Assembly Talk & Booth @ Queensway Sec (05 Apr)

 Mrs Pang Fook Hoe, HOD Science of Queensway Secondary, invited Earth Society to conduct an Assembly talk & set up a booth in the school on 05 Apr. Mrs Pang got to know about Earth Society when she met Mr Low at the Assembly of Youth for Environment (AYE) event organized by the school @ Marina Bay last year.

On 05 Mar, Earth Society members reached Queensway Secondary on 10.45am. Mdm Lee Ley Lun escorted us to the school hall. We conducted a Global warming talk for Sec 1 and 2 students from 11am to 11.40am. We set up a booth at the canteen from 12 to 1.20pm to distribute more info on Climate change to students and teachers.

The talk and booth was well-received by the teachers and students.  

Students’ Feedback:

The talk was interesting and effective as it tells us how urgent Global Warming is. After the talk, I would help stop pollution by cleaning rubbish when I see one and try to eat less meat. I’ll also inform others about global warming and what we should do to save the planet.

- Xarieva Ching, Sec 1, QSS

I have learnt that everyone plays a part in tackling global warming and we must act now or it will be too late. Overall, the talk was amazing and also the correct videos are used to suit the talk.

- Lim Jia Ler, Sec 2, QSS

I find the talk meaningful and I’ll do my part to go veg to save the trees and animals. I hope after the talk, more people would go veg and do the 3 Rs more often to stop global warming. Thumbs up!

 - Sherlene Tny, Sec 1, QSS

It is a most interesting Assembly talk. I hope I can do my part to save the Earth. - Alvin Wanli Svahrir, Sec 1, QSS

Our Singapore Conversation @ Eunos RC (03 Apr)

Mr Low joined in a Singapore Conversation session organized by Eunos RC (Residence Committee) on 03 Apr. The MP chairing the session is Prof Fatimah Lateef. The session is conducted mainly in English with Chinese and Malay translations, about 45 residents attended the session.

The session was well-organized, the organizing committee went through various aspects of living in Singapore: Housing, Transport, Health Care, Environment and asked the participants to give their views on the issues.

During the session, Mr Low brought up an issue about sustainable living: “ A WWF report shows that if everyone lives the lifestyle of an average Singaporean, we would need 3.5 planets to cater to our way of consumption! We have to reduce our consumption patterns to conserve the resources of the planet.”

Mr Low informed that in recent years, United Nations have requested the citizens of wealthy nations to reduce meat consumption by half to conserve the food and water resources of the planet. [It takes 3 to 10 times more food resources, 5 to 80 times more water resources to produce meat than vegetables. Average meat consumption rate in the world is 40 kg/ per person / per year. Ave meat consumption rate in developed nations (such as US/ Europe/ Singapore etc) is about 90-to-100 kg /per person/ per year. (more than Double the World ave).] Mr Low suggested that we could adopt meatless days (going meatless one day a week) to reduce our consumption pattern to help the planet.      

MP Fatimah Lateef acknowledged that Singaporeans should eat less meat for environmental and for health reasons. When the organizing committee asked who would support meatless days, many participants raised their hands to show support.

《健康no.1》健康/环保讲座（3月31日）

新加坡报业控股出版的《健康no.1》杂志在3月31日在莱佛士会议中心 (Raffles Convention Center) 举办健康展览和讲座。主办当局邀请地球协会当天在1点30分到Sophia Ball room呈现环保讲座。

地球协会成员在当天1点到达现场。我们呈现了30分钟的《饮食对健康/环境的影响》讲座，并分发环保手册，向民众传播健康/环保讯息。观众们都专心地聆听讲座。

健康展览和讲座活动在下午4点钟圆满结束。

Earth Hour event @ Vegan Burg (23 Mar)

Mr Alex, CEO of Vegan Burg, invited Mr Low to attend their Earth Hour event @ Eunos Vegan Burg. Vegan Burg supports Earth Hour by switching all lights from 8.30 to 9.30pm. They also donated all sales during Earth Hour to Tzu Chi Foundation.











Some celebration program (i.e. singing, story-telling) were held during the lights-off hour. Mr Balakrishna, a yoga teacher, read some stories to the children during the lights-off hour.
Mr Low attended the event and supported Vegan Burg’s effort for Earth Hour.

