{"id":4223,"date":"2021-10-01T09:34:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T09:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=4223"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:08:10","slug":"championing-conscious-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2021\/10\/01\/championing-conscious-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"Championing Conscious Consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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WHO SHE IS<\/strong><\/p>

Ms Bianca Tham is a self-professed \u201cfreegan\u201d \u2014 a term that describes people who reject unfettered consumerism and try to reduce waste by retrieving and reusing discarded items. She gained fame on the Internet two years ago for diving through dumpsters in search of clothes and other goods, but these days, she uses her role as an educator to build a more s<\/em>ustainable Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0820 million \u2014 that\u2019s how many plastic bags are used in Singapore\u2019s supermarkets every year, according to a study by the Singapore Environment Council. Rising against this seemingly endless tsunami of polyethylene is Ms Bianca Tham (Arts and Social Sciences \u201917), who makes it a point to bring her own reusable bag when getting groceries. But how then will we throw away our trash (the other big use of supermarket plastic bags), we ask her, using a question often lobbed at environmentalists. \u201cWe have to get creative,\u201d suggests Ms Tham, 27. \u201cI have a rule at home: no wasting of other kinds of plastic bags. So everything from bread bags to the large plastic bags that toilet rolls come in \u2014 they can all be used to throw away trash.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

In the grand scheme of things, it may be argued that the impact Ms Tham is making is negligible \u2014 after all, even if she were to make 365 trips to the supermarket every year, she would only save about 1,000 bags, which barely makes a dent. And all the good work she does is sometimes negated by her own mother, who admits to taking the occasional plastic bag for its convenience. But Ms Tham is not one to be easily discouraged. \u201cIt\u2019s coming from a place of principle: as a consumer, I don\u2019t want my purchases to affect our environment negatively. I don\u2019t let myself be affected by how big or small the impact I am making is \u2014 if I were, I would be discouraged every time I went down to the recycling bin since it\u2019s often contaminated with non-recyclables. But I still recycle religiously because I want to be the change I want to see.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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I don\u2019t let myself be affected by how big or small the impact I am making is... I still recycle religiously because I want to be the change I want to see.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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AN ONGOING JOURNEY<\/b><\/p>

This principle of conscious consumerism continues a journey that began for Ms Tham in secondary school, when she saw videos of how animals were used to test cosmetic products. \u201cI steered clear of those companies but as I grew up, I learnt that every industry has an unethical side that I did not want to support,\u201d says Ms Tham, a Social Studies teacher.\u00a0<\/p>

That discovery prompted her to consider not just what she bought but also how much she bought. \u201cI was a shopaholic,\u201d she admits, revealing that she would buy clothes, seemingly in autopilot mode, whenever she stepped into a mall. Disturbed by this, she decided to quit shopping for a year, going cold turkey during her university days. \u201cIt was painful but that one year made me so mindful of my habits. I also became mindful of the brands around us \u2014 I did some research and found that I did not want to be supporting them because of their labour and environmental practices.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

She adds that it can be challenging to be a discerning consumer in today\u2019s climate, as corporates can \u201cgreenwash\u201d themselves to appear more sustainable than they actually are. \u201cSo if you\u2019re going to base your decisions on a slogan or an ad they have, don\u2019t,\u201d she says. \u201cRead up on their mission statements and environmental impact reports to make sure they really are as sustainable as they claim to be.\u201d This means sometimes buying goods that are more expensive \u2014 but she is fine with this as she values knowing just what her money is going towards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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(ANTI?) SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR<\/b><\/p>

Social media has the power to raise awareness of sustainability issues but it can also set the cause back, says Ms Tham. \u201cInfluencers have a lot of clout with youths, but they also promote unsustainable habits like fast fashion,\u201d she reflects. \u201cI don\u2019t blame them because they\u2019re in a bind, since they rely on sponsorships \u2014 but therein lies the cycle of consumerism that is very hard to break. All the hard work in generating awareness and engaging youths on environmental issues gets drowned out when the kids get on their phones.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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RALLYING HER PEERS<\/b><\/p>

Ms Tham stresses that being a discerning buyer does not have to be an expensive or lonely pursuit. She championed \u201cfreeganism\u201d during her time at NUS, going so far as to run an event devoted to it. Her belief in the \u2018power of free\u2019 led to the creation of a \u2018free market\u2019 during her undergraduate days, where NUS students and staff could share their talents, skills and goods with the community for free. That event, aptly titled \u2018Laissez Faire\u2019, remains a highlight of the University Scholars Programme calendar.<\/p>

Ms Tham has also gained notoriety for being a \u201cdumpster diver\u201d \u2014 which refers to the act of digging through trash to find goods that can still be used. One of her most prized finds is a glass bowl she found in a dustbin near her home. Describing it as being perfect \u201cexcept for a thin film of dust\u201d, she uses it as a fruit bowl in her home today. \u201cBut only after we gave it a thorough wiping down,\u201d she adds quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Besides salvaging trash for her own use, Ms Tham often cleans up her dumpster finds and \u2018rehomes\u2019 these items via call-outs on social media.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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NEW ARENAS OF CHANGE<\/b><\/p>\n

These days, Ms Tham admits that the demands of work make it difficult for her to meaningfully engage in activities like dumpster diving. Still, she finds opportunities to make a difference wherever she can \u2014 which is more often than not in the classroom. \u201cToday\u2019s Social Studies curriculum encourages teachers to discuss current affairs like sustainability. Character and Citizenship Education classes also allow me to do this,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

Being an educator for the past three years has shown her that Gen-Z may not be as eco-friendly as they are sometimes made out to be. \u201cI\u2019ve heard that notion before,\u201d she shares. \u201cBut in reality, they are still very driven by trends. For example, there was a period when reusable straws and food containers were very popular because of influencers on TikTok. But when that trend died down, students gradually reverted to using disposables again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite this, Ms Tham\u2019s can-do spirit continues to shine as she seeks to build the same love for the environment that today\u2019s young share for TikTok dance crazes and memes. She looks for creative solutions to tackle these issues: for instance, in 2019, she engaged Swapaholic, an e-commerce platform that allows users to swap clothes, to run a lecture for her students. \u201cThey were really engaged and saw that there are alternatives to the \u2018buy, buy, buy\u2019 lifestyle we are used to,\u201d she reflects. Her career in education also allows her to pursue a lifelong passion for interacting with youths. \u201cI get energised by them,\u201d she says. \u201cI grew up in a single-parent household, so I especially empathise with youths from vulnerable backgrounds. I want to give them options in life by being a parent away from home for them, guiding them as they go through their education.\u201d <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ms Bianca Tham (Arts and Social Sciences \u201917) isn\u2019t naive about the impact she can make on the environment \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t curb her enthusiasm one bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-impact"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4223"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5019,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions\/5019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}