​Have you seen these green and white mikrozid wipe containers in the pantry or staff dining areas? Look again - you will find some of them labelled “For Used Chopsticks”. These are being used as a collection bin for your used chopsticks.

Many of us have grown used to buying takeaway meals. While some of us try to go green by using our own containers or cutlery, there are days that we forget to bring them, and had to use the “tabao box”, plastic cutlery or wooden chopsticks that stallholders give. To help us cut down on the use of such convenient-based waste, our colleagues from Environmental Services (ES) came up with a plan to give these used chopsticks another lease of life.

The project started in September 2021 and you could find these collection containers in all ward tearooms, all pantries in departments, laboratories and common staff dining areas like Deck on 9, Bowyer Block Level 2 Linkway, Academia levels 1,2,3, 7 and 8.

In just two months – October and November -  we collected almost 14kg of used chopsticks. These will be processed by the company Chopvalue to be transformed into furniture like tables, homeware like cheese boards or coasters, decorative wall shelving and many more!

This upcycling project is the brainchild of Lee Peishi from ES, who set up the partnership with ChopValue. Committed to minimize waste, she also put much thought into the containers. “We didn’t want to add clutter in the pantries or dining areas, so reusing the empty mikrozid wipes container is a win-win! We found a way to reduce clutter, reuse empty container and recycle the contents inside the container – the chopsticks!”

Examples of the what the used chopsticks are turned into – (left) coffee table; (right) coaster

“We can always think differently, even with constraints, to make a difference in being kinder to the environment, no matter how small it is,” said Peishi.

Want to be part of such sustainable efforts? You can find like-minded colleagues in the SGH Workplace group Let’s Go GREEN Today!