Carpooling 2.0 – Interview with MyRideBuddy 27 LEISURE Simply Ling Kai – Supporting Local 16 HOME Music Give It Away – 10 Ways to Clear Your Stuff 28 BOOKS

29 DEALS 3

NEWS Push for CSR will focus on youth

Singapore Compact for CSR, the national organisation promoting A roundup of what happened last corporate social responsibility, will month: place a strong emphasis on youth as it Concert to Save the World's ramps up its awareness drive and Saddest Dolphins training programmes. The new CDL-Singapore Compact About 1,000 people turned up for a Young CSR Leaders Award is aimed concert at the Speakers' Corner at at promoting CSR to young people Hong Lim Park in a show of support and at encouraging and engaging for the release of 25 dolphins SMEs to practice CSR. belonging to Resorts World Sentosa. Festival, with 40% of their mooncake box packaging being unnecessary and The concert was organised by the wasteful. Animal Concerns Research and Punggol eco-town to test- Education Society with Young NTUC. bed integrated energy No water wasted with green solutions car wash Unnecessary and wasteful One block of public housing in mooncake packaging A local start-up has launched the Singapore‟s Punggol eco-town will be Grienwash car washing service, a test-bed for environmentally- The Singapore Packaging Council providing waterless car wash that friendly energy solutions, as part of a said some retailers have gone saves tonnes of water using eco- collaboration between Panasonic, overboard during the Mid-Autumn friendly cleaning products. It does not HDB, EDB and EMA. leave behind foam, water or dirt on the floor.

Solar panels will be fitted on the block of flats and an integrated energy system will help families reduce their carbon footprint and utilities bill.

Senoko Energy may offer solar energy options to HDB households

Singapore‟s largest power generating company, Senoko Energy, is exploring to offer solar energy options to HDB households and industrial customers.

This is still at an early stage and will likely be in collaboration with a solar equipment maker.

Companies can lease or buy up to 95 Give feedback on pet such cars without paying vehicular ownership and stray Electric car trial charges taxes or bidding for COEs. management ahead However, motorists gripe about the MND has launched an online At least 14 participants have signed cars‟ exorbitant price, and worry feedback channel for the public to up for the electric cars under the $20 whether there will be adequate give their views and suggestions on million three-year electric vehicle trial. charging points. pet ownership and the management of animal strays till October.

HDB plans to make Suggest ideas for City in a enhance competencies of our recycling more convenient Garden landscape and horticultural industry; for residents and engage and inspire communities NParks revealed its City in a Garden to co-create a greener Singapore. Separate recycling chutes will be vision to create more green spaces The public can contribute their ideas provided along the common areas and improve existing ones. at www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag. near the centralized refuse chutes at Six key areas have been identified: four new HDB projects – Fernvale Establish world-class gardens; Vista in Sengkang, rejuvenate urban parks and enliven Treelodge@Punggol and two build- PM Lee supports The Green our streetscape; optimise urban spaces to-order projects currently under for greenery and recreation; enrich Corridor construction at Dawson. biodiversity in our urban environment; During the National Day Rally, PM Lee cited The Green Corridor project as one example where Singaporeans are going beyond giving views and coming forward to work with one other and with the government on projects which matter to them and which are good for Singapore.

PM Lee mentioned that MND, URA and himself are very keen on this project. The public can suggest ideas for the rail corridor at the URA website.

6 FEATURE

DIE DIE MUST SHARE The Idea of Collaborative Consumption

Eugene Tay, the Editor of Green Business Times and Founder of Green

Future Solutions, is a person whom you would describe as a green maven – someone who reads and knows a lot about environmental trends and ideas, and who likes to share them with

others.

Having come across many green ideas over the past few years, there is one recent idea Eugene would claim that he „die die must share‟ – the idea of

Collaborative Consumption.

7 Collaborative Consumption refers to the idea of sharing that is empowered by technology and social networks, and how it changes consumption and the way businesses operate.

Sharing also covers renting, swapping, lending, trading, exchanging, bartering, and gifting. The advantages of sharing are that fewer resources are used to make and ship products, and less waste are generated and disposed.

The term Collaborative Consumption was first described in 2010 in the book What‟s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers.

Other resources with similar ideas on sharing include the book The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing by Lisa Gansky and the Shareable website.

Eugene believes that Collaborative Consumption is an important and emerging idea because consumers are starting to realize that they can share rather than buy more stuff.