Pro-Teach (Horizon) GW talks (21 Mar 2013)

Ms Patrica Ong, Manager of Pro-teach (Horizon), invited Earth Society to conduct 2 Global Warming talks at Pro-teach (Horizon) student care center on 21 Mar. Mr Low presented a GW talk and Quiz to P3-to-P6 students from 2.30 to 3.30pm. A simplified version was presented to the P1-P2 students from 3.30 to 4.30pm

Staff’s Feedback:
The statistics presented were alarming. It will prompt the audience to contribute towards prevention of Global Warming. Young audience may have difficulties understanding though.

- Ms Patrica Ong, Manager of Pro-teach (Horizon)

Pace of presentation was just nice for the students. Lots of animation to keep them interested.

- Ms Ayu, Student Care teacher

Very interesting and engaging presentation. Easy for the kids to comprehend. The kids’ feedback was that they love the videos and the quizzes especially.

- Ms Linda, Student Care teacher

Assembly Talks & Booth @ Nanyang Primary (11 & 12 Mar)

Last year, Earth Society conducted 2 Assembly talks for Nanyang primary students/ teachers. The talk received lots of positive feedback from pupils and teachers.

This year, Mdm Rebecca Goh, Subject Head of NE/SS in Nanyang Primary, invited us again to conduct 4 Assembly talks for Nanyang primary’s P1, P2, P3 & P5 pupils on 11 Mar & 12 Mar.

On 11 Mar, Earth Society members reached Nanyang Primary (King’s Road Campus) on 9.20am. We conducted a Global warming talk (Upper primary version) for P3 pupils from 9.30 to 10am, set up a booth at the canteen from 10 to 11 am and conduct another talk for P5 pupils from 11 to 11.30am.

On 12 Mar, we reached Nanyang Primary (Toh Tuck Campus) on 8.20am. We conducted a Global warming talk (Lower primary version) for P2 pupils from 8.30 to 9am, followed by a talk to P1 pupils from 9 to 9.30am. We set up and manned a booth at the canteen from 9.30am to 11 am.

Students and teachers listened attentively to the talks and learn more information about environmental protection.

The following are some feedbacks for the Assembly talk:

Students’ Feedback:

I learn that we must take good care of the planet. 
- Clarice, P2 pupil, NYPS

I like the videos that you showed us. I will try to do some stuff that I learn at home. - Joy Goh, P2 pupil, NYPS

I learn that I should protect the Earth. I learn that cows produce a lot of green house gases, I will eat less meat and hamburgers.              - Zachary Mok & Ester Wong, P3 pupil, NYPS

I loved the talk. I learn that we should not cut down trees. I learn about having Veggie Thursdays.
- Iann Tan & Goh Cher Maine, P3 pupil, NYPS

Teacher’s Feedback:

·         The assembly talk was very meaningful, it made pupils know what is the condition of our mother earth now, and what we can do to save the earth. Those video clips were interesting, Bravo Speaker.

·         The talk was informative and create awareness. Especially the part that encourage us to eat vege rather than meat and giving us the reasons. 

·         The assembly topic was a good social topic, though quite an abstract one for our young pupils, but the excellent graphics help a lot. The speaker was very patient and he managed to contain his message within time constraints.

·         I liked the talk a lot. Convinced me to reduce my intake of meat. I'm not sure if the children could understand all of that though. May wish is to tackle just one or two environmental issues. 

Earth Society's "I Will If You Will" Challenge

This year, Earth Society decided to participate in WWF Earth Hour’s “I Will IF You WILL” Challenge (IWIYW) to encourage everyone to adopt sustainable actions beyond the hour.

[ More info on IWIYW Challenge: http://earthhour.wwf.sg/iwiyw.php ]

This is our “I Will IF You WILL” Challenge:

“Earth Society will commit to conduct 50 FREE Environment talks for schools

and NGOs IF 800 people will commit to support Veggie Thursday or Go

meatless one day a week.”

To View our IWIYW Challenge, pls visit:

http://www.youtube.com/earthhour?x=%2Fchallenges%2F5958

[ Pls close the pop-up window to view the Challenge.

  Pls consider if you would support Veggie Thursday or go Meatless one day a week to support  the cause.

To accept the Challenge, pls click the “Accept this Challenge” Button.

