environment | Cooler Insights

Creating a Better Future for Our Cities

August 31, 2011 • Blog • 3 comments

Is there hope for our planet as the world population continues to explode? What measures can cities do to reduce their resource and energy use, narrow their carbon footprints, and give our planet a fighting chance for survival?

In a recent TED video, Journalist and sustainable activist Alex Steffen unveiled some surprisingly effective solutions to the climate change problem. Founder of the online magazine Worldchanging.com, Steffen proposed a couple of “cool” solutions and ideas that urban planners can consider:

Are You Cleaning or Dirtying Me?

March 15, 2008 • Blog • 5 comments

One of the things which irk me each time I return home is to see this.

I know that you are trying to clean the common stairwells of my flat, and I am eternally grateful for that. However, must you leave such a spotty and blotchy messy at my door? I don’t think it would hurt to bring along a cloth and wipe the exterior of the doors which you dirty while cleaning the stairs would it?

Of course, nothing beats this eye-sore which I spotted at a common recycling bin just a block away from my home.

I wonder if one should be deliriously happy that the oft-ignored recycling message has finally hit home – to overflowing effect – or sob at this monstrosity of mankind’s messiness.

World’s Worst Predator?

January 10, 2008 • Blog • 16 comments

Think of sharks and what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Man-eaters? “Jaws”? Shark’s fin soup? After watching Sharkwater, my perception of these apex predators in the sea changes entirely. And how.

Thanks to my buddy Jason and Howard Shaw (Executive Director of Singapore Environment Council), I had the privilege of catching Rob Stewart’s beautifully filmed documentary depicting his life long journey of loving and protecting sharks. An underwater photographer par excellence, Rob captures the magnificent creatures in their natural environment and is seen swimming, cavorting and even hugging the oldest swimming predators on Earth.

The Gift of a Lifetime

December 16, 2007 • Blog • 24 comments

Christmas is just around the corner. My wife Tina and I were cracking our heads thinking about an appropriate gift for our four year old Ethan. Should we get him yet another Power Rangers toy? Or maybe a pair of rollerblades?

Inspired by NParks’ Plant A Tree programme, Tina suggested that we give him a tree. This will be meaningful as trees help to beautify our environment, reduce our carbon footprint, and restore Singapore’s once lush tropical forest cover. More importantly, it could be a gift that will follow him for a lifetime as forest species do grow rather slowly. At $200 a piece, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to do our bit for our future generations.

Our ardour for arbor began at the foot of Mount Faber Park, just next to Marang Road. This route was named after the Marang trees which used to grow in the region.

Caught in the Act!

September 10, 2007 • Blog • 27 comments

Evidence that demands a verdict?

This morning, as I was taking the lift from my home downstairs, I caught a man red-handed as he nonchalantly tossed a burning cigarette butt on to the floor. He probably didn’t see me coming from behind.

I immediately asked him in a polite but firm manner, “Excuse me sir, did you just throw that cigarette butt on the floor?”

Let’s Go Green 2 – Using Recyclable Bags

July 10, 2007 • Blog • 9 comments

Have you started using recyclable bags for your shopping needs lately? It isn’t that difficult to tote a few grammes of light woven bags wherever you go. Not only does it help to burn a little more calories, they are also easier to carry around compared to lots of plastic bags. Most can be slung around the shoulder and you can look fashionably chic while doing your bit to save our world.

The damage caused by plastic bags and other non-biodegradable items are far too huge for us to ignore. Just look at this example here. Plastic makes up 80% of the volume of litter on roads, parks, and beaches and makes up 90% of floating litter in the ocean (BEC). Each year, an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, with billions ending up as litter in landfill sites. What’s more, it takes at least a century (yes 100 years) to degrade them!

Let’s do our part folks.

Thematic Toilets

July 3, 2007 • Blog • 10 comments

Anybody who has visited Great World City at Kim Seng Road in Singapore would have noticed its toilets. Painted in resplendent colours and themed to various countries around the world, they provide a nice respite (in more ways than one) to the otherwise drab and uninspiring experience of easing oneself. Its bathrooms are decked in designs and patterns hailing from Japan, Holland, Africa, Thailand and other regions.

The exterior of this Spanish themed gentlemen’s room looked fairly nondescript save for the painted bulls by the side.

Weapons of Mess Distraction

May 28, 2007 • Blog • 23 comments

As I was walking back home, I spotted this incredible array of strewn flyers, newsletters, bills, envelope covers and goodness knows what else on the floor near the letterbox. Obviously, some of my fellow neighbours are waiting for the contract cleaners to pick up after them.

Just outside my lift landing, I spotted these supposed tools to help clean up the mess which ended up being litter themselves! A very picture of irony wouldn’t you say?

Sigh…….

Are We Pigging Out?

April 24, 2007 • Blog • 20 comments

Grrr…. I just realise that my home has been downgraded lately – from a HDB flat to a pig sty! Obviously, we need a lot more public education efforts to support the recent Earth Day celebrations and Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) campaigns.

Our problem of littering isn’t fresh news. In fact, it has been happening all this while. The reason why our island still remained clean and green is largely due to the huge army of contract cleaners and waste management workers that we employ. Without them, I shudder to think what state of decay and filth we will end up with.

I took the following photographs a couple of days ago to show you what I mean, and I didn’t even have to travel far from my flat.

Tag: environment