greenism
Well, I've had similar encounters of recycling bins that are filled with trash instead of the items that should have gone in the bins like paper, glass and plastics. Personally, I feel that such acts of throwing rubbish in the recycling bins are a signal that these people do not see the importance and urgency to do something for the environment.

A good reason to support why they are doing such acts may be due to the fact that they (like what you've mentioned) are ignorant on their part in saving the Earth. However, I feel that there are also people among us who could not be bothered and couldn't care less to do something for the planet.

I feel that as humans, we often neglect and ignore things that do not affect and concern us. Understanding this fact, I feel that as long as global warming is not affecting us in a major scale, Singaporeans will “procrastinate” the need to go green.

The most effective measure to encourage Singaporeans to go green is by government intervention. Government bodies can pass laws to encourage Singaporeans to not throw unnecessary items in the recycling bins. If they were to do so, the government will probably have to impose some form of penalty for them.

As mentioned earlier, if an issue is affecting us (fines, for example), we’ve got to do something about it.

softbunlet I think one big problem is that people still do not have sufficient education and awareness on the specifics of going green. For example, do you know that cardboard can be recycled but preferably not together with other paper? Office-grade white paper can be recycled into higher-grade paper whilst cardboard and newspapers yield lower quality paper. Mixing them creates wastage of resources by yielding an overall lower quality paper.

pizzamizza With all the raising awareness by all these campaigns that have been going on, how can we say that they are not aware of the purpose of those recycle bins? They existed ever since we were young.

The main problem is that they couldn't be bothered to sort their trash out and treat it like many other rubbish bin.

To solve it, there is a need to raise awareness on how those act of theirs will affect THEM back.

keshias I feel that it's not because of the lack of education in environmental awareness. Singaporeans just don't care. And with the hectic lifestyles, who can blame them for wanting to take the easy way out of everything?

jade I think she serves a great inspiration to us, with her great lengths and efforts to preserve the environment.

Yet I think the lesson we can gather is not that we must go to great lengths over nature preservation. Rather, we should protect the environment without having others to go to such great lengths.

Here's the full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar-20100716,0,2145175.column?page=1

bluefairy Great job! A truly inspirational being that we can all emulate. Who says that you have to be someone of a high status to make a difference? She has set a great example that anyone and everyone can make a difference and save the environment. She went through great lengths to highlight the plight of the river, but we don't have to do that yet. It would help if we threw our litter into rubbish bins so that when it rains, the rain water doesn't flush the rubbish into the rivers. Little acts like this can go a long way!

City rivers are some of the most polluted water ways.

codenamebutter Yes that's true.

Although biodegradable balloons may be a bit costlier than normal helium balloon. One should make the effort to buy these fantastic eco-friendly alternative to other types of balloons.

This is because although balloons are relatively small items, it is normally the case that many are used at once, which means that the collective impact on the environment can be much larger than anyone would imagine.

jade Most of us use balloons as purely decorative items, and they all end up as trash without having any specific purpose to them (other than entertainment).

Why not forgo them, and find alternatives instead? For example, forget the boring balloons during birthday parties. You can reuse an old object and use your creativity. That way, you would be able to craft out something unique that you can't buy anywhere else!

jaynetoh I think that jade's suggestions are fabulous. We can indeed come up with other creative ideas and use alternatives during parties or events. I think that this will help to save cost because helium balloons are indeed expensive and useless after the event. If being creative can help save the Earth by not polluting it when our helium balloon float into the sky, why not? It helps encourage us to squeeze our brain juice and come up with alternatives and think of unique decorations for parties and events. Isn't great?

pizzamizza This is what happens when people don't tend to be bothered about such little things like how they will affect those around them, whether near or far.

There are a whole lot of things that can be done for substitution. It just depends on us, whether we do or do not want to put in extra effort for all those.

One good substitution would be an excellent idea from Jade. Love it and maybe we too should use it in the future.

strictmachine Sorry, article here

http://www.defensereview.com/u-s-army-begins-shipping-m855a1-enhanced-performance-round-a-k-a-green-ammo-improved-5-56mm-nato-round-to-warfighters-m855-ball-ammo-gets-an-upgrade/

edwinwaliman The article mentioned that "The Enhanced Performance Round contains an environmentally-friendly projectile that eliminates up to 2,000 tons of lead from the manufacturing process each year in direct support of Army commitment to environmental stewardship." and although it's good news that they're using less natural resources the article does not mention exactly whether the bullets actually gets broken down after it's shot. I can imagine the number of bullets that can be found in the soil all over the world outnumbering the human population, taking into account all the wars that took place.

I think the more pressing issue will be creating a bullet that is actually bio-degradable. Haven't you always wondered what happens to a bullet after it is shot? Because logically speaking, no one clears the bullets from the ground after they are shot right?