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  Today Online 25 Jun 07
Too big an amount of waste for a small island to bear
Sheralyn Tay sheralyn@mediacorp.com.sg

SOME 2.5 million water bottles — enough to circle Singapore four times — destined for the rubbish heap, will now see a new lease of life, thanks to a recycling programme started by the North West Community Development Council (CDC).

Its five-year-old Brisk Walking Clubs (BWC) hope to encourage some 28,000 members to recycle, reuse or bring their own bottles to their walks, and reduce the amount of plastic waste.

The North West CDC will ensure that recycling bins and collection bags will be available on all their walks. Usually, each participant is given a water bottle after his or her walk.

"If we can get each participant to collect these bottles and send them for recycling, it's a big step forward. It will be even better if they can bring their own bottles instead of picking up a new one for every walk," said Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa, in announcing the Recycle my BWC bottle @ North West initiative yesterday.

The six-fold increase in waste generation over the last 30 years is not sustainable, especially for a small country like Singapore, he noted.

Mayor for North West District, Dr Teo Ho Pin, also took the time to remind residents of the importance of preventing mosquito breeding as dengue cases reach epidemic levels. Some elderly citizens are still not getting the message of dengue prevention, he noted.

To drive home the message, Dr Teo said that his CDC would be launching the Lead Everyone Against Dengue programme on Saturday. Involving all the 14 divisions and some 2,000 volunteers, the outreach programme will encourage residents to talk to each other about dengue prevention. "This passing of the message in a face-to-face way will be more effective," he added.
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