The world is working on being green and taking pro-actions toward a more eco-conscious and sustainable lifestyle. But the fact remains that much like the quality of life or the technological breakthroughs, the level of advancements in eco-living isn’t moving at a phase equal amongst regions and individual countries around the world. Some countries are just much further ahead in efforts in comparison to others and if you’ve recently moved from a country that’s far advanced in the efforts then you might find yourself at quite the loss when you arrive at your new home.
You might not find your usual green comforts as easily accessible as before but all is not loss because the green support is there, you just have to know where to look. A
Now if you so happen to be the wife of an expat and you’ve been relocated to South East Asia, things can seem quite different. So let’s cover some ‘differences. The first shocking bit. Despite being closer to the equator, solar powered homes aren’t abundant. So don’t expect that you’d be able given a solar powered house. The fact is, solar power setup is really expensive in Asia, which deters people from using it. The most you’d find is solar panels setup to heat water.
The next bit to be aware of is wet markets are a part of life over in South East Asia (SEA). They are a lot like a farmers’ market – in fact they have those but it won’t be easy to find an organic farmers market. But nevertheless, don’t fret because you can still get organic produce from the supermarkets or specific organic green grocers.
Recycling is not unheard of in parts of SEA, in fact they can get pretty into it but I would say the recycling efforts are quite different from back in Europe or even USA. The recycling centres aren’t as easily accessible but they do put out special bins in popular spots and there are recycling trucks that sort of go door to door for collections.
When it comes to plastic bags and Styrofoam, I’d have to say that SEA is still very much dependent on the convenient use of it. Whist larger institutions such as the super markets are curbing the use of plastic bags by charging for them, small retailers like market stalls, street stalls, hawkers are still very much into packaging with plastics and Styrofoam. But the locals are stepping up to the green plate by bringing their own bags/baskets and requesting that food be packed into their Tiffin Carriers.
Traffic is SEA is phenomenal. Unlike in Europe where you’ll find many people opting to walk or use a bicycle, in Asia everyone drives! They have their reasons, but you won’t find designated days where they do not allow cars into the city centres, etc just to curb the pollution rate.
Overall, SEA is a beautiful region and it’s quite different from being back in the west. But they have their green efforts and you just have to work your lifestyle around what they have in place- not perfect but so far doing a pretty good job at protecting the Earth.
