“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. #Plato” –http://twitter.com/bebejoanne/status/113825133323489280
Green efforts comes in waves
In UK, studies show one in four men are less enthusiastic about the eco wave as compared to one in six women.
Has green fatigue really kicked in or has being green become instilled as a way or life? Read http://www.bemoreeco.com/2010/10/18/green-fatigue-hits-campaign-to-reduce-carbon-footprint/
Turn off computers and peripherals when you leave your office
Turn it off: Use a large power strip for your computer, broadband modem, scanner, printer, monitor and speakers. Switch it off when equipment is not in use. This is a practical way to cut 200 kWh per year. Make sure computers are switched off at night.
Can recycle or not ???
“Can Recycle?“ initiative by ZeroWasteSG has checked with NEA and compiled a list of 70 common waste items that can or cannot be recycled!! VERY USEFUL! You can recycle plastic bags apparently. So let’s stop incinerating toxic plastics waste into the atmosphere!
In Singapore, recycling efforts for paper, glass, plastic, metal, old clothes and toys is supposed to be sorted by households into one big recycling bag or one big recycling bins. Households are either given big green plastic bags to collect recyclable trash and place it outside their doors on designated days, or big green recycling bins are placed in designated locations in the neighbourhoods. Locations of bins are listed in a spreadsheet on NEA, or alternatively use the interactive map provided by ZeroWasteSG to find your nearest recycling bin.
Paper, glass, plastic and metals can be converted to a resource for re-use as raw materials. Old clothes and toys will be shipped to Third World countries to be re-used. See the video by Semcorp to find out how they use manual labour to do sorting to gain insight about what goes on behind the scene.
A brief summary of what Singapore recycles/ not recycles is listed below, but the best listing is found on Can Recycle? with a photo-listing of 70 common trash items :
What is currently acceptable for recycling?
* Paper and cardboard (e.g. newspapers, magazines, junk mail, receipts, envelopes, paper packagings etc)
* Hard Plastics (e.g. bottles, detergent/ shampoo containers, take-away food packagings, biscuit casings)
* Soft Plastics (e.g. NTUC plastic bags, all plastic bags that are stained with food scraps or oil, clean/ dry straws, clear plastic wrappings for clothings, files etc)
* Metal (e.g. tins, cans, bottle caps, coils, springs, empty aerosol containers etc). NOTE: All and any small bits of metallic trash can be picked up for recycling using magnets.
* Glass bottles and jars (and also their metal caps/ lids)
* Glassware that are chipped but still whole or unbroken/ unshattered (e.g. water glass, wine glass etc.)
* Paper Cartons/ Boxes(e.g. tissue box, shoe box, moving cartons
* Clothing, Stuffed Toys. NOTE: Consider giving these items away for free if they are in usable condition via the global Freecycling network by simply joining the Yahoo Group Freecycling Singapore and posting an email Re: Offer: 5 pairs of Ladies Shoes size 6 or Re: Offer: Baby Pram/ Stroller.
What is NOT currently acceptable for recycling?
* Styrofoam (polystyrene)
* Broken glass, window glass, light bulb and mirror
* Ceramics, porcelain or stoneware
* Used tissue/ toilet paper
* Single batteries e.g. AA or AAA (can be disposed in common trash for incineration since most batteries in Singapore bears no mercury or low-mercury)
* Mobile phones and phone batteries can usually be recycled via the manufacturers e.g Nokia etc)
* Spectacles (some NLB National Libraries, e.g. Woodlands, have a collection box for old spectacles, including sunglasses, to be donated to third world countries)
You can be a World Improver too!
World improver
Promote your Page too
In English:
The 1st ever World Improver contest will be held in the Scandinavian capital of Stockholm! World Improver is a contest to create a better world! Groups of four compete against each other.
First round only applies in Stockholm (later, other cities to emulate, and there will be online contests too). A launch event will provide a good introduction to all that are curious 16 May at 17:00 to 19:00 (information will be updated next week). The introduction is for both those who signed up, and for those who have not decided and would like more information. Even if you can not attend the launch, so you can still participate in the contest, if you register by 19 May.
