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  Channel NewsAsia 4 Nov 07
Marine Parade Town Council, NEA launch green project

 Straits Times 27 Oct 07
Drive to go Clean & Green all year round
Renamed Clean & Green S'pore campaign aims to get people to make lifestyle changes
By Tania Tan & Arti Mulchand

Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 07
CGS to promote pro-active approach in environmental protection

Today Online 27 Oct 07
Going green all year long
Week-long campaign morphs into bigger, sustained effort
Hasnita A Majid hasnita@mediacorp.com.sg — Channel NewsAsia

Being Clean and Green in Singapore is now more than just recycling and anti-littering.

The campaign to maintain the environment here is quickly growing up, now that global warming and climate change are top international concerns.

This year, energy efficiency and resource conservation are the focus for the Clean and Green Week Campaign, which has now grown into a year-long affair and will be known as Clean and Green Singapore. A National Environment Agency survey in January found almost 80 per cent of the 2,000 people polled wanted green activities throughout the year.

Its organisers say it is time to transform the effort into one that addresses the environmental challenges facing Singapore and the world.

"Energy efficiency is the key mitigating measure that Singapore can take to address climate change," said Mr Tan Wee Hock, this year's chairman of the inter-agency taskforce.

For the past 17 years, the campaign's primary aim has been to raise awareness about public health and environmental protection.

"We have to encourage people to take responsibility … for the environment. They can actually reduce or help to reduce the impact on the environment," said Mr Tan.

"If every one of us makes small changes in our daily lives — by keeping the environment clean, conserving energy — it will go a long way towards caring for and sustaining the environment."

Besides a new name, the campaign also has a new logo to signify three new pillars: City of Gardens and Water, clean environment and energy efficiency.

One activity coming up is a run for chief executives on Semakau Island on Nov 17, which aims to raise $250,000 for six green non-governmental organisations. Another event, organised by the National Parks Board, will use art to encourage people to express how they feel about the environment.

NParks streetscape director Simon John Longman said: "We're trying to make the link between our programme — of greenery, gardening and the arts — and the global concerns of mitigating global warming."

Alongside the launch will be an online pledge — the Clean and Green Ribbon Project — to spread awareness of simple ways to keep an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will launch Clean and Green Singapore next Saturday.

Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 07
CGS to promote pro-active approach in environmental protection

Clean & Green Week will undergo a transformation and will be renamed Clean & Green Singapore (CGS) to focus on encouraging Singaporeans to take a more pro-active role in caring for our environment.

Having run for almost 18 years, The Clean and Green Week has been successful in raising awareness of environmental concerns, but to inculcate green habits in our daily lives will require the next step.

Tan Wee Hock, Chairman of the Inter-Agency Taskforce, said: “In the past, Clean & Green Week focused on raising awareness of environmental issues. Based on survey results, environmental awareness is very high among the community but in practice, we lag behind. But moving forward, we have to encourage people to take responsibility that they can do something for the environment.”

In light of the pressing global concerns, it is apt that this year’s theme for CGS will be Energy Efficiency and Resource Conservation, which will broaden perspectives about energy efficiency, waste minimisation, recycling and water conservation which would ultimately help attain the long-term goal of environmental sustainability.

CGS 2007, will be officially launched on November 3rd, with a host of exciting yet educational activities tailor-made for every age-group held through-out the year.

The CGS launch, also known as the CGS Jamboree will kick-start the campaign at Bishan Park on 3rd and 4th November. The biggest launch event so far, it will possess an exhibition-cum-carnival like atmosphere that will feature interactive exhibits and games.

Besides having fun, the public can get some tips on how to lead an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

This year will also be the first time that the public can express how they feel about the environment through the arts - paintings, sculptures and carved murals - which will be exhibited at Bishan Park.

Simon John Longman, Director for Streetscape, NParks said this initiative is aimed at making the community more aware of the pertinent environmental concerns in a more fun and interesting.

“We are trying to make the link between our programmes, our greenery gardening and arts programmes with the global concerns of mitigating global warming, like dwindling biodiversity. These are important issues that we hope to engage the public to try and see how they feel about it and what they can do through programmes.”

Such habits should be imbibed at a young age and that is why NParks tied up with six schools for a period of three months for the Community In Bloom Schools to promote gardening and help develop innovative school gardens that are both beautiful and educational.

One of the schools that participated in this programme was Zhangde Primary School where they converted their school gardens to outdoor classrooms.

Jaswant Sroya, Principal for Zhangde Primary School said besides enjoying this mode of learning with and within nature, the programme also helped to develop the students’ skills in science process, project management, teamwork and entrepreneurial spirit.

“The pupils have become more innovative and creative. They have done research on plants and converted several restrooms into learning restrooms by decorating them with interesting info on environmental issues. Pupils have used the seeds of the "Job's Tears" plant to create jewellery. They then put into practice their 'business skills' to promote and sell the jewellery. They raised a couple of hundred dollars.”

The CGS Schools’ Carnival 2007 is another project aimed at reaching out to the school community and will showcase the environmental achievements for schools amid Song & Dance numbers and fashion shows. This carnival which will be held at Suntec Exhibition Hall on 6-7 November, will be open to the general public.