You would need to sign in with your gmail / youtube account to accept

the Challenge.  :>]

For more info on Veggie Thursdays, please visit : www.veggiethursday.sg

Let’s work together to create a sustainable future for everyone.

Earth Hour 2013

WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is organizing Earth Hour, one of the most successful global environmental movement , on 23 Mar (Sat).

Last year, Earth Hour took place in more than 7000 cities and towns across 152 countries with more than 5 million people participating in the event.

This year, WWF invites organizations/ companies/ individuals to switch off light on 23 Mar from 8.30pm to 9.30pm to raise awareness about the need to take action on Climate change.

The official 2013 Earth Hour video is available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UywrjnOaUE

Apart from Switching off light for 1 hr, WWF also initiates the “I Will If You Will” (IWIYW) Challenge to encourage world citizens to adopt sustainable practice beyond the hour.   http://www.youtube.com/earthhour

IWIYW attracts many government officials, dignitaries, companies, organizations etc to participate in the challenge:

e.g. The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will ride a bicycle from his house to office on 25 Mar, if 50 buildings in KL will switch off for Earth Hour 2013.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands will raise its air-con by one degree for one day every month of the year, if its top 20 vendors raise their air-con temperatures by one degree. IKEA Singapore will have a free reusable blue bag day if 20,000 pple pledge to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags.

……..

In 2013, WWF organizes various activities in different countries to encourage sustainable development.

In Singapore, WWF holds road shows in various locations to educate the public on how to reduce energy consumption.

http://earthhour.wwf.sg/

WWF Singapore also produces various Earth Hour Action Kits for schools/ companies/NGOs to download.

Earth hour Action Kit: http://earthhour.wwf.sg/action_kits.php

The kit encourages Singaporeans to take 4 key actions to reduce the ecological footprint of Singapore:

1.    Reduce usage of Plastic Bag

2.    Turn up the air-con by 1 degree

3.    Change to LED light bulbs

4.    Take shorter showers

In US, WWF initiate an “Earth Hour City Challenge” movement to encourage cities to take practical measures to prepare for increasing impacts of climate change and promote renewable energy. U.S. cities that participate will receive resources and gain recognition for their efforts to curb carbon pollution and prepare their communities for the harmful consequences of climate change.

US, WWF “Earth Hour City Challenge”:

http://worldwildlife.org/pages/earth-hour-city-challenge

In China, WWF launches a “Green V Week” campaign. The campaign encourages the Chinese population to adopt one green action a day every week to promote sustainable living.

The recommended Green actions are as such:

Mon: Eat More Veggie

(similar to the Meatless Monday campaign that many countries have adopted)

Tues: Use reusable bag

Wed: Don’t Drive

Thurs: Bring your own Chopstick

Fri: Don’t waste food

Sat:  Love the animals

Sun:  Walk out of the house to enjoy the Natural surroundings

中国“地球一小时”活动：《我做绿V客，环保一起来》
http://www.wwfchina.org/wwfpress/presscenter/pressdetail.shtm?id=1447

……

In recent years, there has been growing awareness on the detrimental effects of meat production on the planet. Thus, we can observe that the “eco-conscious people” are becoming more vocal to urge the public to reduce meat consumption to protect the environment.

Some examples from WWF Earth Hour/ IWIYW are:

1. Green School Bali (Indonesia) Grade 7 students will organize a Green School community beach clean up, if 1000 people will go without fast food for one month. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLzPQi7-JKc

2.Treehugger's Food and Wine writer Jerry James Stone promises to go vegan for a whole month if 1000 people do the same for a week. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLcp0PPmBY

3. In 2012, Nadya Hutagalung (WWF Singapore and Earth Hour Ambassador) challenged 6 of her husband’s friends to go vegetarian for 1 month. Her husband, in turn, challenge 60 of her twitter followers to go vegetarian for 1 month and he will cycle from his house to the Earth Hour event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy0Y4-sRomc

4. In 2011, Li Bing Bing (China Star and Earth hour Ambassador) promised to eat 100 days of veggie meals in the year to do her part in protecting the environment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD_qVrgvgJY

5. WWF 2013 “Green V Week” campaign encourages the Chinese population to “Eat More Veggies” every Monday.

It’s encouraging to see this less meat/ more veggie trend.