8 This is motivated by greater Another example of Product Service It allows individuals to benefit from environmental awareness and cost Systems is MyRideBuddy, a dynamic the convenience of the car without consciousness, the proliferation of and real time carpooling solution in owning one, while reducing costs and mobile peer-to-peer technologies and Singapore, which matches users near the problems of congestion and air social networks, and the need to be common start and end points so that pollution. part of a community. they can share a car ride together according to their convenience and In the book What‟s Mine Is Yours, preferences. the authors describe three systems of Collaborative Consumption - Product Service Systems, Redistribution Markets and Collaborative Lifestyles.

Product Service Systems

Product Service Systems is where you pay for and enjoy the benefit of using a product without having to own the product.

Local examples in Singapore include HollywoodClicks.com, which rents movie DVDs to customers who receive and return the DVDs via post; Maternity Exchange, which offers maternity and nursing wear rental for mums-to-be; and Clean Mobility Singapore, which provides electric vehicle sharing and rental scheme.

9 Redistribution Markets designers and schools that can utilise Another example of Collaborative those waste. Lifestyles is Milaap, a social The second system of Collaborative enterprise providing a microfinance Consumption is Redistribution This reduces waste and keeps platform that enables individuals to Markets, where you transfer used or valuable resources out of the make microloans that help villagers in unwanted stuff to somewhere or incineration plants and landfills while India gain access to basic services, someone where they are wanted. helping companies save time, money such as education, healthcare, and reduce their environmental electricity, and clean water. Local examples include SG Freecycle, impacts. where anyone can post their unwanted While Collaborative Consumption is items or request for stuff that they still in its infancy in Singapore, want; Offstock, where companies can Collaborative Lifestyles Eugene believes that this idea would buy or sell excess stocks of chemicals gain more interest in the coming years and raw materials; and Pass It On, The third system of Collaborative and more companies would start to which allows the public to donate Consumption is Collaborative explore the business opportunities of used furniture and appliances, which Lifestyles, where you share and sharing. are given to needy families and exchange less tangible assets such as The earlier business examples show charities. time, space and money with people of elements of sharing, but they have not similar interests. Another example of Redistribution really made full use of technology and Markets is Waste is not Waste Local examples include Hackerspace social networks to better enhance (WINW), an online waste exchange Singapore, which provides a co- sharing. for businesses and organisations in working and relaxing space for For the companies, they would have Singapore and Malaysia. techies to work and collaborate; to work with the green and tech Give.sg, which allows anyone to WINW facilitates the exchange of community, and maximize the use of organize their own fundraising waste materials and unwanted items technology to come up with better and campaigns; and SG Cares, which from companies and organisations more sustainable ways of sharing. that no longer need them to matches volunteers with volunteer businesses, non-profit organisations, groups and opportunities. For consumers, it‟s time to get ready for Collaborative Consumption. 10

“ People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole! ” Theodore Levitt

INTERVIEW

CARPOOLING 2.0 Interview with MyRideBuddy

The emerging idea of Collaborative Consumption or sharing empowered by technology and social networks, is

changing consumption and the way

businesses operate.

One example of Collaborative Consumption is the 2.0 version of carpooling service, which is dynamic and enhanced by technology, so that users can get real-time information on available car rides, and enjoy the

benefits of a car without having to

own one.

MyRideBuddy is one such carpooling 2.0 service launched recently in Singapore by Mr Ashoketaru Sengupta, Co-Founder of Ananya Ventures Pte Ltd, who came up with

the MyRideBuddy carpooling solution. Ashoke also provides business advisory to help start-ups get funding and grow.

Idea

Ashoke shared that the idea initially Ashoke thinks that Singapore is an He wants a system that is easy to use came from his wife, Shyamasri, when ideal place to implement his and where the system does most of he and his wife were in Mumbai and carpooling solution as Singapore is a the work. usually had to spend long hours on the compact city with sufficient number road due to traffic congestion. of cars, and is a digitized society with The system should match car rides among like-minded people so that ride When they came to Singapore a few people being IT-savvy and heavy takers and car owners feel years ago, they liked the congestion- users of smartphones. comfortable with each other in the car, free roads here, although they are now The MyRideBuddy system is self- and should also be flexible in starting to find more congestion funded by Ashoke and is in beta rescheduling rides. problems with increasing number of testing since March this year, and the cars. soft launch is expected soon. Ashoke shared that the system cannot just rely on the usual philanthropic Ashoke felt that the traffic in Ashoke‟s vision is to take away the model for carpooling services, and Singapore should avoid becoming like pain of carpooling. During the design must provide monetary incentives for Mumbai, and decided to realize his of the MyRideBuddy service, various the car owners in order for the system wife‟s initial idea and turn it into a social, economical and psychological to scale. practical solution. aspects were considered.

