gogreener While it is a good idea to refund or credit back money to consumers when they return the PET bottles for recycling, I do not think it will work. Other countries already have such practice and the necessary machines to do this; eg: Denmark, Sweden, UK, Germany, USA, etc. They do not require consumers to pay advance deposit but will still reward the consumers by giving them discount coupons for grocery or some countries will even give cash in return. Such practice does not need two, but in fact three hands to clap to make it work; Businesses/companies, consumers and the govt. The machine is not cheap, requires maintenance and a question on who should pay for this machine/technology will also suffice. :) My two cents worth. Rgrds, GoGreener

tmorgens Dear GoGreener, I do not know where you take your above information from, but it seems slightly confused. Every of the above mentioned countries requires the consumer to pay a "x" amount beforehand (with exceptions in the US). A deposit refund scheme means that the consumer has to pay a deposit for the beverage container upon purchase, which he will get back once the container is returned. In Germany this is legally binging (25 cents). In Denmark ist is legally binging (b/w 14 - 40 cents), in Sweden it is legally binding (0,11 - 0,22 cent) in the USA there are 10 states with such a system. Now from a non-deposit perspective (coupons for grocieries) I agree that there has to be a cooperation between consumer and business, but the government has nothing to do with these incentive schemes since this is a business model. @ wq3j I would be interested to hear more about your research project! If you need any further information on this you can contact me. Our company produces the reverse vending machines with a market share of 80% globally also specialising on the topic of deposit refund! Best regards, Thomas

tmorgens P.s. it is correct that in the UK there is 1 retailer that runs an incentive driven model.

greenism Haha, Shaunmaniax, congratulations for hitting the quota. Hahaha. Well, indeed you're right. After months of planning, the day of the event is finally here and I'm glad to say, we did it! Though the journey has not been smooth sailing, I believe that we have all gain something from the experience. Let us all take it in, positively and grow from it! This journey has also been meaningful. It has brought all of us closer; new friendships were formed and existing ones grew stronger. Hey, it's a once in a lifetime experience and God knows, this is probably the last opportunity where we all get to work together. As for this forum, it has been a great platform for all of us to share and exchange our views on green issues! In a nutshell, I feel that the green movement that SP has initiated has been a successful one!

wahidah Hear hear, we've all become better, greener (hypothetically speaking) people, and it's nice to come out of the campaign process alive, and proudly say we've learnt something.

jittelicious Hahaha! Yes I think this forum really has helped many of us go green, regardless of whether we meant to or not. I think it's safe to say the quota made many of us scramble to search for environmental information on the internet, and I think through that, each of us learnt something!

pizzamizza Well, I can say all of you are right. The price is right! The price of our enthusiastic hardwork is perfectly right to accommodate to the need of the whole event itself. To add on, consciously or subconsciously, we DID learn a pointer or two if not all.

toinkie yeppp! I've really learnt a lot from planning and organising this campaign! And boy, did I feel awesome to survive this whole process and I'm proud of us!!! Also, this forum has helped me more aware of the environmental issues around the world

logesh I didn't know that prehistoric creatures are being found! I think the very problem of pollution ought to affect all creatures including the prehistoric creatures and animals. I mean animals that are still not extinct like whales and seals are decreasing in numbers due to the harmful chemicals men release out into the sea. I think in due time, if all of us don't pull our efforts together in saving the environment, prehistoric animals will be these seals and whales that live now on earth!

alvin2 I feel that with the constant pollution, more and more creatures would be extinct and not just these newly discovered creatures.

engkhong I agree with alvin. Not only creatures are being exposed to harmful substances, plants, ecosystems and atmosphere are all being affected. Mother Earth needs each and everyone of this in order to function properly so we should start to go green in our each and own way which escalates and goes a long way to help the environment.

