Singapore’s water issue: educate the general public on the need to save water

The Singaporean public does indeed have a general understanding that there is a need to save water. Especially among the elderly who know the difficulty of attaining water in the olden days when Singapore did not have a water agreement with Malaysia. However, the new generations do not have the same awareness of the need to save water resources. There is a dire need to educate the public on the need to save water so as to ensure that Singapore will have efficient usage of water and so that we will have sufficient water so as to reduce the reliance of water from Malaysia.

Students need to be taught not to waste water. This should be done in schools and at home as parents should teach their children to conserve resources and not waste them. Simple tips such as to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth should be known and ingrained in young children. They should be taught that water is precious and so they should not waste it. It should become ingrained in them from a young age so that they grow up to conserve water as well as the habit is already built in.

As mentioned in a pervious blog post, advertisements such as posters, commercials, leaflets and more should be placed in the public’s eye so that they are prompted to water on a daily basis. These advertisements should give the public tips and tricks on how they can conserve resources. This will be helpful as it serves as a reminder for people to be aware of how much water they are using and to make them find ways where they can decrease their usage of water to conserve it. Advertisements could come in the form of brochures and fact sheets. The Singaporean public would be exposed to messages and tips on how to conserve water resources. One way to ensure that the public is educated on the various ways that they can help conserve water is through the use of bill inserts where utility bills have tips on the best water management practices. It’s a good way to remind people that water costs can be reduced with the efficient and responsible use of water.

Another way to educate the public on the need to save water is through the use of the media. The Public Utilities Board (PUB) in Singapore could work closely with media outlets to ensure media coverage on water supply and water conservation issues and events. This could be done through the mediums of the newspapers, articles, radio and television, and conservation fairs and community programmes.

In conclusion, some of the ways to ensure that the public knows the importance of saving water and are educated on the issue is to teach younger kids the skill to save water and to educate and remind the general public to save water through advertisements and such.

References

Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District (May, 2009) WATER SUPPLY AND WATER CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

Retrieved from:

http://northgeorgiawater.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sec12_Education_WSWC_May2009.pdf

Specific bad habits to be addressed and transformed; Disposal of electronic equipment

The Singaporean public need to be aware of the importance of the proper disposal of electronic equipment or E-waste. This could be batteries, desktop, laptop, mobile phones, etc. E-waste is made up of metal and plastic components and also contains small amounts of heavy metals and substances of concern. An example of the dangers of throwing away E-waste irresponsibly would be the disposal of fridges and air conditioners which contain refrigerants to enable cooling to take place but also contribute to ozone layer depletion or climate change (NEA, 2015). Thus it is very important to ensure the correct disposal of these Electronic waste to protect the environment.

It is important to dispose of E-waste correctly and there are methods put in place to do so. The public should take the initiative to use these methods to ensure that E-waste and domestic waste and disposed of separately. E-waste should be recycled through proper channels. The majority of Singaporeans bind unwanted phones and batteries along with their domestic waste. Singapore does not have formal laws regulating E-waste but have a good recycling and second hand market. Major companies such as StarHub, DHL and TES-AMM have some prominent E-waste recycling programmes that could be used more if more people knew about it. The e-waste is collected by DHL and then sent to the TES-AMM e-waste recycling facility to be then broken down. Other companies that also offer E-waste recycling programmes include Singtel, Dell, Panasonic, and HP, who offer individuals and businesses a way to dispose of electronic goods the correct way. Thus, it is in my opinion that I believe that E-waste recycling should in fact become a law initiated by the government in order to ensure that E-waste is being disposed of correctly.

Once the government creates a law that requires people to dispose of electronic wastes through throwing them into electronic waste bins, people will be forced to be responsible about throwing their electronic wastes into the appropriate channels and this will reduce the wastage of rare metals found in electronic waste. On top of that harmful substances will not leak into the environment which could happen if people simple throw their electronic waste in domestic bins and taken to landfills. These electronic waste bins could be situated along with the recycle bins in HDB estates. This will make it convenient for people to used these bins and they will be more inclined to the idea as they see these bins around which would also stand for being a reminder for people to appropriately dispose of E-waste. When the Singaporean public is informed on how they can dispose of their E-waste properly, they would think twice before throwing their unwanted electronic waste into a regular bin.

In conclusion, it is important to dispose of E-waste through E-waste recycling channels so as to protect our environment and save rare materials that could be reused. To encourage people to do so, a law has to be made and convenient methods need to be put in place for people to recycle their E-waste. People should also be informed about the issue in order to change behaviors.

References

NEA (2015)

Retrieved from:

http://www.nea.gov.sg/energy-waste/3rs/e-waste-lamp-battery-recycling/e-waste-recycling

WHAT HAPPENS TO E-WASTE?

Retrieved from:

 http://www.nlb.gov.sg/sure/what-happens-to-e-waste/

                                                     

Specific bad habits to be addressed and transformed; the plastic bag epidemic

Singaporeans use 30 billion plastic bags a year which is a lot of plastic bags and accumulation of plastic that cannot be biodegradable (Reyes, 2013). The buring of plastic in incineration produces toxins in the air that is extremely harmful for the health of the public. The heavy reliance on plastic bags is an extremely bad habit that needs to be addressed and transformed in order to cut down on creating waste substances that cannot be broken down naturally and safely. Plastic bags consume scarce resources such as including oil in their production. An estimation of up to 100 million barrels of oil are needed to make the world’s plastic bags each year. Yet typical usage of a plastic bag is just 20 minutes (Reyes, 2013). This is not a good usage of the world’s infinite resources therefore there is a need to cut down on its usage in Singapore. I propose a nation wide movement to charge consumers 10 cents for each plastic bag that they use in order to motivate the public to stop using them too often.

Plastic bag charges have proved to be a success in countries like United Kingdom and Hong Kong, thus the government in Singapore should also follow suit imposing a levy on the use of plastic bags to cut its usage. In Northern Ireland, the number of bags issued by supermarkets fell from 190 million to 30 million in 2014 after the tax on plastic bag usage. Scotland's similar legislation in 2014 cut down plastic bag usage by 80 percent as well. There was some public outcry over having to pay for plastic bags however, the majority of the public was receptive of the change and did change their behavior in using less plastic. Thus, as it is a proven method that worked in other countries, I believe that Singaporeans too will be able to reduce the use of plastic bags dramatically if Singapore adopted the method of placing a fee for plastic use.

Major supermarket chains and retailer should be taking the lead. The problem that will arise if one major supermarket does the levy is that they will lose market share as customers will choose to shop at other supermarkets. To tackle this issue, there needs to be an island wide move to start charging Singaporeans for the use of plastic so as to motivate them to cut back on its usage by bringing their own grocery bags to shop with. Singaporeans will switch to other ways of taking their groceries home when they have a monetary incentive to do so. They could use more reusable types of bags such as a good quality canvas bag or a bag that can be recycles such as paper bags to take their groceries home, reducing the usage of plastic bags in Singapore. Paper bags can be used as a substitute for plastic bags. This will be an effective way to ensure that Singaporeans reduce their reliance on plastic bags.  

References

Lorraine Chow (5 August. 2016) Proof That Charging Customers for Plastic Bags Reduces Their Use (August. 2016)

Retrieved from:

http://www.alternet.org/environment/england-proves-charging-consumers-plastic-bags-reduces-their-use

Elga Reyes (2 October. 2013) Singapore uses 3 billion plastic bags a year: study (October. 2013)

Retrieved from:

http://www.eco-business.com/news/singapore-uses-3-billion-plastic-bags-year-study/