Car owners should be paid for sharing How It Works MyRideBuddy matches users near their cars but can choose to donate the common start and end points or en money to a green or social cause and MyRideBuddy is the first, dynamic route drop-off points, so that they can contribute to a good change. and real time carpooling solution in share a car ride together according to Singapore. their convenience and preferences. Currently, the barriers are to get people to be aware of the service and Carpooling is when two or more MyRideBuddy uses an advanced real- how quickly the service can scale up. people share a car and travel together. time algorithm engine to help match Once MyRideBuddy takes off in It allows individuals to benefit from someone going in a particular Singapore, Ashoke hopes to export the convenience of the car, while direction with a car (called the “car this Singapore solution and take it to reducing costs and the problems of owner”) with someone else who other cities in Asia. congestion and air pollution. wants to go in the same direction (called the “ride taker”), both together called “ride partners” or “ride buddies”.

The engine matches not just the journey or the route but also preferences of users in terms of profile of the ride partners.

It then provides the required information on the ride match, the ride partners and other relevant information required to enable the ride share, via email and SMS.

All you need to do is to state when equivalent to S$1) and have adequate or donate the money to a green or you want to carpool, and the start and credit balance in their Ride Miles social cause. end points. MyRideBuddy will account. automatically match partners and send The MyRideBuddy system also shows you the required information. Ride takers can top-up their Ride your carbon emissions saved from Miles account by credit card or carpooling. It will also inform you about the time PayPal. The ride taker has to pay Ride of the pick up, the location and the car Miles to the car owner, and a This easy and convenient carpooling and ride partner details. transaction fee will be deducted to service enables you to save money, pay MyRideBuddy. get to know more friends, reduce your MyRideBuddy does not charge a fee carbon footprint and contribute to a for users to register and be a member, On average, 5 Ride Miles allows a green cause. but the ride taker will be requested to ride taker to take 1 ride. The car buy Ride Miles (1 Ride Mile is owners can choose to keep the money

Profile

Ashoketaru Sengupta, shareholder and director, is a leading finance and business development professional with 20 years of work experience across markets in Asia Pacific. He also runs an independent business advisory and consultancy service. His wife, Shyamasri Das Sharma, shareholder and director, is a seasoned banker and is currently employed in a top tier global investment bank.

HOME

GIVE IT AWAY 10 Ways to Clear Your Stuff

Is your home cluttered with too many 1. Freecycle 2. Pass It On stuff? It‟s time to clear the unwanted items, however, don‟t just throw them The Singapore Freecycle Network is Pass It On is a Central CDC initiative away. If your items are still in good part of the global Freecycle that allows the public to donate condition, consider giving them to movement that allows anyone to give unwanted household items in good someone or donating them to charity. away or receive items for free on working condition to Voluntary Yahoo! Groups. Welfare Organisations (VWOs). Here are 10 ways to give your stuff away: 16

3. Barterfolks 6. 88 Recycling Kiosk 7. Tzu Chi Recycling

Barterfolks is a new online The Kong Meng San Phor Kark See The Tzu Chi Recycling Day on the community where you can find and Monastery operates the 88 Recycling second Sunday of every month is held trade items with others. Kiosk where volunteers sort out, at various recycling points and repair, and repack all the collected includes the collection of items like items from the public. clothes, electrical appliances, school bags, leather, belts, shoes, soft toys, 4. YouSwop Items that are acceptable include TV CDs, etc. sets, hi-fi sets, radio sets, electric fans, YouSwop is an online community that PCs (CPU, monitor only), shoes, belts, allows people to exchange items for soft toys, newspapers, books, something they need for free. wheelchairs, and walking aids.

5. Salvation Army

The Salvation Army operates Family Thrift Stores that receives donations- in-kind from the public and companies, and resells them to support social programmes.

You can find a list of the locations of Family Thrift Stores and donation bins at the Salvation Army website.

8. National Recycling 9. Recycling Exchange and Veolia has the Recycling Programme Exchange Initiative (REIT) in the The NRP recycling contractors Pasir Ris-Tampines, Bedok, and Old clothing and small electrical usually organise a monthly recycling Tanglin-Bukit Merah sectors. appliances can be placed in the exchange by working with the recycling bags or bins under the Residents‟ Committee (RC) to set up National Recycling Programme recycling stations for residents to 10. Recycling Collectors (NRP). exchange their recyclables for cash or food items. and Traders Or you can use the Centralised Recycling Depositories found at all For example, Colex has the Cash for You can find a list of collectors and HDB estates. View the locations at Trash Programme in the Jurong sector, traders for different types of items at the SLA OneMap under the the NEA website.

