Today Online 10 Nov 08;
As Singaporeans look for ways to tighten their belts during the economic downturn, adopting green habits — such as reducing wastage and reusing or recycling things at home — is a good place to start, said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
By switching off appliances when they are not being used, people can save the environment while also reducing their utility bills — especially since electricity tariffs were increased by 21 per cent recently — he said during a community event held yesterday in conjunction with the recently-launched Clean & Green Singapore.
“Going green not only saves money, it can be fun too. Instead of spending all our time watching TV or playing computer games, why not engage our family and friends in more personal and interactive ways?” noted the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, citing playing sports and games as examples.
To help keep residents’ conservancy costs down, Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council has also replaced light bulbs in all the HDB estates with energy-efficient ones.
Meanwhile, the 200 households in the South West and North West districts pilot-testing ETrack — a device that measures in kilowatts and dollars and cents how much individual appliances are consuming — will know the results by the first half of next year.TEO XUANWEI
