ginachiam The walk of shame, walk of reflection to path of redemption highlights the cause,effect and solution(in an interesting way) to making mother nature a better place for all of us. Now we know what to do!

camellialimxinyi Yes, and not only did our participants learn more about going green from this 'green march'. I think that the group that had learnt the most from it is us! =D

attsayang Our months of hard work has certainly paid off. I love every single bit of the Green March. I think that was the best school project that I have ever worked on!

victortky The walk of shame really did remind us of the dangers that what we wreak upon mother nature herself, and the walk of reflection really shows us the wonders of mother nature. The ways of conserving the environment was really enlightening and very easy to do. We will need every bit of effort in help saving gaia, and now I know how.

ming18 My view is what's done is done. Its already there. Some are there for decades. I support what the government are doing at the present moment. Since there are many more projects, just make it 'green'. When existing buildings are outdated, we can demolish them and them build new ones that are environmentally friendly. To destroy our environment takes time and to repair our 'work', we need time. CHILL MAN!~

repeaterbeatermaliki01 Well, I don't think anyone would want to waste money on demolishing these buildings and rebuilding them just to be energy efficient, as there are other ways which are much more cheaper and feasible in order to make a building green. One way is to replace most of the electrical devices in the building with energy saving ones. An example is changing the light bulbs to flourescent light bulbs which are more effective in energy saving and also have longer rated life. Another is to replace devices with ones which have the energy saving label pasted on them. Another way is to make rooftop gardens on these buildings. Rooftop gardens improve the air quality and also reduce CO2 emissions. It can also insulate buildings from the heat in Singapore, meaning there is no need for people to set the air conditioning to such a low temperature. There are lots of ways to make current buildings more green even though they are not built right from the start to be 'green'. Hopefully in the future, we can see more creative ways to convert these 'old' buildings to be green!

xoxo Having solar panels definitely help us all save on power sources. Relying on solar energy will allow us to not only cut down the uprising electrical bills but also allows everyone to play their part on going green. It is good that the government is setting up solar panels and showing responsibility for the environment. This money is definitely well spent.

xyrhs This is definitely an intelligent approach HDB is adopting. Having solar panels would definitely help all local resident cut cost on the consumption of electricity, it would also encourage residents in going green. As this is the first time HDB is adopting this approach as part of their sustainable housing initiatives, I am psyched, to see how things would go when these solar panels are installed in their precincts.

alfazid this is definitely a very creative idea to install solar panels in HDB apartments!! this can save the cost by atleast 40% as the solar panels are providing the energy for the day time when there is sunlight!! although we may feel it is a very expensive idea to implement by the HDB, if we think it in a long term basis, i personally feel it would be definitely a very cost saving idea!! but with that we should not cut the normal electrical supply.. in case of emergency, that normal supply can be used!

logesh WOW. i didn't know that HDB was building giant solar panels! I think its a wonderful idea! I mean imagine if in 10 years time, all HDB flats have solar panels installed! We have HDB flats everywhere and anywhere! We really can save energy, if we put our minds into it!

notsosunnily I've been to Marina Bay Sands before, and the first thing that struck me was the shimmery metal plates over the entrance of the hotel. They're so pretty in the sunlight and that saves on unnecessary outdoor lightings that most shopping malls and landmarks in Singapore use to increase the attractiveness. Also, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands are designed in a way to save energy yet appear beautiful and classy. :D They have huge windows covering one side of the mall which helps save on lighting in the mornings and afternoons. They are also able to minimize the air conditioning usage due to their little indoor "river". The fountain (still under construction) flows into a mini river that goes the length of the mall itself and helps to lower the temperature of the building. GO MBS!!

sean03 I think one of the best things organisations and companies around the bay area did was to ensure proper dumping of their garbage annd pollutants. My father told me that when he was a little boy the bay area and the singapore river was filled with mess and garbage. It was a huge rubbish dump that stinked. I was there last week and I can't beleive how much the waters around the region has changed. The best thing was that I saw fished and turtles occasianally coming up to the surface to breathe. Keeping up with this "greening" of the bay area will only make the central business district and bay area a much pleasant place to go.

