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Singapore’s homegrown farming dream is beginning to fade Bloomberg Updated Wed, 24 July 2024 at 10:06 am SGT · 6-min read A worker walks between hydroponics growing panels at the Livfresh farm in Singapore. (Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg) By Audrey Wan and Low De Wei (Bloomberg) – By most measures, Karthik Rajan’s farm in Singapore is a success story. Run from a two-hectare plot of land in the island’s north, LivFresh has been supplying major supermarkets with spinach, lettuce and other Asian green vegetables since 2022. The firm turned profitable in March. It may still close down by the end of the year. Rajan is one of a small number of entrepreneurs attempting to farm in a country smaller than New York City. Like most of his peers, he’s facing an uncertain future as funding runs dry, with investments in homegrown agricultural startups cratering over the past few years. Since the start of 2023, at least half a dozen large farms have shut down or scaled back operations...

  Why is Singapore’s recycling rate falling? Ariel Yu The overall recycling rate in Singapore had declined over the past decade, from 62 per cent in 2013 to 52 per cent in 2023. PHOTO: ST FILE Updated Jul 22, 2024, 05:07 PM     SINGAPORE – Recyclables “spoilt” with food or liquid waste may be a common and regrettable sight at many recycling bins around Singapore, but poor recycling habits are not likely to be the main driver behind Singapore’s falling recycling rates, said an expert. Instead, syst...

  Smart #1 range of electric vehicles to go on sale in Singapore from end-April The Smart #1 Pro+ and the Smart #1 BRABUS will be Smart's first electric vehicles (EVs) to be sold in Singapore since Cycle & Carriage was announced as the brand's general distributor. Smart #1 Pro+ (left) and Smart #1 BRABUS (right). (Photo: Cycle & Carriage) Automotive group Cycle & Carriage and electric vehicle (EV) brand Smart unveiled their Smart #1 Pro+ and the Smart #1 BRABUS for the first time in Singapore on Mar 28. The Smart #1 ra...

  Fashion Revolution Week aims to raise awareness of overconsumption, exploitation of natural resources Style Theory organises pop-up store events for customers to view and shop their rental and resale apparel physically. PHOTO: COURTESY OF STYLE THEORY     Poet Natalie Wang, 28, wears mostly pre-loved clothes that she buys from online marketplace Carousell and thrift shops, and borrows from her mother's wardrobe. She said: "Making a habit of trying to fix things, even if it means going to a tailor to replace a zip, rather than throwing items out, is a good way to reduce your footprint. Learn to sew basic things to mend tears and fix buttons." Ms Woo Qiyun, 25, a sustainability consultant, said she became ...

  Why fashion's 'recycling' is not saving the planet PARIS: In H&M's flagship Paris store it is hard to find clothes that don't claim to be made from "recycled materials". Last year, 79 per cent of the polyester in its collections came from recycled materials, and next year it wants it all to be recycled. The Swedish fast fashion giant told AFP that recycled material allows the "industry to reduce its dependence on virgin polyester made from fossil fuels". The problem is that "93 per cent of all recycled textiles today comes from plastic bottles, not from old clothes", said Urska Trunk of campaign group Changing Markets. In other words, from fossil fuels. And while a plastic bottle can be recycled five or six times, a T-shirt in recycled polyester "can never be recycled again", said Trunk. Almost all recycled polyester is made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) from plastic bottles, according to the non-profit Textile E...

  ‘Biggest, baddest’ – but is it the cleanest? World’s largest cruise ship sets sail Claims that Icon of the Seas, the vast new ship described as ‘human lasagne’, runs on clean fuel have been labelled greenwashing as LNG’s methane emissions are a more potent climate gas than CO 2 Seascape: the state of our oceans is supported by About this content Karen McVeigh   @karenmcveigh1 Fri 26 Jan 2024 12.00 GMT Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2024 11.14 GMT The largest cruise ship in the world, which embarks on its first commercial voyage from Miami on Saturday, was launched amid a fanfare of superlatives. Longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, the Icon of the Seas towers 20 decks above the waves, can accommodate more than 7,000 passengers and crew, and, at a quarter of a million gross tonnes, could swallow five Titanics for breakfast. Coloured slides on its upper deck mark out “Thrill Island”, the largest waterpark at sea, and it boasts a 17-metre (55ft) indoor waterfall. The...