From trash to treasure: This TikTok shows how East Coast Park's plastic waste can be turned into an Insta-worthy tray

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Chances are, not many would bat an eyelid if they came across trash littered in public spaces such as parks and beaches.

With eco-friendliness often encouraged and championed, this paradox is quite alarming.

A small local business, Brambe, is hoping to tackle the problem by turning trash into treasure.

On Oct 13, Brambe posted a video on TikTok showing how they made a pill tray from plastic litter at East Coast Park. The video has since garnered over 70,000 views.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@brambe.sg/video/7018207958584560898?_d=secCgwIARCbDRjEFSADKAESPgo8W0vx4Kotv5AlWPePK7VsHixIn40vPJHIWmMqZy[/embed]

The beach clean-up 'haul' included common plastic waste such as bubble tea straws and cable ties.

After some thorough washing, the plastic items were snipped into tiny bits.

With the addition of some jesmonite (an eco-friendly material made of gypsum, acrylic, and water), the trash from East Coast Park was transformed into a handy pill tray.

In the comments section, a large majority of netizens were impressed by this novel approach to living more sustainably. One netizen suggested that they should consider setting up an art class to impart their skills.

A cheeky netizen claimed that their lost bubble tea straw was captured in the TikTok video.

Unfortunately for them, a reply came in the form of a 'threat' to call the authorities and report their illegal act of littering at the beach.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CVHHKxitSvP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link[/embed]

According to its website, Brambe is the love-child of an architect and an environmentalist so sustainability and design are rooted at its core.

The local business also claims to be the first in Singapore to incorporate waste materials with jesmonite to create handcrafted homeware such as laptop stands, pill trays and coasters.

ALSO READ: I tried upcycling an entire outfit using old clothes and it was easier than I thought it would be

amierul@asiaone.com