thelion Although many believe that it is becoming a trend to "take the lead in building a greener sustainable building infrastructure", I agree with you that it is indeed very "heartening to see more businesses applying corporate responsiblity into their business plan". And in your example, you mentioned Marina Bay Sands. I have yet to visit the place itself, but from what I can see, it is indeed an infrastructure that never fails to let me feel starry eyed. We live in the 21st century; the most important thing about being in this new age is the STYLE. By trying to build a building that is much more environmentally friendly, one must also bear in mind that the style is important too. If we forgo the style factor to just build a dull-looking eco friendly building[let's assume its a tourist attraction], then I believe we might as well not build anything at all since it will be a waste of resources. I realised building a Green and modern infrastructure actually creates more “WOW” factor[maybe it’s just amongst the people I know], I mean look at our very own Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3. Maybe its due to the fact that we are human beings, and as human beings, nature will always be a part of us. Therefore being in the 21st century, having a fusion of both style and eco-friendly buildings will definitely make many “feel” at home in a way or another. One last noteworthy point… IF we are removing or renovating old buildings with new stylish eco-friendly buildings, are we wasting and contributing more to waste? Although many believe that it is becoming a trend to "take the lead in building a greener sustainable building infrastructure", I agree with you that it is indeed very "heartening to see more businesses applying corporate responsiblity into their business plan". And in your example, you mentioned Marina Bay Sands. I have yet to visit the place itself, but from what I can see, it is indeed an infrastructure that never fails to let me feel starry eyed. We live in the 21st century; the most important thing about being in this new age is the STYLE. By trying to build a building that is much more environmentally friendly, one must also bear in mind that the style is important too. If we forgo the style factor to just build a dull-looking eco friendly building[let's assume its a tourist attraction], then I believe we might as well not build anything at all since it will be a waste of resources. I realised building a Green and modern infrastructure actually creates more “WOW” factor[maybe it’s just amongst the people I know], I mean look at our very own Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3. Maybe its due to the fact that we are human beings, and as human beings, nature will always be a part of us. Therefore being in the 21st century, having a fusion of both style and eco-friendly buildings will definitely make many “feel” at home in a way or another. One last noteworthy point… IF we are removing or renovating old buildings with new stylish eco-friendly buildings, are we wasting and contributing more to waste?

keshias Yes, it's the - First mall to be integrated with an urban park - First mall to have motion sensors fitted into basement carpark to control lighting level for vehicles - First retail development to use pneumatic waste collection system - Designed to educate and influence the community about the importance of environmental conservation First private commercial development awarded BCA Green Mark Platinum Expected to reduce energy usage by approximately 39% amounting to about 11 million kWh or over S$2 million energy savings per year compared to designs using standard industry codes

camellialimxinyi During its construction process : • silt water were treated and recycled, • Environmentally-Friendly Construction Materials were used, • Top Down Strut-Free Construction Method used instead of the usual ones, in order to conserve raw materials. Green features of the building : • Labelling of eco-features to provide shoppers with an eco-learning experience • Eco-restrooms equipped with water conservation taps and WCs. • Electric-saving lights used • Recycling- friendly refuse system • auto-lighting, ventilation fans and slow-down features for Lifts, escalators and travellators • Use of pre-cooled air in air-conditioning system to reduce overall energy usage etc. Other details can found on their official website: http://www.citysquaremall.com.sg.

camellialimxinyi I personally feel that this is a new breakthrough in our country’s efforts in going green. It not only shows the Corporate Social Responsibility shown by the developer, CDL, but (hopefully) also acts as a model for other developers too. I hope that the other developers in the industry follow suit and jump onto the bandwagon too - Together, (as the old saying goes,) we’ll make a true difference.

chanbs I feel that green living encourages people to be more eco friendly but at the same time investing money that may help save funds in the long run. An example is the "interlace condo", which is still in construction, located at Gilman Heights, near Alexandra Road and the Ayer Rajah Expressway. It is a massive construction that practices green living by having large green areas in the condo itself and also minimizing the above ground vehicular circulation. Energies are also saved through thoughts of sun, wind and micro-climate conditions, and other energy saving features can also be found there. Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Interlace-Condo---Living-Green-in-Singapore&id=2887926 . In my opinion, this sort of green living is only available at a higher cost which can be as costly as millions of cash taking into account. Another example is investing money on a folding bicycle can help save up money and time on transport and at the same time be health beneficial. Also, folding bicycle has been a trend in Singapore since the economy downturn last year and with the "fold it and ride it" campaigns available in buses and trains, it has encouraged numerous commuters and cyclists to ride on public transport for shorter distance and cycle more instead which can save up money on the public transport especially for adults. This sort of green living is a much cheaper variety than "interlace condo" as it is eco-friendly, and also money saving and health benefitting at the same time. Posted by, Chan Bao Sheng

lizhen Great argument and examples! ;) Out of curiosity, I checked out the folding bikes at http://www.diginexx.com/Swissbike.html and http://jz88.com/. Prices start at $600 upwards and there\'s even a one week trial for $20! Any takers? I might just take this up and see how it goes! It\'s rather affordable and we could zip through traffic with a folding bicycle. Another eco-friendly product would be organic food. It\'s not just that the food is grown without pesticides and herbicides, the organic farmers ensure that the soil is healthy, vibrant and it has been proven that healthy soil ecosystems significantly benefits crops. Recently, I’ve been reading up on this area to prepare meals for my daughter and have been visiting various organic shops in Singapore. There’s Brown Rice Paradise (http://www.mybrp.com.sg/index.asp) at Tanglin Mall, as well as NTUC Finest, which sells a good variety of organic products as well. These products are priced rather expensively, yet many consumers are loyal customers, presumably because of the health benefits, and organic fruits are indeed sweeter than normal fruits. However, the question is whether these organic crops require more expensive growing and harvesting techniques, and hence the higher consumer price, or is it a marketing gimmick to gain more profits? There are costs associated with non-organically grown foods as well. For example, the herbicides and pesticides used, and if the soil ecosystems are unhealthy, there could be poor crops, which result in losses for non organic farmers. These are costs as well, which could make non-organic foods more expensive. Thus, it is possible isn’t it – that it is a marketing tactic to price organic crops more expensively and appeal to consumers’ eco-consciousness? Come on…let’s get a healthy discussion going…what other products are eco-friendly?

