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  Straits Times Forum 22 Jun 06
Bouquet for SingTel's efforts to be environmentally friendly
Letter from Eugene Tay Tse Chuan

I would like to applaud SingTel for taking a step towards being environmentally-friendly. Since February, I have noticed that my SingTel phone bills have been reduced from the usual two pieces of paper to one. The statements are now printed on both sides of the paper, therefore reducing the amount of paper used.

Other telecommunication companies, banks, utilities companies and government agencies should also follow this good practice of printing on both sides of the paper when sending out billings or other letters.

To further reduce the amount of paper used, the best way would be to opt for electronic statements instead. For example, HSBC has been encouraging customers to opt for electronic statements and rewarding them with points that can be exchanged for gifts.

Another way would be to consolidate separate bills from the same company into one bill if they are sent to the same household. For example, my family receives three separate bills from SingTel - one telephone bill and two mobile phone bills. If SingTel consolidated the three accounts and sent only one bill, it would reduce the amount of paper and envelopes used, and also reduce its postage costs. The consolidated statement would show the account statement for each individual. This could be done in an opt-in manner as some households may prefer separate bills for each individual.

I hope that organisations that send regular statements or letters to their customers would consider the above measures. It would reduce the amount of paper and envelopes used, and also save costs at the same time.
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