A Case of Reusables

I read a Bloomberg article on how reusable cups had turned into collectibles, complete anti-theses to reuse and reduce.

Since sustainability had become the buzz word few years back, my own collection of reusable coffee mugs grew. It was not intended. Some were corporate gifts and conference freebies, meaning to spread the positive message. But the message was lost along with the mugs, chugged away and forgotten, until one early morning I needed to take away a hot cup of coffee for a road trip, I rinsed away the dust.

Overconsumption is the root of all evil. I talked about it too in my previous article on Conservation & Choices. When it is a conscious decision to (over)consume, and in the case of the "Stanley" tumblers, to collect, greed is perhaps to blame. “It’s going to have to start with them (the business) to slow this down,” says the collector about the business of "Stanley" tumblers. Or is it the invisible free hand of the market dynamics to blame?

But in the case of those reusable mugs hidden at the back of my cupboard and my mind, they were wastage created with good intentions. I could, arguably, not have brought them back home, or to have given them away for adoption as soon as I realized their redundancy. Would that help the makers realize that their gifts were not as useful as they thought? Or should I have forced myself into the habit of bringing around mugs even when my bag or my hands are full?

It often starts with a craze to follow a trend. And it is a process of trial and error to figure out which conservation actions actually work in practice. At least we all try, so I am not criticizing any efforts. But I do caution against the marketing that oversells the use case (or in this case, reusable case) to well-meaning businesses and consumers. Ultimately, it is not just what you buy but how you use that determines the effectiveness of a proposed product or solution.

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Disclaimer: The content of this article is informational only. Nothing in this note shall constitute legal, investment or professional advice.

Read?my other publications on:

LinkedIn: Is Poverty Real in Singapore?; Conservation & Choices; Female Entrepreneurship - Unique Opportunities & Challenges; ESG for SMEs in Singapore? S Integration & Implementation I - How to Think about Impact Integration in Social Enterprise; Let's Talk about Governance; The Social Aspects of ESG — Where Every Organization Finds a Soul; Carbon Credits — Quality Matters; On Greenwashing: Greenwashing Behaviours to Avoid as an Organization; Why I Still Believe in Blockchain; Chat GPT is Not Your Best Friend Yet — and Here is Why; Living a Colourful Life; Carbon Taxes & Credits — An Introduction; 3 Reasons Why Every Business Should Incorporate Sustainability; Master of None — Reflections on Tips to Becoming a Successful Generalist;The Fool-Proof Guide to Setting up an ESG Framework & Policy for Businesses, Investors and Investment Managers, Part 1 of 5; Gone with the Red — Ep.1; My footprints 2022;

Medium: Is Poverty Real in Singapore?; Conservation & Choices; Female Entrepreneurship - Unique Opportunities & Challenges; ESG for SMEs in Singapore? S Integration & Implementation I - How to Think about Impact Integration in Social Enterprise; Let's Talk about Governance; The Social Aspects of ESG — Every Organization Needs a Soul; Carbon Credits — Quality Matters; On Greenwashing: Greenwashing Behaviours to Avoid as an Organization; Why I Still Believe in Blockchain;Chat GPT is Not Your Best Friend Yet — and Here is Why; Living a Colourful Life; Carbon Taxes & Credits — An Introduction; 3 Reasons Why Every Business Should Incorporate Sustainability; Master of None — 3 Key Tips to Success as a Generalist; The Fool-Proof Guide to Setting up an ESG Framework & Policy for Businesses, Investors and Investment Managers, Part 1 of 5; Gone with the Red — Ep.1; My Footprints 2022; More than Just Words — embracing a greener life