purplishlyne >Green living in Singapore is a popular trend. Do you think this is truly >feasible and practical, or just another marketing gimick to get people to >buy green products/homes with eco features? Discuss, and do share >some examples of green projects/products in Singapore. > > > I personally feel that practicing green is very important because living in these urban area, everything is too accessable for us, which leads us to take things for granted. Green living is quite practical to a great extent because its about putting a little effort in it. And i do agree with BaoSheng that it will helpful in the long run. For exapmple, there is a project on \' Bring Your Own Bag Day \' in supermarket where they encourages people to bring their own Recyclebag/ plastic bag when they want to purchase something. So, i head down to this particular supermarket and they told me that today is \' Bring Your Own Bag Day \'. I was told that i have to pay 10 cents for each plastic bag used. At that very moment, i was quite irritated because i feel that they are trying to cheat my money - i could feel the \'pain\'. But after awhile, i thought back and i actually realised that if i could put in a little more effort by bringing a recycle bag before going down for grocery, that will save the trouble. Being a Environmental Champion - Green activist member in my scondary school, i have learnt alot on going green. And it has made me more aware of what is going on around the Earth. One of them is that Plastics cannot be decomposed. So, when i head down to shops to buy one or two items, i would always reject the shop tender when he offers me a plastic bag. You know, people in the western countries can wrap vegetables with newspaper when they grocer, instead of using plastic bags to put what they had bought, they can hug paper bags in their arms. Since other can do it, why cant we? You must be thinking, \' huh? Must I purchase a recycle bag too? The answer is No! Because these days, recycle bags are givien out by the community centres during their big events suchs as Lantern Festivle Celebration or even during the Big Walk sessions to put their goddies inside. But in the other hand, I feel that the situation is abit back of back-fired. While promoting green, more bags were distributed. But think, do we need so much of these bags? Are we creating more junks at the end of the day? Previously, i mentioned on accessability that we are having now. And yes, in this urban area we are living in, we buy things as and when we like - even those that we might not need them. I was doing a Green Outreach Project by my school, where we had to knock the doors of the residents to collect recyclable materials & newspaper, This daughter little girl asked her mum, \' Mummy, why are you giving them rubbish? \' Her mum enlightened her, \' If we dont give them for recycling, we are going to throw them away someday. \' She pulled out bag of unwanted clothes and 2 stacks of old newspaper. In one year, there are at least 2 collection and the intervals are about 2 to 3 months. Imagine if one resident has at least 1 bag of something for us. How much item do we have at the end of the day? From what I had observed for the past 3 years, these collected items had never decrease in numbers, be it the first collection or the second collection of the year. If we do not volunteer to collect them for recycling, who does, who will or where will these item goes to? In conclusion, I strongly feel that Green Living is not about promoting business opportunities but to educate people on Green and our loving our one and only Mother Earth. Lets take recycle bags for example. They are named as RECYCLE bags. As the name says, Recycle. So its either purchase one nice bag or get for free and that’s it. Hence, I would like to encourage everyone to start the Green practice from today because every little action plays apart. Posted by : Soh Jun Ru DFST/FT/1B/22

