Championing Sustainability for a Global Company in Singapore
Last spring, I got a random message from a woman in Singapore about my YouTube Video, "World's Biggest Volkswagen Diecast Model Car Collection". That woman was Nicole Golloso and she was an avid collector of Volkswagen Beetle toys and was interested in buying some of them. While I wasn't selling any of the cars at the time, we got talking about how they were gathered during a long term consulting job and massive house cleanout that I did.
This naturally led to my work in sustainability, which led to Nicole sharing that she works with sustainability in her job for McCann Worldgroup, a global advertising agency with offices in 120 countries. Working for such a huge company across the globe, I thought Nicole would be a great person to talk to about how reuse solutions and the resulting benefits play a role in her life.
1. You're based in Singapore; somewhere I don't know too much about. I was wondering if used clothing and thrift stores are popular like they are in the U.S.?
While I don’t think it’s as popular as it is in the U.S., there are actually a good number of thrift stores in Singapore.
For clothes, you can find some of it by Haji Lane (an alley filled with shophouses that have been turned into commercial spaces) and Lucky Plaza (shopping centre by Orchard Road mostly known for having many Filipino stores). There is also a brand called ‘Refash’ which has branches around major shopping areas in Singapore where you can sell and buy pre-loved clothes.
For furniture or house items, there are also plenty of second-hand and antique shops where you can find beautiful pieces for affordable prices. My favorite spots are Hock Siong and the Tan Boon Liat Building (a 15-story building of mostly furniture shops and showrooms).
2. Relatedly, I'm a big coffee drinker, so if I was to ever visit Singapore, I would head straight for a coffee shop. Are coffee shops in Singapore similar, where most people get coffee in single use, disposable cups? And are reuse options available?
Sadly, it’s not yet widely practiced in Singapore. If I’m not mistaken, Starbucks is the only well-known coffee shop that has an all-year round program that encourages this wherein you get 50 cents off your drink if you bring your own cup.
3. As a Director of Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for a large company, does sustainability get involved in your work?
Yes it does. I am one of the Sustainability Champions that represent APAC in our Global Sustainability Community. Apart from actively taking part in sustainability-related discussions, I am also responsible for rolling out sustainability programs, implementing changes in our practices & processes to reduce our carbon footprint, and facilitating training courses (e.g Green Claims, Recycling, etc.) in the markets that I handle.
Some of the notable things we’ve done in Singapore include:
Putting recycling bins around our office for paper, cans and plastics, and partnering with organizations that turns those into new products (e.g. coasters, carabiners, etc.)
Having a compost bin for our food waste
Purchasing Second Hand Furniture from thrift and antique stores for all our meeting rooms when we did our office renovations last year
Using recyclable materials for costumes and props that we make for our different office parties, and reusing/repurposing office decorations for cultural events.
4. So, while I'm certainly a solutions guy, we do have to address the problems. Where do you see the most waste in your daily life?
Packaging of different food and household items for sure.
5. In your personal experience, how do you think recycling has worked and NOT worked as a solution to waste?
One of my biggest challenges is doing the recycling on my own due to constraints in schedule, space etc. Thus, when I set aside items which I don’t want to waste or I’m hoping to recycle such as paper bags, clothes, linens, etc., it just ends up piling up in my condo for nothing.
This is why I’m so glad that that there are collection boxes/ bins around Singapore (1 of which is a 5-min walk from my condo) where you can drop off apparels, textiles, household items, electronics etc.. so they can do the recycling for you. (Check this article out: https://mustsharenews.com/textile-recycling-bins/amp/)
6. How do you think the Philippines could step up the solutions to the waste problem? Have you seen or heard of anything anywhere else?
I think education should be a big part of it. The private and public sectors must lead educational campaigns on recycling, segregation, proper waste management etc. with emphasis on its negative short and long term effects.
Enforcement policies related to waste management must also be strengthened on an institutional, local and national level. Communities must be engaged actively and probably also incentivized in a way that it could also impact other aspects of their lives in the long run (e.g. supporting or establishing more social enterprises that can provide more jobs)
7. It's funny. I always tell people that reusing is nothing new. It’s been going on long before we were here. Do you have any memories of your parents or grandparents reusing in unique ways?
My grandmother is a very fashionable woman with a unique style, and something I remember her doing a lot is repurposing extra textiles or clothes that she has to make it into bags, shoes and accessories.
Also, something that’s common in a Filipino household is reusing all sorts of containers to store food. [Nicole is originally from the Philippines] A popular choice? Ice cream tubs to store fish/meat in the freezer.
8. Do you have any notable stories about saving money on something because you bought it used instead of new?
It’s not a secret that Singapore is a very expensive country to live in. Apart from items being pricey, services also cost a lot.
So when I moved to Singapore, I was so fortunate to have been able to buy a lot of the old furniture of the previous tenant of my condo. I only paid SGD 800 ($590 USD) for the following items which were barely used:
Haylee Queen sized Mattress with headboard (Typical Cost: $600-800)
2-seater sofa (Typical cost ($200-500)
4-seater Ikea dining table (Cost: $629)
Ikea coffee table (Cost: $69)
Kitchen rack, shoe rack and bed side table (Est. Cost: $100-150)
9. Have you ever taken anything out of the recycling bin or trash to reuse somehow or maybe found something on the side of the road?
Not really ‘cause it’s not a typical practice in the Philippines and in Singapore nor did I have a huge space in my apartment in LA before even if I wanted to.
It’s more my sister and brother-in-law who have done this a few times in both Colorado and Wisconsin, mostly furniture.
10. And lastly, what’s the best thing that you ever got used and why? Got a photo?
On a practical note, it’s my first car which was a Silver Honda Civic 2007 because it was reliable and it served its purpose.
On a personal note, it would be the 12 Volkswagen Beetle toys I got in Frankfurt, Germany from a Barista I randomly met in a hole-in-a-wall cafe😅. I’m a VW Beetle Toy Collector and these are things that genuinely make me happy.
To learn more about Nicole and her work ,
To order a One of a Kind REUSE! T-Shirt like Nicole is wearing in her profile photo,
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