xyrhs I have to agree with logesh. It isn't only about these prehistoric creatures that are found, but rather animals, insects, plants, trees, everything that is susceptible to the damages caused by pollution. Water pollution can be caused either through natural reasons, or human activities. However we can, and should do our part in reducing pollution caused by human activities at the very least. It's our fight to stop all these extinctions and preserve these living things! Here are some of the things we could actually do: 1. Toxic products like paints, automobile oil, polishes, and cleaning products should be stored and disposed off properly. As a matter of fact, it is better to use non-toxic, products for the house as far as possible. Also, never dispose off such products by throwing them into your toilet or sink. 2. Dispose off your trash in a proper manner and try and incorporate the recycling habit as far as possible. Non-degradable products like tampons, sanitary napkins, and diapers should not be flushed down the toilet, for these can end up damaging the process of sewage treatment, and usually end up as litter on beaches. 3. Refrain from throwing litter into streams, lakes, rivers, or seas. If you do spot litter on beaches or in water systems, after ascertaining that it is safe, collect them and dispose off them in any nearby waste disposal system. 4. Try using environmentally friendly household products like toiletries, soap-based household cleaning material, and washing powder as far as possible. 5. Try using natural fertilizers and pesticides as far as possible, or if not, do not overuse them or over-water gardens and lawns. This will help in reducing the pollutants that get into water systems due to runoffs. 6. Automobile oil should be re-used as far as possible. Also, it is important to keep your automobile well maintained in order to prevent leakages of toxic fluids like antifreeze and oil. 7. Also, actively conserve water by turning the tap off when you do not need running water, such as while brushing teeth. Apart from preventing water shortages, it lessens the amount of water that needs to be treated

jessica Totally. And we should stop being lazy and print on both sides of the paper too.

reeohnah I agree that we should have it singled line space instead. We should not just for the sake of convenience and waste resources. Indeed it is easier to read with doubled spacing. However, we are wasting a lot of paper. what is the point of championing to go green when we can't start simple? Rather than complaining here, what we can do is let the lecturers know and work out the possible solution. We may feel the pinch even more when we print at home. Yet the issue is not whether we print in school or at home. We are killing more trees and starting off another awful environmental cycle.

nzyjordan yeah we should use fonts like "Agency FB Thin" too. super thin words.

nzyjordan even better, we should just send the reports by email.

xian Yes, i agree. printing it in single line space can save a lot of paper. it can also save us money! if your paper is constantly running out, watch what you print. i'd always run out of paper and finally i realise i was printing a lot of useless stuff.now i only use it to print assignment.

blinglim I agree too! It is a real waste of paper! Also, I second what Jordan said, we should just send the reports by mail, because in the end, I believe the reports printed out in paper would not be used by (most of) us again. Also, I would like to bring up the issue of assignments that is needed to be burnt into CDs. I find that it is also a real waste of CDs because most of the times, when we burn our relevant assignments, be it an audio or video, onto the CD, it will only take up a small portion of the whole size of the CD, and then after that, it would not AND can not be used anymore. I find that it is more environmentally friendly if we could just hand in those works through perhaps a thumb-drive/email or maybe the whole class can burn their works onto just a CD.

dorkyain I agree! They make us put in double spacing every singe time and it just wasting paper. It is so much better to just pass them the documents through thumb drive because it doesn't waste any paper or any other resources for that matter like ink and CDs.

pfang I agree. Double spacing may make it easier to read but it doubles the number of pages too. More paper will be used in this way in addition to the single-sided printing. I think that it can be compromised between professionalism and being environmentally friendly. I agree with "blinglim" too on the usage of CDs for submission of assignments. It will be great if the CD can be reused for other assignments by renaming the files correctly or sharing a CD with the whole class.

bluefairy I agree 100% with all the comments above. So what if double spacing makes the documents easier to read, why bother about convenience when the environment is at stake? Single spacing and double sided printing, or even better, as Jordan mentioned, hand in digital copies of the reports instead. As for audio/video assignments, why not hand it in via thumb drive or BlackBoard. We've done it for class assignments, why not implement the same method for CAs too? Save resources, save Earth.

denzelljy This method of handing in assignments could work. Not only do we cut down visits to the printing store. We could use the money saved for the greener alternative that is using CDs to compile work. OR if it needs to documented, simply use both sides of the paper or single-lining method. Great thought!

ginachiam I think that we should leverage on the development of technology and minimize wastage(eg. paper). I agree with the idea of submitting proposal or projects through email. We save ink , save paper and the world would be a better place!

michelleang i really agree with the double spacing point. While it does actually make reading easier for our lecturers. i think by having it single spacing, the amount of paper saved on the whole would be tremendous.