Environment theme.

18 HEALTH

Thinking about what to have for dinner? CHOOSING A

Eating less meat is a healthier and more eco-friendly choice, and with a wider range of vegetarian food outlets HEALTHY DINNER today, it has become much easier to make that choice. 2 Tasty Vegetarian Recipes

You can also choose to cook more vegetarian dishes at home. Here are two tasty recipes for you to try cooking a delicious vegetarian dinner for your family.

Green Papaya Soup

Preparation: 5 hours or overnight soaking of rice

Cooking: 45 mins – 1 hr

Serves: 3 large or 4 medium bowls

19 Ingredients 3. Add the rice and 2 cups (500 ml / Nam Lu (Red Beancurd 16 fl. ounces) of water. Bring to a Wrap) 1 cup brown rice boil, cover and quickly turn the 1 onion, diced heat down to simmer for 15-20 Preparation: 40 minutes 2 cloves garlic, chopped minutes. 1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil Cooking: 15 minutes 3-4 cups water 4. Add the papaya, pumpkin and A third of a medium-sized, nearly ripe sweet potato and another 1 to 2 Serves: 4 papaya, in chunks or diced cups (250-500 ml / 8-16 fl. ounces) Ingredients A small wedge of pumpkin, diced of water. 1 medium-sized sweet potato, diced 5. Cover and simmer for 15-20 Beancurd Roll: A bunch of sweet potato leaves, minutes more. 5 dried Chinese mushrooms English spinach (puay leng), sweet Oil leaf (cangkok manis) or any leafy 6. Add green vegetables and turn off ½ sheet dried, unsalted beancurd skin, green vegetable, chopped heat at once. Do not cover if you cut into 8 pieces 1 tablespoon light miso or shoyu want the vegetables to stay green. 2 pieces fresh beancurd, sliced (optional) 50 g / 1¾ ounces plain flour 7. Add miso or shoyu to taste and Coriander leaves or chives, for garnish with coriander leaves or garnish Sauce: chives. Method 1 tablespoon red beancurd sauce Variations ½ tablespoon raw sugar 1. Pre-soak the rice for a few hours or 3 tablespoons water overnight. Discard the soaking If you want a soup with individual water (use it for your plants). rice grains, do not cook for too long; Garnishes: if you want a rich, thick broth, then Coriander leaves 2. Fry diced onion and chopped simmer for an hour. Lettuce leaves garlic lightly in olive or grapeseed oil.

20 Method

1. Soak mushrooms in warm water until soft, then slice. Stir-fry mushrooms in oil until cooked and fragrant.

2. Spread dried beancurd skin on a clean, dry surface. Arrange fresh beancurd in a row along the middle. Sprinkle mushroom slices

in-between the fresh beancurd.

3. Mix plain flour with water to obtain a paste.

4. Starting with the end nearest you, wrap and roll, using the flour paste to stick sides down to hold the roll together. The roll should be a

flattish “long pillow” roughly 10 cm (4 inches) by 6 cm (2½ inches). Make 3 more rolls.

5. Steam rolls for about 10 minutes and leave to cool.

6. Heat oil and fry rolls until they are a golden colour. Remove to a plate.

21 7. Discard oil and mix sauce Source ingredients in the same pan. Stir- fry rolls in the sauce until both Recipes are from the New Asian Traditions Vegetarian Cookbook by sides are red and dry. Susan Amy, Kiran Narain and George 8. Cut into pieces about 2½ cm (1 Jacobs, published in 2005. inch) wide. Top with coriander leaves and serve hot with lettuce. This is the first cookbook by the Vegetarian Society (Singapore) or VSS, and includes 66 recipes that reflect the best of Asia‟s vegetarian

dishes, and traditional dishes with a surprising fusion twist.

The cookbook is available for sale from the VSS website.

22 STYLE

Running out of ideas on what to PLAYFUL wear? Want a new playful but elegant look? ELEGANCE Etrican, a local eco fashion label, has recently launched its Madison Organic Clothing Blvd woven organic cotton clothing collection.

Mix and Match Madison Blvd draws inspiration from the classical elegance and clean silhouettes of early 60's New York, with a touch of contemporary playfulness and subtle ethnic elements weaved in.