Then each group will meet once a week for 4 weeks (Sundays proposed, from the 23 May to 27 Jun), with dinner at each contestant’s home or at times and places convenient to the group. Contestants will have fun meeting new people, but also to do something to help make our world better.
There is much you can do that take little or no extra time at all, such as praise his fellow men a bit more, smile more towards others, do more good deeds etc. You can also post a website and spread what you are doing to your environement (e.g. workplace, home, school, town etc). Only imagination is the limit!
This round of World Improver contest closed on Sunday 27 June at 16:00, approximately 19:00. The competing groups will present what they’ve done (and will still do, some will continue after the round is over) before a jury and audience. The winners are rewarded and the evening concludes with a mingle party.
The team running this project is completely voluntary/ non-profit making with JCI as a close partner who supports World Improver in various ways. JCI is a nonprofit organization with 170 000 members, which helps people to develop as people, leaders and entrepreneurs.
Hope to see you during the race that we are looking forward to participate in as well! It will a fun and enriching experience!
Kindly spread this information to your families, friends and networks to support the creating of a better world. www.worldimprover.com Share
Se video på svenska (See video in Swedish)
In Swedish:
World improver är en tävling i att skapa en bättre värld! Grupper om 4 tävlar mot varandra. Första omgången gäller enbart i Stockholm (senare kommer även andra städer kunna tävla, samt via webben) och startar med en introduktion 16 maj kl 17.00-19.00 (information om plats kommer via mail). Introduktionen är till för både de som anmält sig, och för dem som inte bestämt sig och vill ha mer information. Även om du inte kan närvara på introduktionen, så kan du ändå delta i tävlingen, om du anmäler dig senast 19 maj.
Härefter träffas varje grupp en gång/vecka i 4 veckor (förslag söndagar kl 17 from 23 maj), och middag hos en i gruppen) på tider och platser som passar gruppen, för att dels ha trevligt och lära känna nya personer, men också för att göra nåt för att skapa en bättre värld. Vissa grupper gör nåt när de ses, vissa planerar och umgås när de ses, och gör nåt mellan träffarna. Viktigt att poängtera är att ni själva sköter när och var ni ska ses från vecka till vecka.
Det finns mycket man kan göra som inte tar nån extra tid alls, tex berömma sina medmänniskor lite oftare, göra fler goda gärningar. Man kan också lägga upp en hemsida och sprida den inom nåt visst område. Endast fantasin sätter gränser! Omgången avslutas söndagen 27 juni kl 16.00-ca 19.00. Då presenterar grupperna vad de gjort (och gör, en del kommer fortsätta efter omgången är slut) inför en jury och publik. Vinnarna belönas. Kvällen avslutas med mingel.
Allt är helt idéellt. Marcus Karlsson och ett team av människor driver projektet med nära samarbetspartner, JCI, som stöttar och hjälper till på olika sätt. JCI är en idéell organisation med 170 tusen medlemmar, som hjälper människor att utvecklas som människor, ledare och entreprenörer.
Hoppas vi ses under tävlingen, som vi ser fram emot att delta i också! Det kommer bli jättekul och givande!
Sprid gärna informationen till dina vänner och bekanta. Detta bidrar i sig till att skapa en bättre värld, ringar på vattnet! www.worldimprover.com Share
Eco Singapore seeking volunteers for Youth Olympic Games 2010
Be an ECO Ambassador at the Youth Olympic Games 2010! Only 100 slots are available. Please sign up as soon as possible and we will inform you the outcome within a week. Closing date: 16th Jan 2010 – http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE5mdklTaVFPak9RanJLV2tEWnRQYVE6MA
Eco Singapore Website: http://www.eco-singapore.org/
Wanted: Digital cameras
IS is appealing to Freecycling network > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SgFreecycle to source for digital camera donations. Digital cameras will be distributed to “web saavy” elderly folk to include them into our modern world. Can you contribute to us? Email us.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprints
Carbon footprints indicate the amount of CO2 emissions generated through the actions of people. Carbon footprints can either be contributed by direct emissions such as travel and transportation, electricity usage; or indirect emissions from the products and services that we choose to produce and consume.
Going Green at home is a fabulous way to offset one of the largest sources of excessive energy and resource consumption. You can play your part for the environment beginning at home:
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle – furniture, electronics, clothings etc is a great place to start. Hold on to usable items for as long as you can and give away or get hold of things for free to reuse via Freecycling (having networks worldwide).