chanbs @ lizhen, hmmm.. The organic foods are also being eco friendly i c, maybe i would try them out someday, heard they are way healthier than the usual fresh foods available in super markets but of course the price varies way more. @ jun ru, i would agree with that too. Perhaps, instead of reusing the plastic bags they got from the supermarket, how about reusable bags? Some of them are non-plastics and can be very useful in terms of being eco-friendly and quite lasting and spacious to put lots of groceries. Reusable bags are also quite trendy these days among groceries shoppers and cost less than few dollars a bag or even free as gifts from supermarkets to promote green living among people. I feel that despite the fact that you need to trouble yourself to bring the reusable bags to supermarkets when shopping for groceries, you can actually save up a lot of plastic bags and prevent them from being wasted as they are non-biodegradable which can’t be recycled. (Or jun ru, you actually meant the same thing just that it is called recycled bag instead of reusable bag lol.) I have also done a search on the internet for eco friendly products and have got a handful of products to discuss on from this website called http://www.ecoshopper.net/, where it allows environmentalists to purchase the green living products online. Some of the products are: Solar headphone radio and a cell phone which recharges when you twirl it. Solar headphone radio, the name says it all. It runs on solar energy which simply means that it charges by sunlight. When under the sun for an hour, it can provide 2-3 hours of listening. This innovation saves up on the batteries needed for radios or batteries that need to be charged. It costs about 25 British pounds. I personally feel that it is a very useful product for radio listeners especially for people who listen to news or music via the radio daily. Also, it runs on solar energy, a reusable energy which can save tons of money instead of electricity from charge or non-charge batteries. Despite the price is 25 pounds, i think it is about 50 SGD which i felt it is pretty decent for an eco friendly product. The second green living product that i would like to discuss is a phone that charges when you twirl it. It has a hole which allows a finger to be inserted in for the swirl action to be initiated at. Well, i not sure whether this product is a real or fraud as no clear evidence was found on the web... But imagine a phone that simply charges when you twirl it.. How cool will it be? Furthermore, lazy people like me do not like to charge phone often and with this innovation, i can just charge my phone whenever the battery is low by twirling it. I feel that this innovation is very convenient and eco-friendly as the charging of the phone only needs a twirling action and when you’re not at home or do not have a charger with you, you can just charge your phone on the spot immediately. This also saves up your utility bill on the electricity from charging. Posted by: Chan Bao Sheng

qiyan Melting of glaciers and polar ice-caps. Global warming. Increasing natural disasters. These are topics appearing in newspapers more and more frequently. The rising evidence of greenhouse effects has caused a growing worldwide trend towards green living, including here in Singapore. Many wonder whether this is truly feasible and practical, or just another marketing gimmick to get people to buy green products and homes with eco-features. In my opinion, I strongly feel that this is achievable and realistic, and not just another commercial advertising strategy. It depends on our choice of ways to contribute as well as how thoughtful government initiatives are to make it convenient for us and companies response towards green living to feel enthusiastic enough to embrace green living. Firstly, some of us who are not prepared to open our wallets for green-products can opt to start slow by making minor changes to our daily routines. For example, at home, we can save electricity by making use of the sunlight in the morning instead of switching on extra lights. Papers can also be used on double sides to reduce wastage. When we are outside, we can make an effort to cycle instead of driving to short distance destinations, and take public transport instead of driving to further places to reduce our carbon footprints. The Singapore Environment Council website state that six billion plastic bags were thrown away every year. Thus, we should be more supportive of the government’s Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) scheme, by bringing our own containers, plastic bags and eco-friendly bags to buy goods to reduce the amount of packaging used. Next, others who are willing to take a further step into green living may consider buying products carrying GreenLabel (part of Singapore Green Labelling Scheme, for more details, go to: http://www.sec.org.sg/awards/greenlabel/buygreen ) which is conveniently available at all majors stores. One can also invest in green homes, which the slightly more expensive price could be cancelled out by the save on utility bills due to the green features within each unit. (See this website: http://www.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20080521-66290.html ) Nevertheless, the increasing numbers of recycling bins around the island has shown that the government is also playing their part to make green living more convenient for the people. Additionally, more green businesses are brought in to Singapore. For example, the first eco-friendly supermarket by NTUC Fairprice was opened in City Square Mall. “The outlet uses biodegradable carriers, collects plastic bottles and drink cans for recycling and offers over 400 environmentally-friendly products such as biodegradable dishwashing liquid, made from natural ingredients.” (Source: http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/12/singapores-first-eco-friendly-supermart.html ) Singapore’s first new eco-store, CHOOSE is another one-stope location for our green needs. (See this website: http://www.greenkampong.com/green_reporter/welcome-to-singapores-first-eco-store/ ) Some might argue that it is just another way companies’ way to publicise their products. Moreover, with our hectic lifestyles now, who has the extra time to bother about the environment? However, I strongly believed that with the applaudable compassion Singaporeans showed through the success of many donations raised during charity shows, and that most of us being educated and watches the news daily will empathise the harsh reality of the deteoriating health of earth affecting the world day after day. This should motivate us to stop sitting on the couch and instead stand up and play our part. In fact, it was reported that many Singaporeans are in fact willing to spend more on eco-products (See:http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_518418.html). Lastly, I feel that whether green living is possible largely depends on our decision to start saving the earth or not. One person individual effort might seem insignificant, but if each of us plays our part, it will lead to a great change to the environment, where in this case, for a better one. Ps: If you need some examples to motivate yourself, have a look at how one overseas family tried out green living for a year. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/05/tech/livinggreen/main5364616.shtml Posted by: Ng Qi Yan

qiyan @Ms Quek: I do query whether organic products are companies way to generate more revenue instead of the publicise reason of allowing people to eat healthily while being eco-friendly because most of the products are really much more expensive that non-organic products. The puzzling thing is, during promotions, some organic products can be as cheap as our non-organic products. This makes me even more convinced that the cost price of organic products are actually not as high as what is potrayed. @Junru: I completely agree with you that by promoting green, more bags are wasted instead. Each time an event is held, thousands of recycle bags are made and used to carry goodies for distribution. If the aim of recycle bags is to reduce wastage, I think organisers should insist on bringing individuals own recycle bags to carry the goodies home. If people do not want to cooperate,they have to face the consequences of not being able to get the goodies. This can also allow people to realise that recycle bags is given for them to use, not to keep at home.