Let’s join in to do our part in protecting the environment. :>

GW Booth & speech @ Lasalle i-Am Arts Festival (02 Mar)

Ms Sakinah Abdullah, Marketing and PR student-in-charge of Lasalle i-Am Arts Festival 2013, invited Earth Society to set up a booth during the i-Am Arts Festival.

 This year, as part of the Arts Festival, Lasalle students organized an event “Tree Tunes: Music for the Forest” @ Gardens by the Bay on 02 Mar from 5.30 till 11pm. The event was an environmental awareness music concert that aimed to provide the audience with light-hearted live music from 5 local bands amidst the majestic beauty of nature through nightfall.

During 02 Mar, the Tree-Tunes event kicked-start with music from The Sam Willows, followed by performance from Wind Tree, SEYRA, “For This Cycle” & ended with music from Plainsunset. The event attracted about 1000 participants from 5.30pm till 11pm.

During the event, Lasalle students set up a booth to explain the importance of tree-planting to participants and encouraged them to register for Plant-A-tree program. Participants also wrote their commitments to help the planet on Pledge cards and stuck them onto an “Eco-Tree”.

Earth Society set up a booth on 5.30pm to distribute information on climate change and solutions to climate change. In the midst of the program, Mr Low was invited on stage to give a 5-mins address to the audience on reducing meat consumption as a way to reduce deforestation and conserve the finite resources of the planet. The audience responded to the speech warmly and some audience visited our booth to get more information after the short speech. We manned the booth from 5.30pm till 10.30pm.

After conducting a post-event evaluation, Mdm Michelle Loh ( Lassalle Lecturer and teacher-in-charge of the Tree-Tune project ) informed that Lassalle students felt Earth Society’s participation enhanced the overall educational aspect of the event. In an after-event email to Earth Society, Mdm Michelle Loh wrote, “What Earth Society is doing is an inspiration to us all – teachers and students. Please keep it up. We look forward to more partnerships with you in the future.”

GW Seminar & Booth @ SP PEA Fair (19 Jan)

Ms Ling Li Min, Vice President of Singapore Polytechnic Environment Club, invited Earth Society to participate in their P.E.A (Post Event Appreciation) Fair on 19 Jan. SP Env Club had invited many eco-friendly organizations such as Earth Society, Tzu Chi youth group, Hemisphere Foundation, Singapore Environment Council (SEC) etc to set up a booth and conduct talks to spread environmental awareness during the event.

On 19 Jan, Earth Society members reached SP by 10.40am to set up a booth with exhibition panels in SP concourse. We distributed climate change booklets and DVDs to participants who attended the event.

 

Mr Low conducted a Global warming seminar for event participants from 4 to 4.30pm.

Participants listened attentively to the seminar and responded positively to the talk.

We manned the GW booth till 5.30pm where the event ends.

Mr Low was glad to see that SP Env club could collaborate with various eco-friendly organizations to organize this event. He was also encouraged to meet many youths who are passionate about environmental protection during this event. 

Update on Climate change by Mr Al Gore (2011-2012)

Share some updates on Climate change by Mr Al Gore:

1.Highlight: Al Gore at 24hrs of Reality (2011) [10 mins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY2sBLKU2x8

In this video, Al Gore explained the "New normal" of “Long periods of Droughts followed by short period of heavy rains”. He also refuted the climate deniers point-by-point.

2. Al Gore's has another updated video in 2012: (44 mins)

http://climaterealityproject.org/video/

[Pls scroll down to watch "Hour 24: New York finale with Al Gore (2012)" Video.

It is up-to-date and expresses the urgency of the situation acutely.]

The following is a summary of the 2012 video:

Record heat events

The world experienced the hottest month in Sep 2012. ( Similar to the hottest month in 2005).

In 2012, NASA director Dr James Hansen and 2 of his colleagues present a powerful statistical evidence of how the Earth is warming up.

Dr James Hansen did a statistical study of the temperature of Earth from 1950 till 2011. He broke up Earth to ‘150 mile sq blocks’ and collected what the temperature has been every where on Earth in every block.

The study shows that:

From 1951 till 1980:

1/3 of the days are cooler than normal, 1/3 of the days are normal, &1/3 hotter than normal.

i.e. 1 day with normal temperature, 1 to 2 days cooler, 1 to 2 days hotter.

