Does green living always result in higher monetary cost?

Switching to eco-friendly practices does not necessarily cost more, according to some companies and consumers.
Rachelle Lee Channel NewsAsia 15 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE: The haze in Singapore has focused attention on green living, and while some companies have said switching to eco-friendly practices can result in higher costs, others have said that this does not have to be the case.

Those whom Channel NewsAsia spoke with said green practices may even help to save money.

Interior designer Sky Creations has said green features do not necessarily cost more. Over the past three years, they have seen a significant increase in demand from home owners for such green features, particularly energy-efficient designs which offer the largest potential for savings.

For Ms Lee Kheng, she said she chose to include eco-friendly features in her home as it could save money in the long run. The furnishings in her HDB flat are made from sustainable materials certified by the Singapore Green Label. The eco-friendly appliances help to reduce energy consumption, and she has also installed a master switch that can power down the house, with the exception of the refrigerator, when no one is home.

"Before I renovated my house, my electrical bills were very expensive. Now, I save more than a hundred dollars on electrical bills every month,” she said.

More consumers are also making environmentally-friendly choices when they go shopping as prices of such products have dropped. Supermarket chain FairPrice said it has seen a rise in demand for eco-friendly products, with a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in sales.

"In FairPrice, we have more stores carrying (green products). I think the consumers themselves are also finding that the prices are coming down, so more people are buying them,” said FairPrice’s Green Committee chairperson Koh Kok Sin. “We call this economies of scale - the more consumers support them, the more that our suppliers and manufacturers can produce them at a lower cost. So if more of us support these products, first of all it’s better for the environment, secondly it helps to lower cost.”

Some new eco-friendly items in the market include bamboo toilet paper and coconut charcoal.

But some consumers are still not aware of the green choices available. They told Channel NewsAsia that they have not come across them in the market, or that they have not thought of switching to buying environmentally-friendly products.

Olive Green, which brings in eco-friendly tableware, said one reason that may be stopping people from making greener choices is a lack of awareness.

"We are so used to the norm, if something strange comes along, it takes time for us to adjust. When they are so used to a particular supply chain and then out of the blue someone comes along and offer something completely different, the first questions they ask are, ‘Is somebody else using it? How good is it?’” said Mr Aloysius Cheong, CEO of Olive Green.

The recent episode of haze, however, has helped to raise awareness of how consumers can make a difference when they choose environmentally sustainable products.

"Sometimes negative events like the haze creates more consumer awareness of the need to support sustainable products,” said Mr Koh.

The Singapore Environment Council said large retail outlets can take the lead by providing consumers with the opportunity to choose green products. But it added that a more sustainable alternative is to enact a green procurement policy at a national level, which could generate an influx of green products in the market to meet consumer demand.

- CNA/xq