Never Ending Eco List - #1 to #5

So here's the first update on the #neverendingecolist that I've started on my Twitter account (@livinggreeninsg)

#1 Turn the water off while I'm brushing my teeth - In Progress

I'm trying to remember to do this!

 #2 Find my electricity meter - Fail

Must try harder! Will keep this on the update list until it's done. It was easy in the UK - it was right next to our front door!

#3 Find a garden centre that sells seeds - Done

I've found a couple of sources of seeds:
http://www.ecocityhydroponics.com/
http://www.banleehuatseed.com/

I think first I need some soil.

This website looks like it migh be useful too: http://www.greenculturesg.com/forum/index.php?/forum/81-edible-plants/

#4 Choose snacks with less packaging - In Progress

I've actually cut down on my snacks - I was having one every afternoon - often a packet of biscuits wrapped in plastic and cardboard. So when I choose my snacks now, I avoid the over packaged ones. Apples have no packaging!

#5 Look up reporting hit and runs and near miss incidents - Done

As reported via twitter, my bike was hit by a car whilst I was waiting to turn into a road, the car promptly driving off. I and my bike were fine, after a little handlebar readjustment. I've reported the incident via the police's website: http://www.spf.gov.sg/epc/ePCLinks.html , although I've had no response - not a surprise really as I couldn't give any details about the car or the driver. Hopefully it will register on their statistics!

There's a British campaign - Stop SMIDSY - "Sorry Mate, I didn't see you!" where people can report near misses and incidents when cycling.

The Never Ending List

Despite my best efforts, which were, to be fair, quite crap on this front, I ended up at Ikea the other night to get some things for our new apartment. There's quite a few things in their store that are eco-friendly and they seem to really believe in sustainability. I came across their "Never Ending List". It's a list of all their sustainability improvements. So far they've got to number 81.

Living sustainably feels like Ikea's list. There are a hundred little improvements that you can do to live a more sustainable life, and there are always a hundred more that you could do (which I know about, don't do, then feel guilty about). So from tomorrow, I'm going to start my own list on twitter - one improvement per day. At the end of each week, I'll put my #neverendingecolist on here.

In the UK, this would be tough for me, but as I'm starting my green journey from almost scratch in Singapore, it should be a little easier.

Perhaps one of the items on my #neverendingecolist should have been to buy second hand furniture instead of buying new from Ikea. Sometimes, though, living surrounded by boxes, you just need a storage solution straight away!

P.S. I did think about whether to write about specific products on my blog, at least about ones I like. If I don't I'm kind of missing out on helping other people to live green too. So I'll write about products and companies I like. I'll also declare any conflict of interests - such as getting free stuff - if it ever happens! So far though, the only free stuff I've got from Ikea is one of their little pencils!

P.P.S. Talking of endorsing products - the Green Singapore Sale is now on!