YouthInk readers share their views on promoting environmental conservation
Straits Times 19 Nov 07
Introduce green legislation
GRASSROOTS activism aside, there is a pivotal tool that the Government can use to shift the burden of environmental sustainability back to individuals and businesses: legislation.
For example, South Korea introduced recycling laws in 1992.
Since then, the failure of households and businesses to dispose of waste in designated recycling bags is punished by a heavy fine, among other measures.
On a recent trip to Busan, I was surprised by the absence of complaints from the Korean people I met - young and old - when I talked about these 'inconveniences' they have to endure.
Recycling, after all, has become an integral part of their lives since young.
Why not make it mandatory for supermarkets here to charge shoppers for shopping bags? Or require new buildings to be environmentally friendly?
By introducing more green legislation, we can inculcate such green values in Singaporeans.
Kenny Tan, 21, is a second-year Economics student at the Singapore Management University (SMU)
It's a global responsibility
MY UNIVERSITY lecturer always says: 'For every complex problem, there is an answer which is simple, neat and wrong.'
The simple answer to the problem that is the Kyoto Protocol: Two of the biggest contributors to environmental pollution, the United States and Australia, are not parties to the full protocol.
We are aware of the plight to save our earth from pollution and global warming. Yet, we are also constantly reminded how small Singapore is.
Green gestures in Singapore to save the environment are grossly insignificant. Compared to America, Australia and our neighbouring countries, our carbon footprint is but a fraction.
Singapore's contribution to saving the environment, albeit well-intended, is just not substantial enough to counteract that of countries that put economical concerns ahead of the environment.
However, Singapore could leverage its economic and global trading position to encourage other nations to adopt green policies.
Our environment has suffered abuse for centuries; it would take everyone to help it heal.
Tabi tha Mok, 21, is a third-year medical student at the University of Western Australia
Start slow, but give it a go
I ALWAYS believe we can contribute to the 'green' cause.
Start with something manageable - pay for a plastic bag, use water efficiently, recycle paper.
Then proceed beyond - read more about the environment, donate to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
I started by taking buses and trains instead of taxis, using fans instead of air-conditioners, and using a backpack as a tote bag for trips to the supermarket.
Cynics will say these are too little and too late. Optimists will say these are too much and too alarmist.
But somewhere in the middle lies our hopes, dreams and recycling bins.
The world will still be imperfect no matter what we do, but why not try to give our descendants a clean and green one.
Berton Lim, 19, has a place to read business administration at the National University of Singapore (NUS)
Ignite green passion in youth
FOR Singaporean youths, environmental conservation rarely goes beyond the mandatory community involvement programme or project work.
We do it because we have to. It does not stem from a deeply rooted go-green passion, unlike our foreign counterparts.
Such a contrived situation will only have limited effects.
Being sheltered in our clean and green country makes it easier to be oblivious to the degradation happening throughout the world.
But instead of force-feeding our youth, we should try to ignite the passion in them.
Concerts like Live Earth, which capitalise on celebrity appeal to raise awareness, allow youths to become more well-informed, and hopefully inspire them to participate in the green movement.
We can implement as many programmes as we want, but ultimately the conviction that the green cause is worth pursuing must come from within.
Chew Zhi Wen, 20, has a place to read law and economics at NUS
Biggest problem today
TERRORISM and nuclear threats have always been regarded as key security issues, but not the environment.
Although often relegated to 'low politics', the potential effects of environmental degradation can be equally catastrophic.
This is evidenced by the 2004 Pentagon report, which admits the environment is inextricably linked to security, and it is in fact a bigger problem than terrorism.
In its 2007 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that 30 per cent of animal species face extinction should temperature rise by 2 deg C.
Furthermore, environmental problems also create political threats such as armed conflicts over resources and mass migrations.
Simply put, climate change could be the biggest problem in the world today, even more so than most people see it to be.
To cite Al Gore's documentary, global warming has indeed become the 'inconvenient truth'.
Ian Cheng, 22, is a second-year international relations and history student at the London School of Economics