lizhen Junru: Wonderful observation of the number of reusable bags being given out at community events! Your post made me think about how other countries promote the use of reusable bags at their supermarkets. A google search points out that many countries actually charge customers who use plastic bags, whereas reusable bags are given out free. However, what then happens is that these reusable bags become the "new disposable bag". Furthermore, because plastic bags are traditionally reused to line dustbins, people in these countries now have to buy dustbin liners which are made of...you guessed right - plastic! How ironic! In Singapore, there is a greater awareness of green issues than before, hence we do see a larger number of people using reusable bags. However, many supermarkets are hesitant to charge for plastic bags or switch entirely to reusable bags, for fear their customers would go to a competitor. Hence, it has to be a concerted effort by all supermarkets to switch to reusable bags. I wonder...if we could approach NEA (National Environment Agency) and ask them if they had broached the idea with the supermarkets about switching to reusable bags, and find out what feedback they got from the supermarkets. Anyone up for this challenge? ;) Bao Sheng: I love the eco-friendly products you recommended, especially the phone. Now how about an iPhone which charges by twirling? Quite an ingenious product! Qiyan: Great observations on the green living around Singapore! Just the other day I was at McDonald's and noticed that the napkins are made from recycled paper. Previously, a couple of years back, napkins used to be given at the counter. It would be thrown away whether or not people used it. Now, they place it at a separate location from the counter, which means customers have to make extra effort to get these napkins. If they finished using, and needed more, customers then have to get up and retrieve them from these stations. Most of the time, we probably wouldn't get up to get more. What a clever tactic and it saves the environment at the same time! Also, on green living - the couple that decided to live eco-consciously for a year - a pity that video isn't available at the SP library or even national library. It's available only as an audio recording. However, I did check out "An Inconvenient Truth" - a movie on climate change and the effects of our pollution on earth. Do check out the movie trailer here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2078944470709189270# I'll try to get this for our next class... And...please do encourage your coursemates to come online, I think some need help on registration ;)

qiyan Recently i went to Vivocity and i found a push cart stall selling Hangbags made of recyled products! The are some made with newspapers,some with oreos wrappers and even some using recycled soda cans! Have a look at the website: 222.navehmilo.com I think it can be the next fashion! =)

hazelseah Is green living a marketing gimmick or truly a feasible way to help the climate change decrease? It totally depends on how you view it. To me, I feel that it is a marketing gimmick. As there are lots of news everywhere broadcasting that global warming is on the rise, companies would definitely take this opportunity to target at people who wants to go green to contribute something to make the Earth a better place to live. They would up the price of items which are said to be ‘green’, so as to earn profits. In the past, when global warming was rising within record rates, people would turn down buying recycled products as it is much more costly compared to products which are made from raw materials. However, knowing that global warming is now on the rise, companies which used to sell ‘green’ products would do lots of promotions to catch buyers’ attention that by using them, it can help slow down the rate of global warming. Items like foolscap paper made from recycled papers are much pricey than others which are not made from recycled materials. Even the new Pilot pen(B2P), which is said to be made from plastic bottles, are sold in the market to attract more customers into this new product, thus earning more profits. There are also shopping malls which are constructed to be an ‘eco-mall’. For example, City Square, located at Kitchener Road. It is the first eco-mall in Singapore. This would not only attract investors to invest in this project, but people and tourists, knowing that people would be interested to find out more about the mall, thus going down to City Square to check it out. This is where people would do shopping and eating in the mall, hence spending money, allowing the companies to earn more profits just by advertising the mall as an ‘eco-mall’. Thus, I feel that at this point, where the damage done to Mother Nature is irreversible; the idea of going green is an only marketing gimmick for companies to earn more profits out of this current situation. Money is still the first priority to people. Posted by: Hazel Seah

