Let’s face it – the use of plastics has been our way of life. How many of us (at least those in our twenties) can recall going to the wet market with our parents when we were young without using a single plastic bag? Probably none. That’s the way we were brought up.

But just because something has become habitual and is a social norm does not mean that it is right, or that it has to stay that way.

The effects of plastic pollution today are not unfamiliar to most. We see news of marine animals ingesting or being trapped in plastic debris, all over social and mainstream media. We know of studies that have found that microplastics are making their way into our food chain^[1][2].

But exactly how much of this can we attribute to our daily lives? It is not common that we see marine animals or an ocean of trash in our city-state. So it is easy to see why many Singaporeans are apathetic towards the issue of unsustainable plastic use. After all, plastic pollution in our world’s oceans is a collective action problem. Solving it requires the collective effort of everyone, and we are but a small nation.