A participant of last year’s #WeGotThis, Lam leveraged the event as a launchpad for her brand Tortoise The Label to offer wallet-friendly and circular closet essentials. With a goal of reducing textile waste and making sustainable living more accessible to the community, she designed a unique Carrot Credit Recycling System for the label.

Through this system, every purchase from the brand comes with Carrot Credits that can be used for future purchases when pre-loved pieces are sent back for recycling. Says Lam: “The system dangles the carrot for people to make better choices when shopping for the timeless pieces in their wardrobes that they are likely to need to replace anyway.”

What got you interested in sustainability?

“My journey started from the discovery of lifestyle minimalism a la the peak of Marie Kondo’s Spark Joy era. It led me to start appreciating the value of a decluttered mind and space when I realised that many things do not “spark joy”. It was then that I started being more conscious of the things I buy, the things I allow in my physical and mental space, as well as the things I need to remove from my life – and how I got rid of them.”

What is Tortoise The Label’s approach to conscious fashion?

“As much as tortoises are often associated with The Tortoise and The Hare fable, Tortoise The Label is definitely not in a race with other conscious clothing labels. Given the climate of fast fashion and all its social and environmental problems it brings, I believe that the more conscious clothing brands there are, the better.

For Tortoise The Label, our focus is on circularity. We weaved this concept into everything we do, from our business model to the way we’ve designed our products, and of course the way our customers’ use our products – via the Carrot Credit Recycling System. This system ensures that the materials that go into making our pieces are either reused, recycled, or biodegraded. At the same time, it also helps our customers build up a more circular mindset and wardrobe.”

Please share your top tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle

“Spend time learning more, diving deeper. I believe that knowledge is empowering. I’d encourage everyone to learn more about where their clothes come from, what their clothes are made of, and where they go next after retiring them from our wardrobes.

Take it slow. We live in a world where everything is moving so fast, and we often feel the need to act hastily. Marketing has been designed to make us click “buy” quicker, in fear that things will go out of stock or that the sale will end. Conscious of this, I choose to think through my choices before committing to them. I believe that taking it slow helps me regret less and waste less too!

Celebrate every step! Because every step in the right direction counts – no matter how small.

What basics should an individual own to form the building blocks of a streamlined wardrobe?

“The most sustainable wardrobe is a wardrobe full of often well-loved clothes. So, the best basics for anyone are the clothes that one gravitates toward and wears regularly. I’d encourage everyone to identify the types of pieces in our wardrobe that make you most comfortable, most confident and most ‘you’.”

With a straight talking and energetic persona, Kong Man Jing or Biogirl MJ is the heart of science social media channel Just Keep Thinking. As a science educator and communicator, she has worked for companies including Wildlife Reserves Singapore and the National Parks Board. She launched Just Keep Thinking when she noticed that the social media scene in Singapore was lacking in having an educational channel with content that resonates with the mainstream audience.

Why is it personally important to you to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity?

“I just feel mother nature is so beautiful and nurturing, and what a pity to lose all of it because of our selfish actions. I find beauty in every bird, mammal, and even “uncharismatic” animals such as reptiles and insects. I feel deeply connected to nature and the wildlife that inhabit this planet, because each living organism has a story to tell, and a role they play in this huge ecosystem. I would like people to witness and appreciate mother nature’s beauty and protect her – not only because they need to (which they do), but also simply because they want to.”

As a campaign clinic workshop speaker and facilitator, what takeaways do you impart to participants?

“What I have taught them is to always put yourself in the perspectives of the layman. I often ask them to think of a topic they are not interested in at all and to think back to a moment when they gained a sudden interest in it and analyse why they had gained interest in it. A big part of my advice to the participants of the #WeGotThis programme is the importance of crafting simple and captivating information, particularly in the realm of social media, where people's attention spans are notably shorter.”

What is the biggest myth you would like to debunk about Singapore’s biodiversity?

“The biggest myth I would like to debunk about Singapore’s biodiversity is that we do not have any wildlife around us. Often, people are looking, but not seeing. We have amazing marine creatures such as the Orange-striped Hermit Crab and the Knobbly Sea Star in our own shores, we have cool snakes such as the Paradise Tree Snake and Gold-ringed Cat Snake in our nature parks and reserves, and even in our urban parks and gardens, you can find beautiful garden birds such as the Collared Kingfisher and Common Flameback. I hope people can take the time and effort to seek out these animals and form a deeper appreciation of what we have right here on our little sunny island.”

Please share your top tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle.

“Carry a backpack. This really allows me to reduce my need for plastic bags as I can always store items I have bought in my bag.

Use a fan at home as much as possible. I do not use the aircon regularly at home to begin with, but with increasing temperatures in recent years, I have been feeling the heat. I switched to a fan with a cooling mist system as it uses less energy than an air- conditioner, yet it helps to cool down the temperature more effectively than a regular fan. If I do use an air-conditioner, I will use the “fan mode” as much as I can, as it also uses less energy than usual.”

Jodie Teresa Monteiro had her eureka moment when she had to take part in a competition to make up for lost credits during her university days. For the competition, she came up with the idea to create an alternative clay, which she created by reworking a waste paper clay recipe she had found online with other waste materials like eggshells. This became the first prototype of Ferticlay, a company she co-founded to turn unavoidable food waste into new materials for sustainable clay modelling. What is unique about this product is that it can be reused by rehydrating it or safely returned back to the ground.

Monteiro, an alumni of last year’s #WeGotThis programme, is now a youth intern helping to organise this year’s event. She says, “A lot of times, products state they are biodegradable, but this may mean they will still take hundreds of years to finally start breaking down. As for Ferticlay, it can be broken down within a couple of days of rainfall, and it contributes nutrients back into the ground at the same time.”

Was there a formative experience that sparked your passion for sustainability?

“My father always taught my siblings and me to appreciate what we have around us, and he loved to repurpose waste items around the house, instilling this spirit of resourcefulness and mindfulness of our waste.

When I started my diploma in architecture, I realised how much waste we create in the pursuit of design and creation. This caused me to be even more conscious about the lifestyle I was living and made me rethink how I can apply a spirit of resourcefulness to all areas of my life, personally and professionally.”

What can Ferticlay be used for?

“We conduct hands-on workshops where participants turn eggshells and coffee grounds into beautiful clay pottery works such as pots and figurines that are designed to eventually break down and fertilise their plants at home. We also co-create products with companies that wish to valorise their food waste into new products that can either be circled back into their systems or sold, creating new revenue streams. Some examples are tealight candle holders, scent diffuser beads and even wall and floor tiles.”

What makes Ferticlay so unique?

“Our materials are currently perfect for short-term applications, where the material can hold its shape and strength for at least 6 months. We aim to outcompete wasteful prototyping materials like polymer clays and plastic 3D printing filaments, as we climb the ladder towards developing sustainable building materials. The beauty of our clay is threefold. We create valuable products from waste, use it in various applications where it can be utilised for both its strength and aesthetic, and then re-use the clay after its intended use by breaking it down, rehydrating it and using it again for another purpose. This follows the principles of a circular economy.”

Please share your top tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle.

“My first and possibly most important tip is to get into nature more! The more we grow to understand and love nature, the more compelled we will be to protect and care for it, and that will naturally lead to a more sustainable lifestyle. You are less likely to protect something you don’t love.

Challenge yourself to repurpose seemingly mundane waste materials in your daily life. Whether it be a cardboard toilet roll that is used to neatly store wires or cables, or food scraps turned into compost, there are so many creative ways we can use waste materials.”