Going green and winning
I wrote an email to Ching after reading his article "Plastic bag charge will do good" telling him how I agree with him, and offered suggestions on possible activities that can be carried out for a Go Green campaign. Today as I read Stephanie's article on "Cut waste and get green label for office", I wonder if Singapore really can do more to save the environment.
In Stephanie's article, her source gave an excellent quote, "It was a headache at first but now employees have gotten used to it."
As with anything else that requires us to break out of our routine or inconvenience our daily lives, we'd always grumble and lament. Like I remembered how when the new HDB blocks had a common garbage disposal outside our flats instead of in the kitchen, there was great discontent with it. But over the years, once we've gotten used to it, it's become part of a habit and we no longer grumble about the extra 2 minutes we have to spend each day walking to the lift lobby.
Offices and schools use the most paper. How many such recycling bins are available in offices and schools I'm not sure. A quick look at mine, hmm...I say, if there was a recycling centre, it wasn't made known to us.
Students may be apathetic about recycling, so it does help to have boxes placed strategically at places where wastage of paper is most likely to occur -- such as next to the printer in our computer labs. Which already do exist. Except I wonder what happens to the papers left there.
Of course, students themselves should make it a habit to bring their unwanted papers to the recycling centre, if there exists one, but then again, we are always rushing for classes and have many other commitments so it may not be THAT practical.
So how?
Hmm...in Beijing, I notice they've got someone for everything. They've got bus-stop officials, who will flag down the buses and yell out the bus number for people, barking at them to let passengers alight first then hustle them up the buses quickly. The same happens at the train station. If you ask me how effective their presence is, I don't think it makes a difference. It's very clear at the train stations. No one will let passengers alight first. Unless of course too many of them are pouring out, but one or two Chinese will still be able to slip their way in while the rest crowds around the door.
Most of these public transport officials are the elderly. Probably 50 years onwards.
As I was touring the hutongs the other day, I noticed some elderly people wearing a red band around their left forearm bearing words like ??????. If there was a daylight robbery, there is no way these people, who patrol the streets for safety and security purposes, will be able to chase after the robber. Yet they are a voluntary group of retirees, men and women, who come together to protect their area, working two shifts, from 8.30a.m.-10.30a.m. and 2.30p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Having said so much, if we have someone within the school or office to specially go around gathering all these boxes of recycled paper to collect them at a recycling centre, that would solve the problem wouldn't it? It helps promote environmental friendliness and at the same time, create employment for the elderly. It's not a difficult job even. In fact, they don't even need to work the whole day, just maybe 2 hours at the end of the day.
Like most of the elderly people in Beijing who have retired, rather than sit at home doing nothing and let their minds and body waste away, they might as well get their hands moving and do something, even if it means remunerations are minimal. Like the ladies doing crotchet and beaded accessories at ??? and ????. It's the same idea. Let's say for 1 hour, the pay is S$5. For a 5-day, 2-h work week, they get S$50. In a month, that's an extra S$200. In a year that's S$200 x 12=S$2400. In Singapore, that may not be a lot of money, but depending on the sector we are talking about, it is still significant cash. Besides, when you're retired, it's not about the money anymore.
Elderly who live near schools who can easily walk there and back could take up a job like this. Yes, some schools like SJI or Chinese High are built on massive grounds (elderly residents living in these areas may not want to take up jobs like this anyway), so in schools like these, more than 1 person may be employed. Walking up and down steps may be tiring, but elderly citizens should incorporate physical activity in their daily lives too.
I see it as a win-win situation though. It's just a matter of working out the logistics and actually implementing it.
Seeing the people here in Beijing be contented with what little their lives offer, I can't help but wonder if Singapore is too caught up in pursuing wealth that we neglect other non-tangible benefits that we can derive from simple tasks.
In Stephanie's article, her source gave an excellent quote, "It was a headache at first but now employees have gotten used to it."
As with anything else that requires us to break out of our routine or inconvenience our daily lives, we'd always grumble and lament. Like I remembered how when the new HDB blocks had a common garbage disposal outside our flats instead of in the kitchen, there was great discontent with it. But over the years, once we've gotten used to it, it's become part of a habit and we no longer grumble about the extra 2 minutes we have to spend each day walking to the lift lobby.
Offices and schools use the most paper. How many such recycling bins are available in offices and schools I'm not sure. A quick look at mine, hmm...I say, if there was a recycling centre, it wasn't made known to us.
Students may be apathetic about recycling, so it does help to have boxes placed strategically at places where wastage of paper is most likely to occur -- such as next to the printer in our computer labs. Which already do exist. Except I wonder what happens to the papers left there.
Of course, students themselves should make it a habit to bring their unwanted papers to the recycling centre, if there exists one, but then again, we are always rushing for classes and have many other commitments so it may not be THAT practical.
So how?
Hmm...in Beijing, I notice they've got someone for everything. They've got bus-stop officials, who will flag down the buses and yell out the bus number for people, barking at them to let passengers alight first then hustle them up the buses quickly. The same happens at the train station. If you ask me how effective their presence is, I don't think it makes a difference. It's very clear at the train stations. No one will let passengers alight first. Unless of course too many of them are pouring out, but one or two Chinese will still be able to slip their way in while the rest crowds around the door.
Most of these public transport officials are the elderly. Probably 50 years onwards.
As I was touring the hutongs the other day, I noticed some elderly people wearing a red band around their left forearm bearing words like ??????. If there was a daylight robbery, there is no way these people, who patrol the streets for safety and security purposes, will be able to chase after the robber. Yet they are a voluntary group of retirees, men and women, who come together to protect their area, working two shifts, from 8.30a.m.-10.30a.m. and 2.30p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Having said so much, if we have someone within the school or office to specially go around gathering all these boxes of recycled paper to collect them at a recycling centre, that would solve the problem wouldn't it? It helps promote environmental friendliness and at the same time, create employment for the elderly. It's not a difficult job even. In fact, they don't even need to work the whole day, just maybe 2 hours at the end of the day.
Like most of the elderly people in Beijing who have retired, rather than sit at home doing nothing and let their minds and body waste away, they might as well get their hands moving and do something, even if it means remunerations are minimal. Like the ladies doing crotchet and beaded accessories at ??? and ????. It's the same idea. Let's say for 1 hour, the pay is S$5. For a 5-day, 2-h work week, they get S$50. In a month, that's an extra S$200. In a year that's S$200 x 12=S$2400. In Singapore, that may not be a lot of money, but depending on the sector we are talking about, it is still significant cash. Besides, when you're retired, it's not about the money anymore.
Elderly who live near schools who can easily walk there and back could take up a job like this. Yes, some schools like SJI or Chinese High are built on massive grounds (elderly residents living in these areas may not want to take up jobs like this anyway), so in schools like these, more than 1 person may be employed. Walking up and down steps may be tiring, but elderly citizens should incorporate physical activity in their daily lives too.
I see it as a win-win situation though. It's just a matter of working out the logistics and actually implementing it.
Seeing the people here in Beijing be contented with what little their lives offer, I can't help but wonder if Singapore is too caught up in pursuing wealth that we neglect other non-tangible benefits that we can derive from simple tasks.
posted by Me at 11:28 am
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