Silverelf's Green Efforts

Final Tally for "Fairprice Cares!"

2010-05-09T23:59:00.001+08:00

Total = $38

My contribution = $27

Workplace = $11

It was kinda fun!

FairPrice Cares!! Me too!

2010-04-28T16:10:00.002+08:00

I was never a huge fan of dominant supermarket chains, but FairPrice has recently come up with the "FairPrice Cares!" initiative. I think that is pretty cool.

They have can / PET bottle recycling machines at the City Square Mall, AMK Hub and Marine Parade outlets. For every can or bottle that you chuck into the machine from now until the 9th of May, they will donate $1 towards three charities (Rainbow Centre, AIN Society and Bizlink Centre).

I have just dropped off 10 bottles / cans today so technically I have contributed $10 to the charities :D

I think I will do a bit of publicity for this at my workplace. Probably set up a collection point as well and see how that goes.

Earth Hour (Singapore) 2009

2009-03-03T23:28:00.002+08:00

It's time for Earth Hour again! How time flies.... This year we're getting our very own launch as well!

28th of March, 2030hrs. Let's hope we get 1 million people participating.

My honest opinion? That's tough to do, but we should work towards this goal nevertheless.

Sign up at : http://www.earthhour.org/

Some people ask: "What's the point?"

"So what if you save electricity for that one hour?"

"The electricity 'saved' san't be stored so it's actually wasted"

"Wayang only lah"

"I sit at home with no light, feel silly for an hour and I can't see the ROI!"

These are just some of the comments that I have seen and read. I would like to point out that the point of this campaign is not the direct savings of electricity for that one hour when the lights are switched off. It's a way of spreading the message of environmental awareness. Such a concept can only be pushed gently because it inconveniences people and don't we all love our little conveniences?

Especially Singaporeans lol. Yet I think we can work towards this goal

Sign up now!! Only 60 mins!

http://www.earthhour.org/

Some apologies and some new deeds

2008-08-18T23:46:00.002+08:00

Firs, I would like to apologise to anyone who has ever left a message for me to answer. I know, it's only two people, but I still think I owe them an apology.

I rarely get messages left on this blog and I rarely update it. So it's not a habit for me to check the blog often. I'll work on this though.

Next up, I have this horrendous habit of leaving my PC on over night and even when I step out of the house for errands. Additionally, I do not have a habit of switching off the mains at the socket. I merely switch off the PC and I'm good to go. So now, I will work on the following items:

1) Switch off my PC when I go to bed.

2) Switch off the supply at the socket when I go to bed.

3) Check the terminals at my workplace for people who have left for the day. There's one of them who consistently leaves the terminal running when he's left for the day or even the weekend!!

Unfortunately I am not able to switch off all unused lights at the moment because my dad gets really crabby about it.

Doing the right thing?

2008-06-14T22:51:00.000+08:00

I was all excited for this day to come! Finally, my workplace has decided to organise an event with environmental responsibility.

The event was to be a Beach Cleanup event at the Changi Beach. I was keen to attend this event although it was on a Saturday. I know tonnes of people who were not willing to go but had to.

The last time I took part in a coastal cleanup event was back in 1998 I reckon, I had such fun times back then so I was really excited for this. I was thinking of how much difference we will make for the day. Yes the difference will be temporary but at least we make a minor difference.

So the day rolled around and I met up with my ex-colleague (she has recently left service and is leaving Singapore for the States soon). Unfortunately we ran late, but we still managed to make it in to the event just as it started. Wasn't too good for me cos I was supposed to be taking photographs but it's ok, I can still take lots of cleanup photos.

Everyone dispersed and started to do their thing. You have those who really want to do it and those who act like they want to do it.

Well, normally, I would have assumed that an event with a theme of environmental responsbility like a beach cleanup, would be centered around man made rubbish. That turned out to not be the case. This event was organised in conjunction with NEA (my favourite agency.... not) and their guys came down and provided some equipment for us as well as guidelines.

Nothing above the line of seaweed will be within our jurisdiction that day. That's only half the beach, if at all. Apparently we were discouraged from cleaning the upper half because that part was under National Parks. Ok...... I'm fine with that.. I mean, even back when I was taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup Day, we had well demarcated zones. Only at the time, it was anything on the beach. If it was not on the beach (i.e grassy area) we did not have to clean it. Of course we were not stopped from doing it. The reason behind that though was different as they had separate events for those areas, and truth be told, we do have to draw the lines somewhere.