- Reduce energy waste in your daily electricity consumption by turning off all unneccessary electronics (even standby modes should be turned off).
- Adjust your air conditioners to 25 – 26 degrees to be energy efficient. Close doors and windows properly to trap cooling.
- Switch off your electronics when you leave home. Many appliances have a standby function that uses energy even when they are turned off.
- Consider switching to energy-saving bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use much lesser energy than incandescent bulbs (CFL’s are around 5 times more efficient than traditional ones you might have).
- Clean your air conditioner filters regularly, making sure they are dust free. Energy is lost when the air-cons have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Ensuring that your air conditioner filter is clean can save 5 percent of the energy used.
- There’s no reason to have lights on during the day time. Natural light is abundant, clean, and brings out color beautifully.
- Make it a habit to recycle glass, metals, plastics and paper etc.
- Plant trees or have indoor plants to offset your carbon footprint. Greenery are lovely decorations for your home and good for your soul. Besides turning carbon dioxide into oxygen, some plants also leach nasty chemicals out of the air. Both aloe vera and ficus plants take formaldehyde out of the air, and the spider plant helps remove carbon monoxide.
- Select the most energy-efficient models when you replace your old appliances. Look for the Energy Star Label – your assurance that the product saves energy and prevents pollution.
- Instead of watching another TV show or playing another computer game, why not get together with your family/ friends and play a game? Give your expensive gadgets a break by turning them off (turn off even the standby mode). Do activities not centered around electronics. You’ll save energy and bond closer with people around you. If you are alone most of the time or enjoying some solitude time, cuddle up with a good book or go meditate on the nearest green patch.
- Harvest rainwater! Simply put out a bucket out during a rainy day, and you have free water that is great for watering plants, flushing toilets and washing floors etc. Be creative and work out a funnel-cum-pipe gadget to install by your windows if you live in a highrise. It worked for my 60 year old dad.
- Be conscientious and turn off a dripping tap.
- About 10% of our energy bills come from heating water for activities like showering, and we waste many gallons while we wait for the water to heat up. Shower with cold water instead. You can save the environment, save on your utility bills, boost your immune function, decrease inflammation, increase blood circulation, and have healthier hair and skin.
- Bring your own lunchboxes/ metal food containers when you head to your neighbourhood hawkerstall to buy mouth-watering hawker cooked meals.
- Bring your own shopping bags when you head over to your neighbourhood supermarkets and grocery shops.
Neosapien
IS site has taken on the design theme Neosapien – An escapism from the hopeless grave that homosapiens have dug themselves into. Watch HOME online: 1.5hrs film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
The Great Wedge Revolution
The exponential growth of multimedia streaming today has gotten Integral Singapore thinking about a new Arts & Cultural project that can constantly infiltrate and be received worldwide. We call this project wall of Video Art installations as The Great Wedge Revolution. TGWR is round the clock streaming that rocks your mental space. Enter our world of moving pictures that may or may not carry some discerning statements.
The Great Wedge Revolution - Press 'Play'!
Secularity
The SCS Symposium project is set up and in place, with a total of 7 contributors, 7+15 online launch attendees, and 2-3 possible collaborators gained. We are content with our world wide web establishment and now a continuation of regular scouting, contribution and updating is crucial.
Integral Singapore has multifarious internal domains, quite like pieces of multicoloured and multishaped ceramic lying shattering and ready for the creation of a new masterpiece, and eventually become unique and complete in its own way, offering perspectives to the external world interacting with IS. We are talking about secularity in our mechanism and actions. IS wishes to move beyond ourselves, beyond the boundaries of nations, politics, bureaucracies, prejudices; beyond our cultures, ethnic origins, religions and so on and so forth; to reach an all inclusive space where we are all humans with much commonalities despite our individualism.
IS basic agenda is being Integral – A “tetro-arising” sphere is encompassed into our form of growth.
IS Secularity
A new ray of light
The birth of Integral Singapore online happened from the idea sprout to create an Integral Singapore Facebook Group on 11 Dec 2008,
Watch this space for more inspirations and aspirations driving Integral Singapore.