oriana93 I think that it is truly feasible and practical, yet a marketing gimmick at the same time. This is because in order for green living to be feasible and practical, marketing gimmicks is needed to promote green living among us. For example, with marketing gimmicks, green living can be easily promoted, as we all know that information can be transmitted like almost at instant in this technological era. Hence it helps to increase the awareness level for green living drastically, in turn making green living practical. Therefore with marketing gimmicks, green living will then be practical. I wouldn't say that with marketing gimmick, it will be assured that green living becomes feasible and practical. Such that there are three ways to sustainability, which is the preservation of resources for future generation. The first one would be through policies introduced by the government, followed on marketing forces and last but not least, through educations. This is because it is hard for the people to follow up with green living; hence this is the part where the government is needed to assist the citizens by coming up with incentives that helps to protect the environment. These incentives should be strict, if not it will be difficult for the citizens to practice green living as some might ignore it. Marketing force is another contributing factor as more and more eco-friendly products are being introduced to the society, people will be curious about the products, hence they will want to find out more about it. At the same time, they get to understand why are there such products in the market, so this helps to create awareness about sustainability and thus making green living more practical. Lastly, education facilitate changes in community attitudes and behaviour in support of sustainable development. Hence all these three factors contribute greatly to whether green living can be practical. Anyways here is a link to NSW Government Sustainability Policy: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/government/08453SustainabilityPolicy.pdf I agree to Qiyan that all organizers should stop wasting resources by giving participants free bags to carry their goodies, instead like what Qiyan says, they should insist in asking the participants to bring their own bags, as this will reduce the among of resources being wasted. By insisting, not only one of the 3Rs which is 'reduce' is obtained, but also awareness in reducing the usage of plastic bags is created. The above example given can also apply to supermarkets or any stores in Singapore. If you guys have not realized, these stores like the supermarkets put up advertisement to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags to help reduce the amount of plastic bags used, but we still see the employees giving out numerous plastic bags to the shoppers when asked or when they help the shoppers pack their items. Hence I think that it defeats the purpose of putting up the posters to reduce the usage of plastic bags, since the employees of the shop are already not doing their best to help reduce the usage. Therefore I think there is a need for these shops to insist in asking the shoppers to bring their own bags, such that shoppers would have to pay for the bags. This way shoppers are not given a choice to choose, instead it is a must to bring their bags, unless they are willing to pay. But in usual cases, shoppers are not willing to do so as they would like to save the extra costs. Also the employers should also not allow their employees to give the shoppers bags. With such measures introduced, shoppers like us will tend to bring our own bags even though unwillingly, but still plastic bags usage will decrease and slowly everyone will cultivate a habit of bringing their own bags. Actually to what I have known, many countries have already started in the trend of not providing shoppers with plastic bags such as Taiwan and Australia. So I think that shops in Singapore should stop giving shoppers plastic bags like starting from now, so as to reduce the usage of plastic bag and reduce the amount of damages cause to the Earth. When I visited Australia last month, my mum and I was walking down some streets in Randwick, we realized that there was no lamp post at all; hence everything was like pitch dark, till the extent that it’s hard to see your own fingers. Then I asked my brother why there is no lamp post at certain streets and he told me that it was part of the Australia government’s plan to reduce electricity usage. So I think that it is a unique experience for me as unlike in Singapore, we see lamp post one after another on the streets. During my trip there, I came across a community based environmental event called Clean Up Australia Day. It inspires and works with communities to clean up, fix up and conserve the Australian environment. It provides individuals with the opportunity to make a practical and worthwhile contribution to their environment. It continues to grow from strength to strength because of the generous support of numerous individuals, businesses, community groups and councils throughout Australia. The primary reason most councils get involved in Clean Up Australia Day is to engage the local community and create positive outcomes for the environment. This event helps to remove substantial amounts of rubbish from bushland areas and reserves not regularly serviced by council local asset services. Hence the two examples are ways of green living in Australia that I have come across with.

oriana93 i just came across a website that contains all information and services which are all green living based. It has information on eco fashion, green products, green product reviews etc. I find it really interesting and it's really a cool website. :D here is the website: http://www.bestgreenblogs.com/ I came across an architecture whereby I find it really cool as nowadays we do not often see much infrastructure made from traditional materials. The building is called Modern Palmyra House Showcases Local Sustainable Materials. The Palmyra House is a vacation home in the south of Mumbai that resonates not just for its clean modern look but also for its rich selection of local sustainable materials. Situated on the coast of the Indian Ocean, this handcrafted home was sensitively placed in a coconut grove and much of it structure is made from the materials harvested on site or nearby. According to Studio Mumbai Architects the superstructure is made from ain wood, a local hardwood, and was constructed using traditional interlocking joinery. They then wrapped the buildings with handmade louvers made of palmyra palm trunk — also a hardy and local tree. For more information: http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/28/stunning-palmya-house-showcases-local-sustainable-materials/

purplishlyne oh! guess what! did you see that the a company is promoting recycled pen? the cover is made of plastic cover. haha. i forgot which company is it. But you can definitely see it during cormercial break =D Posted By Soh Jun Ru

purplishlyne With reference to the last post, i mean * Plastic Bottle. =D And maybe sentosa manager could collect back the enterenace card when we leave that area. sounds cool haha Posted By Soh Jun Ru