Next... guess what we were cleaning up? Seaweed, shells, branches and other bits and pieces of NATURAL items. We had a comparatively low percentage of MAN MADE rubbish which should have been our target item group! We were in fact, potentially destroying the environment, instead of helping the environment!

Yes, I agree that what we did that day was just what the cleaners do everyday, but I don't feel that it gels well with environmental responsibility! For the cleaners, they probably have to cleanup the seaweed to make the beach look pretty for us humans to enjoy. So now are we doing the right thing for Earth, or for ourselves?

It was a rather disappointing event after all. I was not the only one who noticed this oddity.

In my book, we get rid of man made stuff, not natural stuff. We need to be able to differentiate.

However, it is still a great improvement that we even have such events.

To better events in future!

Switch to Electronic Billing for Singtel

2008-05-04T18:03:00.002+08:00

I have just made the switch to electronic billing for Singtel. I hope this turns out better than the Citibank arrangements where I had to revert back to paper arrangements.

This should save a bit of the forest.

I also sometime partake in the free click to save [insert your random cause here]. Wonder if it really makes a little difference?

Remember! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! In that order! Insisting that you reuse something or recycle something is justification to use things wastefully is WRONG!

Resources, once used are usually non renewable. Gone. So first, use less. Then maximise the use of whatever we really needed to use and then finally, recycle them.

Long Lapse

2006-12-02T11:19:00.000+08:00

Well, I really haven't been updating this much. Had a bit of trouble with just one blog so I left this alone some.

Anyway, even though I have not updated this blog, going green was never far from my mind though most of the time it was a matter of whether I was too lazy. I like the current project where you just leave recyclable items at your doorstep every other week for the recycling company to collect. I should really increase my 'contributions' to this project.

I find that I currently consume quite a number of can drinks at work so I am tampering with the idea of bring them back to drop into the Recycling bin. I should also cut down drinking can drinks to reduce usage of cans.

I've recently realised how irritated I can get to the sound of someone tearing up paper or the act of someone crumpling up some paper that is still reusable. I have a colleague who simply must rearrange things to his preferences and he got to tossing large amounts of paper. Fair enough that he wants to keep the place neat and tidy but it's nerve wrecking to hear the tearing of paper and tossing of paper into the general waste bin!

Like I always say, I think one day I might join Greenpeace and stage a protest outside ISO headquarters. ISO and other related quality frameworks are such a huge waste of paper. If people would at least recycle that paper, it wouldn't be half bad, but, this mentality is not prevalent here in Singapore.

DEFE Tip #1: Observe Speed Limits

2006-01-07T11:09:00.000+08:00

Each type of car has it's own optimal speed for fuel efficiency. Typically this speed will be somewhere around 95km/h. check out the optimal speed for you car, or you can stick to the 95 km/h guide.

This means that if you exceed 95km/h, you will be paying more money for every kilometer you travel.

Driving Efficiently / Fuel Economy (DEFE)

2006-01-07T10:59:00.000+08:00

I don't drive, but I figure fuel economy not only saves the environment, but your pocket as well!!

I will post fuel economy tips here here as and when I find them online. If you know of any, please feel free to let me know!

All the info related to this topic will be title DEFE. I hope I remember this.

Today's Contribution

2005-11-07T23:18:00.000+08:00

I will start by posting little things that I have done which I feel contributes towards the environment.

This will be REALLY LITTLE things. This will be recurring throughout this Blog, so..... enjoy!!

1) Refused a Plastic Bag from Guardian Pharmacy after I purchased a bottle of Zheng Gu Shui (正骨水) The sales personnel even thanked me for it. I noticed that sales people from Guardian and Watson's seem like they appreciate your refusal of a plastic bag ^^

The Point of This Blog.

2005-11-07T23:06:00.000+08:00

I have come to admit that my behaviour towards the enviroment have been woeful at best.

I may say 'Green' Things and claim 'Green' Efforts. However, when it comes down to the crunch, the only 'Green' stuff I ever do is to recycle some pieces of paper once in a while.

With this blog, I hope to make myself be more proactive in being 'Green'. Hopefully, I can manage to keep up this blog.

Objective of this blog:
1) Remind myself to be more Environmentally Responsible.
2) Share an online space with like-minded individuals.
3) Gain insight on how to act with more Environmental Responsibility.

Regards,
Silverelf