Each piece in the collection is named after a relevant iconic female symbol of the US in the 60's. Simply mix and match their lovely clothing to create your new playful elegance look! 23

Jacqueline bolero

Bridget top

Audrey skirt

Betty shirt

Marilyn shorts

25 Where to Buy

Madison Blvd pieces range in price between $41 and $69 and can be purchased through Etrican's online store at www.etrican.com and at selected retailers such as CHOOSE by Olive Ventures at 26A Sago Street, S059021.

About Etrican

Etrican is a pioneer of eco fashion in Singapore and the label designs high quality organic cotton clothing as well as accessories made from eco- friendly recycled materials sourced regionally and in a sustainable manner.

26 LEISURE

SIMPLY LING KAI Supporting Local Music

Ling Kai is probably Singapore‟s first YouTube star, when she posted a raw video of her song, Larkin Step, on YouTube in 2007 and received a million views.

This talented singer has a deep emotive voice and writes her own Larkin Step What They Told Me songs. If you like songs by Jewel

(during her Foolish Games days) or by the late Elliott Smith, you would enjoy her songs too.

Let‟s support our own local music and singers. Here‟s some of her songs on YouTube. Enjoy! One Dream Distraction Visit her official website for updates. 27 BOOKS

What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise The Mesh: Why the Future of Worldchanging, Revised and of Collaborative Consumption Business Is Sharing by Lisa Updated Edition: A User's Guide by Rachel Botsman and Roo Gansky for the 21st Century by Alex Rogers Steffen The Mesh is a new model where The book describes Collaborative consumers have more choices, tools, This second edition is extensively Consumption, a new sharing economy information, and peer-to-peer power, revised to include the latest trends and made possible by social networks and and are provided with goods and solutions in sustainable living, and fueled by increasing cost services when they need them, provides new tools, models, and ideas consciousness and environmental without having to own them outright. for building a better future. necessity.

How Bad are Bananas?: The The Secret Life of Stuff: A Manual for a New Material World Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee by Julie Hill

Take a journey through the source of This book tries to work out the carbon the stuff around us, and learn how footprint of nearly everything, and consumers and citizens can create a provides the facts to make carbon-savvy better material world. purchases and lifestyle decisions. 28

Nalgene Water Bottle DEALS Price: $24 + Free delivery

Looking for a refillable water bottle? Nalgene Everyday water bottles are

extremely durable, resistant to staining and odors, withstand high temperature, and made from Eastman Tritan copolyester that is manufactured without Bisphenol A (BPA). This grey Buy Now wide mouth bottle has a 1-litre capacity.

Compact Fluorescent Light

Bulb Our Choice: A Plan to Solve Price: $4.95 + Free delivery the Climate Crisis by Al Gore

Replace your incandescent bulbs with Price: $37.90 + Free delivery the Philips energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and save This book is the sequel to Al Gore‟s up to 80% energy. CFLs also last up to bestseller, An Inconvenient Truth, and 6 times longer than incandescent bulbs. this time, he offers a comprehensive

The CFLs (8 W or 11 W) come in the overview of different solutions to tackle cool daylight colour. climate change. Al Gore explains the different clean energy technologies and Buy Now solutions, and inspires readers to take Buy Now action.

“ Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ” Viktor E. Frankl

30 Credits

1: „Hands Of The World‟ by Fran Hogan

4: „Concert for the World's Saddest Dolphins‟ by ACRES

7: „Love God and your neighbor 1‟ by sraburton GAIA GAIA is Singapore‟s first sustainable living mook (magazine 8: „Collaborative Consumption Graphics - The Complete book). Published in Sep 2011 by Green Future Solutions. Picture‟ by Rachel Botsman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license SEPThis mook 2011 is free for download. Feel free to share this. You ISSUEmay not alter 01 this mook in any way and you may not charge 9: Images from HollywoodClicks.com; Maternity Exchange; for it or for any of the content. Clean Mobility Singapore; MyRideBuddy; sgfreecycle; Offstock; Pass It On; Waste is not Waste; Hackerspace For advertising enquiries or any feedback, please send an Singapore; GIVE.sg; SG Cares; and Milaap email to [email protected].

12 – 14: Images from MyRideBuddy Connect with us via:

3, 16: „Room of Doom: 10 April 2010‟ by puuikibeach under greenfuture.sg a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license facebook.com/greenfuture.sg

3, 19, 21, 22: Images from Straits Times Press Pte Ltd twitter.com/greenfuture

3, 23 – 26: Images from Etrican Pte Ltd

27: Screenshots of Larkin Step; One Dream; What They Told Me; and Distraction from YouTube videos

28: Images of What's Mine Is Yours; The Mesh; Worldchanging, Revised and Updated Edition; How Bad are Bananas? and The Secret Life of Stuff from Amazon