During GEM1917 Understanding and Critiquing lecture this week, we were encouraged to take up a pledge that was offered by the Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES) to commit to one or more action(s) when we are in campus.
Using this chance, I'll publicly promise to commit to make these changes to my lifestyle:
- Walk short distances between faculties/ canteens/ sport facilities on campus
- Always opt for the stairs instead of the lifts
-Use the internal shuttle bus for longer distance journeys around campus
-Plan journeys well so that you do not have to travel unnecessarily
-Limit your air travel as much as possible - this form of transport has the greatest carbon footprint
I shall add one more personalised action that I am determined to change and that would be to reducing my bathing time by 5 minutes. It is quite a challenge for me but I'll try my best!
All in all, we can lead a more sustainable lifestyle by adhering to the 3 Rs-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, live efficiently as well as to use energy and resources only when necessary.
Oh! Before I forget, there's an event on e-waste collection coming up at utown next week and it's a great chance to clear old and spoilt electronic stuff! Hope you will participate along with me and more details can be found here, e-Waste • we-Recycle 2015 . Thank you for reading and till next time!
These pledges may sound very simple but in fact take a lot of determination. Many times it's not that we don't want to reduce energy and water use. The draw factor is just not attractive enough. For example, most of us choose not to walk between faculties because it is simply too hot or even dangerous. In such cases I think sustainable developers can do more to improve the walkability of our school. The same thing applies to the whole of Singapore. We should make it easier for people to commit to a sustainable lifestyle. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteHello Li Fang!! Thank you for your comment (: I agree with the the fact that developers should incorporate and take into consideration the walkability of our school and around Singapore as well. However, the mindsets of us people plays a big role too. Staying at RVRC (Ridge View Residential College) which is like the Orchard of NUS, it is quite accessible to all the different faculties but even when it was in the evening or on a cool day, I was quite shock to know that some of my friends would rather wait for the bus at FOS (Faculty of Science) instead of walking back. Similarly, I believe that the mentality of Singaporeans have to change too. One good example would be the issue of cleanliness in Singapore. Although we claim that our garden city is very clean, I have notice that it is due to the fact that there are always cleaners to sweep the roads and pavements and dustbins are located every few steps away for us to throw our rubbish. Not forgetting the heavy penalty of littering in Singapore (All the fines!). These seems to be the main reasons for Singaporeans to be litter-free instead of inculcating the habit of keep our rubbish and making the effort to keep our environment litter-free unlike countries like Japan and Taiwan. In countries like Japan and Taiwan, it is quite hard to spot a rubbish bin at public places but their roads are mostly very clean as their citizens have the habit of holding and keeping their rubbish until they reach home or spot a rubbish bin. Similarly, it all boils down to our culture and our habits.
DeleteAll in all, I think that it is still a good start to encourage more of us to walk between nearby faculties instead of taking the bus by increasing the walkability around our campus as it will incentivise those who chose not to walk due to the dangers or heat to make the decision to walk. This requires the management as well as the students to work together to achieve. Although it may take a long time to change policies and mindsets, with more activities to raise awareness and through education, I believe it is possible to achieve in the future and taking this pledge is a step of improvement towards this goal (:
I agree with the fact that these actions seem fairly simple to do but it would definitely take sufficient determination to ensure that these small changes would be incorporated into our lifestyles so that they become a habit and not just a one-off thing :) similarly, even for the haze now, there's a pledge going on for it. Pledging is easy to do, but we need to take note that our actions have to speak louder than words! :-) maybe you could raise awareness on how these lifestyle changes could acually help our environment? :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly!! Thanks for your comment (: It's true that this pledge requires a lot of discipline and determination for us change our habits that we are so accustom to. It can't be done overnight but with a strong belief of the difference that we can make and as everyone in RVRC does it together, I believe that it can be done (: There is also a tracker for us to record down our progress everyday for this semester and it is to be submitted to our respective block heads so everyone is taking it quite seriously hahha. Leading by example, our college master Professor Adekunle has started to make an effort and saved 9.5 units of energy by switching off his office lights last week. Thus, I believe it will a great motivation for us to follow. As a residential college, I think it is easier to implement and change together and it can be done for the entire NUS in the future with more emphasis and awareness in campus! (:
DeleteP.S. I am also working hard on keeping my promises and I'll update my progress on my blog in the future so keep a lookout ^_^
*actually. Whoops, sorry!
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