Three people spending 24 hrs in small stuffy boxes to spread green message in Singapore

Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 21 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: Try living in a hot, stuffy see-through box for 24 hours. Three Singaporeans are doing just that to spread the green message.

They are participants of MediaCorp's 'Gaia Life Challenge', a competition to find Singapore's most eco-friendly individual.

The box is a small Perspex house measuring 2.4 metres on all sides, and it can get really hot in there. There is an air-condition unit and an electric fan inside for the contestants to use if they want to.

Contestants get 15-minute breaks every two hours, and some use them to cool off a bit.

"Splash my face with some water and then hang around in the coolness of the (Bugis Junction shopping) mall," said contestant Michelle Scully, a retail executive.

It is a challenge to beat the heat, especially when one is trying to reduce one's carbon footprint.

"I will avoid switching on the air-con, because it eats up a lot of electricity. I'll use the fan, because it's really warm here, 35 degrees Celsius," said contestant Chin Chainn Hui, a student from the National University of Singapore.

For the third contestant, he is going for moderation.

"I'm still going to watch the TV...but if I'm going to be outside for quite a while, I'm going to switch off not only the TV, but at the source as well. I'm not going to stop myself from using the air-con when it gets too hot, but at least stay at 25 degrees Celsius," said Marcus Tay, an environmental engineer.

The contestants have drawn curious stares from shoppers at Bugis Junction, and MediaCorp hopes the efforts of the contestants will inspire the public to go green.

"A lot of us would have a very vague notion that.....switching on the air-con would be less Gaia, less friendly, less green, than using the fan. But there's nothing more visual and more impactful than actually living in a glass house like that," said Shaun Seow, MediaCorp's Deputy CEO (News, Radio, Print).

Contestants will also compete in games - from sorting out recyclables from their trash to collecting water from the nearby fountain.

At the end of it all, one of them will leave with the grand prize of 10,000 Singapore dollars. - CNA/ir