In 1980s, everything started to shift. (more hotter days)

From 2001 till 2011, the temp shifted a lot.

Now we have:

1 day with normal temp, 1 day cooler than normal, 4 to 5 days hotter than normal.

(With 1 to 2 days as extremely hot days).

Dr James Hansen also observed that from 1950s to 1980s, Extreme heat events happen on 0.1% of Earth’s surface,  

Now (In 2012) it happens on 10% of Earth’s surface. (That is a 100 times increase.)

…..

US, heat records shows that:

In 1950 – 1999:   1 hot day to 1 cold day,

In 2001 to 2011:  2 hot days to 1 cold day.

In 2012:              10 hot days to 1 cold day !!!

Jul 2012 is the hottest month in US in recorded history.

………

Arctic / Greenland ice melts/ Sea level rise

Arctic ice covers hit the lowest record this year. ( Arctic ice surface area reached a 3.5 million sq km record low in 2012. Arctic ice used to be 8.5 million sq km in the 1980s)

Greenland & Antarctica ice melts affects sea level.

Cities at risk of the sea level rise.

Top 10 cities in danger of sea level rise: (By Population)

Calcutta, Mumbal, Dhaka (Banglah Desh), Ho Chi Minh City, Shang Hai, Bangkok,

Rangoon, Miami, Hai Phong

Top 10 cities in danger of sea level rise: (By Assets at risk: trillions of $US)

Miami, Guangzhou, NY/ New Jersey, Calcutta, Shanghai, Mumbai, Tianjin Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok

…….

Increased ocean temp/ increased water vapor in the air.

For Hurricane Sandy: When Hurricane Sandy turn towards NY, ocean temp is a 5 Deg C (9 Deg F) higher than normal. (Sea Surface temp: SST)

The air now holds more water vapour.

With each additional 1 deg increase in temp, the atmosphere’s capacity to hold water vapor increases by 7%.

Now, there are already 4% more water vapor over the oceans than there was only 30 years ago.

……..

Disasters in 2012

In 2012: 65% of US land has suffered from drought.

Droughts in 2012: Spain/ India/ N & South Korea/ Africa (Senegal)

Floods in 2012:  Pakistan / Beijing Jul./ India/ Taiwan/ N. Korea/ Russia (Jul)

Record drought/ record floods in the same country.

……..

Food Availability

Mr Al Gore shows a Food Surpluses and Deficits graph (1965 – 2010)

Food surpluses are found in North America & South America & Aus.

Occasionally, in E Eu & Russia.

Every where else (Europe/ Central Am/ Western Eu/ Asia/ Middle East & Africa) are all in food deficit.

Crops are sensitive to heat conditions.  By end of century, yield of corn can fall 1/3 just from heat stress alone.

…..

Water Availability

Global Water supply: 11% for domestic use, 19% Industrial use, 70% is for agriculture.

We are drawing water from aquifers at an unsustainable rate.

……..

Tropical disease are spreading with climate change. (e.g West Nile virus, Dengue fever are spreading)

……….

Increase in Clean energy policies

We are putting 90 million tons of global warming pollutants out in the air every 24 hrs.

We currently rely on carbon-based fuels for 85% of energy that we used.

In 2010, Renewable energy Investments exceeded those in Fossil Fuels for the first time

(Fossil Fuels: $157 Billion: Renewables: $187 Billion)

We now have a new wind turbine every 30 mins.

……

We have to act now to protect the planet and future generations.

Our Singapore Conversations @ Botanic Gardens (17 Nov)

Mr Low signed up for Our Singapore Conversation during Oct. He was invited to a Singapore Conversation session @ Botanic Gardens on 17 Nov. 
During the session, Mr Low brought up an issue to reduce consumption patterns: “ A WWF report shows that if everyone lives the lifestyle of an average Singaporean, we would need 3.5 planets to cater to our way of consumption! We have to reduce our consumption patterns to conserve the resources of the planet.” Many participants resonate with this view point and discussed with Mr Low on this matter during the tea-breaks and at the end of the session. 

Mr Low feels that the Singapore conversation is a good initiative as it gives the common people a chance to voice our options and participate in shaping the future of our nation. It also offers a chance for citizens to listen to different view points on various subjects and encourages citizens to network with each other.