From 'urban boy' to green champion

Teacher gets school and students to pitch in to save the environment
Grace Chua, Straits Times 9 Jan 10;

NATURE photography, Star Wars Lego models and Apple electronics are just some of the things Mr Eric Low has been passionate about.

Now, the 34-year-old schoolteacher has a new cause: cutting carbon emissions through clean energy.

At Dunman Secondary School in Tampines, where he teaches mathematics and chemistry, he persuaded the school to include a 2kw solar panel in the design for its rooftop garden.

The panel, which tracks the sun to convert as much of its energy as possible, was paid for through fund-raisers and a Ministry of Education seed fund.

It powers the water pumps at the garden's hydroponics set-up and provides some excess power that is fed back into the school's electricity network.

And he is paying $60,000 to install a 6kw solar panel at his house in Changi - a panel so large, it actually overhangs the existing roof and doubles as a shelter for the balcony.

When it is installed, it will provide enough power for four to six air-conditioners - effectively powering the whole house and getting rid of his $300 monthly electricity bill.

A solar panel that size will take 30 to 50 years to pay for itself in electricity savings, but Mr Low says he is not driven by cost savings alone. Going green is his aim.

He picks products with minimal packaging, avoids switching on the air-conditioner and tries not to use plastic bags.

The self-described 'urban boy' grew up in Queenstown and Choa Chu Kang, but says he has always preferred nature to crowds.

'I haven't even been to Ion Orchard or 313,' he said, referring to the two brand-new malls on Orchard Road.

About seven or eight years ago, while Mr Low was dating his then girlfriend and now wife Deanna, the couple would wine and dine, not at downtown restaurants, but at the Choa Chu Kang Farmart.

Around 2003, he picked up nature photography - starting in neighbourhood parks like Bishan Park and moving on to reserves like the Sungei Buloh wetlands.

Mr Low's passion has spread to his family and students.

He caught the hydroponics bug when he was put in charge of student gardeners at Dunearn Secondary in Bukit Batok in 2002.

When he transferred to Dunman Secondary three years ago, he introduced a hydroponics garden there as well.

Put in charge of the computer club, he got the members to program simple iPhone applications for measuring personal carbon footprints.

After writing a carbon-footprint program, one of his young charges put the carbon-cutting tips into action.

Secondary 3 student Muhammad Aliff Rahmad found his carbon footprint slightly above average.

'Now, I use the air-con less and take public transport instead of using my father's car,' he said.

Mr Low even talked his father-in-law, property developer Alan Koh of Gold Island Development, into putting solar panels on some of his new houses.

'You don't have to live in the Stone Age to be green,' Mr Low says. 'Just use less and waste less.'

However, there are some contradictions which suggest that even a green champion has some way to go.

He and his wife, who runs an education centre, have two cars; and despite living relatively near work, he drives there each day.

Sometimes, convenience trumps conscience, he says with a wry smile.