oks93 Ok so green houses is the topic. Eco friendly houses is not common in singapore as it is quite costly since it is not the common normal house. Instead, it is quite special. Why? Because it helps the enviroment. As till this date, the humans are trying to replant trees that have been cut down to reduce the effect of greenhouse effect on global warming. But this this truely an effective way? I believe that other than replanting trees, there is other ways to help out, like treetop houses. Planting trees or creating a mini garden on top of houses is a fantastic idea. It may be for profit now, but sooner when this is planted through out Singapore, this will longer be for profit, but for the enviroment. This is good as not only it creates a nice view and contributes to the beauty of Singapore, it helps the people living there as well. Having tress or mini garden built at the very top, it provides abundance of oxygen. And if any senior citizens wished to take a walk, they need not leave the building and just take the lift up to the highest story and enjoy the walk there. Another possible way is Eco-friendly houses. Such houses have in-built solar panels and eco-friendly ventilations. I think that these houses are great as well. Imagine using an alternative energy for our electricity. Yes this may be expensive, but the question here is not about price, but its about would you pay more to help the enviroment, or pay less to ruin it? You see all those rich people donating money to charity, but these problems will continue to no end. Wouldn't it better if there is a charity or an organisation that mainly supports such houses? Citizen these days love to put pot plants outside their houses or in their home balcony. These too helps the enviroment via reducing the carbon dioxide in the air, which in turn reduce global warming. But this improvement is insignificant. Much more must be done. Republic Polytechnic is a example of a school which is a eco-friendly school. Why i say this was because they have built solar panels in their school. However green living today is not about helping enviroment, but about profits. If you notice, flats with such improvements are normally condomeniums or terrace houses, and these flats don't come cheap. These are just designs to create more beauty which raises the price of the flats. I think that this is quite bias as HDB flats should have these benefits as well. If they want this ti be successful, every single flat should have such things, at the same time it can improve the enviroment by decrease greenhouse gases emitted. Other than green houses, we have other options that may assist us in our life. Like what Bao sheng mentioned, there is the fold-able bike which is very convenient. However, if there is some people who doesn't have the benefit of having these thing, there are such ways which can be followed to be eco-friendly as well. Firstly, Fans are more eco-friendly than air-con. If possible, sleep with fans instead of air-con. Secondly, try to bring your own bag to supermarkets. Rather than go empty-handed and receive more plastic bags whenever you go to the super markets, it harms the enviroment as more plastic wastes are accumulated. This will result in more plastic being burned, which harms the enviroment. Hence to conclude, green houses and things do have good effect on the enviroment. However these things comes with a high price. Ong Kian Siang

edmz I personally feel that green living can make a person be more responsible to the environment. As everyone has a part in community therefore, if one person fails to protect the environment, the world will slowly come to an end. In my opinion, I feel that green living is a mere marketing gimmick that encourages people to buy eco-friendly product to promote green living. An example, in hot weather in Singapore, people tend to on air-conditioner more often. As the usage of energy of ordinary air-conditioner is very high, this will contribute to the high electricity usage thus, this is very environmental unfriendly. We should use eco-friendly air-conditioners manufactured by companies like, Daikin, Mitsubishi, etc. However, such air-conditioners is more costly than the usual ones. Despite the fact that, these air-conditioners will reduce the usage of electricity and this will save much more money in the long run like the above stated products introduce by my friends. In conclusion, we should not use air-conditioner at all as the energy usage is relatively high even if we are using the eco-friendly air-conditioner. A better way to cool ourselves is by using the electrical fan which uses much lesser energy then air-conditioner. Posted by: Edmund Neo

oks93 With references to green house, Did you heard that there is a guy who amazingly transforms a Flat with less than 400 sq ft into 24 different rooms ? This is amazing as it doesn't consume so much space and it is VERY eco friendly ! The technique here is by sliding. By sliding the walls, he create or transform a room to another kind, like transforming the bed room, into the kitchen. Similarly, from bathroom, to study area, to games rooms to mini library all in just less than 400 sq ft of a flat. Amazing isnt it ? Ong Kian Siang

oks93 @JunRu : i agree with you. Isn't it a waste to see them printing new cards over and over and over again wasting precious resources when they can just collect back the cards to be re-use again ! @Edmund : Yes ! its so true. There are SOOOOO many air-conditioners that are eco-friendly. and guess what ? They are horribly expensive! But its agreeable that it does saves electric bills for us and helps the environment. Overall it help us saves money and so on. But companies shouldn't just make these products expensive because they wan profits, they should consider about helping the environment. Helping the world. Of course, in the world of business, profits always comes first.

