While changing people’s behaviors towards greener living habits is an essential step in the fight against the climate crisis, it is also a difficult one. But one possible way to nudge them towards making more sustainable choices is by simply exposing them to these possibilities.
At least that’s what a partnership between automotive marque MINI and creative agency Kinetic has done in Singapore by setting up an eco-cultural trail of sustainable solutions for city dwellers.
Featuring packaging made from algae, shoes fashioned from pineapple and souvenirs formed from discarded plastic bottles, the eco-trail through the city’s Chinatown was designed to give Singaporeans a window into new ways to live in a city.
Called the Extraoddinary trail, the initiative ran for three days November 22, 23 and 24th. Chinatown visitors and residents were exposed to sustainability through pop-up installations that hint at some of the change-making trends and innovations within the field.
Highlights included the Pineapple Trading Store, a fruit stand-style display that showed off the potential of Piñatex – a sustainable alternative to leather made from pineapple leaf fibers, which are normally just an agricultural byproduct. Going further down the trail, visitors could pass through the Guardians of the Future, a gate flanked by Imperial lions made from mushroom roots.
Algae was also featured in an aquarium, along which was displayed information about the dire state of fish populations due to overfishing, and shared facts about how much more nutritious algae could be as a protein source.
Other stops on the Extraoddinary trail included a vertical farm arranged in the shape of 生 – a Chinese character that means life. There were also fortune cookies made of algae, meatless Chinese jerky snacks, and a local coffee cart displaying mushrooms growing from coffee grounds.