Recycling Programme at Bukit Batok

At block 283A in Bukit Batok, there is a stall setup
in the wet market to collect paper, plastic bottles,
glass bottles, aluminium cans, metal cans, old clothes
on Sunday morning. Residents are often seen pushing
their trolleys containing these items to this stall to
be weighed and exchanged for some loose coins.

One of my neighbours collected about 30 plastic
bottles meant for soft-drinks over the months. This
morning, I saw him carrying a big bag containing these
plastic bottles happily to the wet market. He looked
disappointed when he returned. He told me that these
30 plastic bottles only cost a ten-cent coin! Yes,
this is not a joke at all, because these bottles
weighed very light.

The "prices" of paper, old clothes, glass bottles, aluminium cans, plastic bottles are $0.14/kg, $0.20/kg, $0.05/kg, $1.50/kg, $0.10/kg respectively. (nb: no verification has been done)

Plastic items are well known for their non biodegradable
characteristic. Plastic items are so useful to us that
they become part of our life. They are usually light,
durable, water-proof, can be made or mould into
different shapes and sizes for different purposes.

Beside plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic spoons
and bowls, plastic chairs, plastic containers etc can
be found in almost every homes. However, they are
unfriendly to our Earth.

What can we do about it? How can we continue to ensure our environment is safe without affecting our conveniences?