olaf1000 In my opinion, with lights powered by solar energy, a renewable resource, we can save much of the non-renewable resources, namely oil and coal. If these non-renewable resources are all used up, we will have to wait for millions of years before we can obtain them. Therefore, without using these resources in generating electricity, there will not be any pollution of air caused by fumes from combustion of these resources. However, solar energy is an expensive resource and I doubt many people can afford to use. Building a children’s playground using recycled materials is a good idea. Recycled materials can be found anywhere and are cheaper and lighter than common construction materials, which are hard to find, bulky and expensive. In addition, common construction materials are hard to be recycled and contain substances that can pollute the environment. Walls in HDB apartments that are built using an insulating sandwich of concrete and foam can trap air from the outside to cool the inside of the apartments. People staying in these apartments will feel cooler without using air-cons. They do not have to rely on air-cons to keep themselves cool. Air-cons release CFCs, which can damage the ozone layer, allowing the UV rays from the Sun to penetrate the Earth, thereby leading to a rise in global temperatures. Thus, with fewer people staying in such HDB flats using air-cons, the possibility of global warming will be minimised. Also, using air-cons means consuming a lot of electrical energy. Hence, with lesser people having air-cons in their homes, much electricity can be saved. However, people living in these apartments may continue using air-cons. This is because there are electronics companies such as Mitsubishi Electric that produce air-cons that are energy efficient, which are what many people will buy. They do not have to worry about whether they should use air-cons or not in this way. Setting up integrated water basins that channel used water into the toilet cistern for flushing after using the toilet bowl and a rainwater collection system that collects rainwater for cleaning corridors and common areas means that much fresh water can be conserved for other purposes. Water is a scarce resource and nowadays, many people are unaware that they need to save water while using them. Life will be difficult if all of the water on Earth is used up and it will take a long time before there is sufficient water for all the people around the globe to use. Hence, with these systems set up, people will not have to worry about how much water they have used. People will also be more aware of the importance of conserving water. Nevertheless, these systems are very costly to set up. People cannot afford to use these systems as they are expensive.

purplishlyne @olaf1000 I agree with the using of rain water. One good thing i've observed throughout my secondary school life was that at least one household is making use of the rain water to do something Actually, rain waters aren't dirty at all. They are just liquid which were previously evaporated, and then condensed. Theres a reason for everything and one of my believe is that rain water is there for us to use it. You know, during rainy days, lots of rain water will gather and sip through this small 'drain' at the shelters. Just some tiny linings above the shelter. So this household, ( the family lives at first storey) will line up all her 8 big buckets and allow the rain water to fall into it. Kinda cool right? Maybe because of that, the future HDB flat designers can make use of this idea of the 'drainage' above the shelters to do a small part for the community. At the same time, money can be saved up =) Posted by Soh Jun Ru

lizhen Caleb: Cool! Where is this flat that you're talking about? Do you have a link to that? Jun Ru: Rainwater. Good idea about collecting rainwater, but any idea why people have a conception that rainwater is ‘dirty’? As water falls from the sky, pollution in the sky, dust particles, chemical gases can pollute the rainwater. Water is more than life giving liquid; water is a substance that latches on to just about anything, that could be harmful. At the same time, the drainage, or gutters have bacteria and harmful substances that will pollute the fresh rainwater. By the time, the rainwater flows down into the buckets, it would have been polluted by chemicals/dust particles in the air and the bacteria in the gutters. Hence, in reservoirs, rainwater collected is passed through a filtration system before it is safe for drinking. Here’s a quick link to understanding more about rainwater and how to purify it for drinking: http://www.rain-barrel.net/drinking-rainwater.html Olaf (whoever you are, please identify yourself): I do agree that setting up a rainwater collection system for toilet bowl flushing, cleaning corridors and common areas would be feasible though. However, I do believe that this can be implemented in a cost efficient manner. I believe there was a recent newspaper article describing how HDB is testing out various eco-friendly ways in certain areas of Singapore. Here’s a link to some of the eco-friendly initiatives currently in place in a couple of HDB estates: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10296p.nsf/PressReleases/38ED16EFE18DDA8C482576B800265A27?OpenDocument. I don’t think these flats are more expensively priced just because they are eco-friendly. So, this proves that eco-friendly homes can be practical and feasible. Oriana: wow, the eco-friendly house looks luxurious yet built in a manner that doesn’t harm the environment! Good ideas and evidence in your earlier post! Hazel: Good comments! Plastic bags. I was at Ikea the other day and guess what, they do charge you for a plastic bag. $0.10 per plastic bag. Air-conditioning. A lot of you mentioned about the negative effects of air-conditioning and to stick to the electric fan. Yes, it does work out better for the environment if we use electric fan, but practically speaking, how many of you would like it if all your classrooms were ventilated by fan, or even your homes? Sentosa cards: Any idea why they don’t collect back the cards? Think about it….

vjin Indeed theres a lot of ways to go green and definitely theres quite a whole sum of unique hand ways to do so. Ways like collecting rain water and reusing or just charging a small amount for each plastic bag will make a big difference eventually. For green living houses being build, I still have my doubts on how energy saving it really is. It may seem cool and buyers may feel that they are some how saving their energy consumption and at the same time going green but how much energy is actually being saved ? Solar energy at maximum can only convert 35% of its actual energy into electrical energy, which only produces a few watts at a time if I am not mistaken. Well even so, I guess its still a step towards living green and every constructor should take this into consideration and try to build these kind of houses to not only promote going green but at the same time globalize the future projects into building green as well.