The corporate group will also be targeted with initiatives like the Semakau CEO Run 2007 and Project Eco-Office. The former will seek to raise funds for Environmental NGOs to develop and improve community environmental protection programmes and strengthen partnerships with the business community in caring for the environment.

Meanwhile, Project Eco-Office will educate the public though talks - on how they can convert their office into a green office. It would also hold the Green Transport Week from the 25th to 30th of November to heighten awareness of the environmental impact of the transport sector.

The online community will not be left out. Called the Clean & Green Ribbon Project, it requires Singapore residents to commit to living an environmental-friendly lifestyle through a pledge, which requires them to adopt ten “Clean & Green” habits in their daily life.

Tan Hang Chong, Co-leader of the Clean and Green Ribbon project said that it was his love for nature that drove him to pursue such a cause. “I hope this is the first step to getting people to take small steps towards helping the environment.

“It’s not like putting a pledge on a Christmas tree and forget about it. We hope that with this online system, we can track how many people are on board with us and hopefully by e-mails, keep them engaged with environmental issues.”

Chong’s effort in raising environmental awareness among the online community does not end just here and he intends to create an application on Facebook, a social networking site, which would encourage users to collect leaves to show that they endorse this environmental cause.

Having almost quadrupled their efforts for Clean & Green Singapore 2007, organizers hope that everyone in the community will engage in the programmes and help to contribute to environmental friendliness.

Tan Wee Hock, Chairman of the Inter-Agency Taskforce said: “If everyone of us can make small changes in our daily life, like keeping our environment clean, conserve energy, it will go a long way towards carrying forward and sustaining the environment.” -CNA/vm

Straits Times 27 Oct 07
Drive to go Clean & Green all year round
Renamed Clean & Green S'pore campaign aims to get people to make lifestyle changes
By Tania Tan & Arti Mulchand

GO GREEN - all year round.

This is the message to be driven home in this year's Clean & Green campaign, which aims to take people from being merely aware of environmental issues to making pro-environment lifestyle changes.

To this end, the campaign, called Clean & Green Week (CGW) for the last 17 years, has been given a new name - Clean & Green Singapore (CGS) - and a new logo.

Mr Tan Wee Hock, who chairs the CGS committee, said the new name will 'address the people's growing desire to give back to the environment'.

A National Environment Agency (NEA) survey conducted earlier this year found that nearly eight in 10 among the 2,000 people polled felt that Clean & Green activities should be year round, not just over a week.

At the heart of the campaign is the promotion of energy efficiency through carnivals and exhibitions, gardening and recycling projects, tree planting and free nature walks.

Mr Tan said: 'We hope to show people that they are the ones who can make the difference to the environment.'

The campaign will drive its messages into the heartland this year: It kicks off next weekend with a CGS Jamboree, to be launched at Bishan Park by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The event will feature green games and tips, a multi-sensory exhibition and a Clean & Green game show hosted by television host Gurmit Singh.

Gardening activities will be held through the month in areas like Bukit Batok, Woodlands and Telok Blangah; Recycling Day will be marked at the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre.

Singaporeans will also be urged to commit to living greener through the Clean & Green Ribbon Project.

For this, they will need to pledge online or at CGS events to practise 10 pro-environment tips to cut wastage of resources in their lives. Collar pins will be given to those who submit pledges.

And for the first time, a corporate run which will take participants through the Semakau landfill will be held. The funds raised from entry fees paid by runners, as well as money raised through peripheral activities, will go to six non-government environment groups, including the Singapore Environmental Council, the Climate Change Organisation and SIIA Haze Watch.

Mr Tan noted that interest in the events has been encouraging, with more groups 'taking the initiative to be part of the green movement'. In previous years, they had to be invited to take part.

The NEA is also making the CGS campaign as environmentally friendly as possible: Invites have gone out by e-mail, and publicity materials have been printed on recycled paper.

Mr Tan said: 'We cannot totally avoid leaving a carbon footprint behind for such an undertaking, but we'll do our best to minimise it.'

Noting that the old CGW had served its purpose to raise awareness of green issues, Mr Tan said he is excited about how the campaign can evolve.

'I hope it doesn't take another 17 years for people to make lifestyle changes.'

Channel NewsAsia 4 Nov 07
Marine Parade Town Council, NEA launch green project

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Marine Parade Town Council are piloting a new project called "Give me a Hi 5" which aims to get residents involved in the green movement.

The campaign, part of the national Clean and Green Singapore programme, aims to remind everyone to bin their litter, practice good hygiene and eradicate dengue.

By the end of October, there were 7,716 reported dengue cases, more than twice the number for the whole of last year.

Though the project starts at Marine Parade, there are bigger plans in store.

"We plan to launch this to other 13 constituencies in the southeast district by April next year," said NEA Environmental Health Department’s Southeast regional office general manager Billy Chew.

This campaign also draws attention to global environmental and climate change with a bid to get Singaporeans to recycle as part of its core messages are the 3Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle.

In 2006, Singaporeans generated more than five million tonnes of waste, half of which were recycled.

By increasing the recycling rate to 60 per cent by 2012, the Semakau Landfill will last for 50 years. - CNA/ac
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Clean and Green Singapore activities on the CGS website and on wildsingapore
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