Wednesday, January 27, 2021

How do we build better habits that can protect the environment?

Everyday we do the laundry, above the washing machine sits the dryer, so convenient. But today, a little voice nagged, hang the clothes on the bamboo, save the electricity and don't add to the heat generated. So i start with hanging out the large items, towels, jeans, and slowly progress to the t-shirts, shorts..etc and though it took a little more effort, it was done. I patted myself on the back, another good fight for the environment.
Then I spied Chinese new year goodies on the table, the little voice adds, yummy goodies but a whole lot of plastic containers. Sigh. In our quest to build a mordern, developed society, we've allowed plastics to become an easy convenience. What alternatives are there? I searched the net to find ways, ideas that i can work on. This is something I found, this list is quite a challenge; some doable, some can be made more pleasant-100 steps to a plastic free life. Hopefully we can start somewhere, then Businesses, Governments and schools can use the list to encourage a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Monday, January 18, 2021

Build a Singapore that cares for the remaining green spaces

I remember a time when kids are told to imagine how you would like your world to be.Just imagine and you can feel like a child again, where every idea is possible. I remember when the vision a green Singapore called Garden City inspired us to look forward to a beautiful country, full of greenery where birds, trees, ecosystems flourished. My family moved back to Bukit Timah so that we could experience this greenery.
The vision slowly took form and within the last seven years, the green coridor developed and more people could walk through the green space on rubber tracks. Great for the multitude of users as they stride through very pleasant surroundings. But this was at the expense of many full grown luscious trees. Now the last remaining forests-Clementi and Dover are being marked for development. I plead with the authorities to let these remain.We have lost so much nature in the name of "development". The birds that used to come to my window do not come anymore because the trees have been removed. The lush trees that used to house many bird species, pared down such that there are now fewer birds. I am happy about tree planting day but can we not remove any more trees, they take decades to grow and are the habitat home for a multitude of wildlife.