Best of our wild blogs: 11 Feb 19

16 Mar (Sat): Celebrating Singapore Shores at Berlayar Creek
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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Building a green Singapore

Derek Wong Straits Times 11 Feb 19;

In the concrete jungle of the Central Business District, a red flower-like structure stands out against the skyline.

Called a wind scoop, it perches atop the 40-storey CapitaGreen and its "petals" draw in cooler, cleaner air that is funnelled through the building's air-conditioning system, helping to save energy on cooling.

It is among the energy-saving features introduced in buildings in recent years, with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) aiming for 80 per cent of buildings in Singapore to be green by 2030.

Cooling systems are a big drain on power, taking up 40 per cent to 50 per cent of a building's energy consumption. Together with other energy-saving features, such as a double-skin facade to reduce heat gain, the wind scoop helps CapitaGreen generate monthly savings of about 580,000kwh - equivalent to the energy needed to power about 1,500 four-room Housing Board flats in a month.

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Running with reusable cups to reduce waste

NEO RONG WEI Today Online 10 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE — Last year, more than 2,000 runners gave up their right to claim a finisher tee or medal at the end of the Eco Run.

This year, participants who signed up as “Zero Waste runners” in the annual event will be asked to go one step further for the environment: They will have to use reusable cups.

Income, the insurance company that organises the Eco Run, recognises that it will be a challenge for the runners.

“They will need to stop to fill up the cup, then run again. It is difficult to make the sacrifice (to their run times),” Ms Stella Tan, 45, Income’s head of brand activation and events, said.

The running event used up to 45,000 plastic cups for its hydration stations last year.

For the upcoming race in April, organisers aim to halve this number, which they said would result in a reduction of about 60kg of plastic waste.

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Drink from the tap: Students on a mission to cut bottled-water consumption

KENNETH CHENG Today Online 10 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE — For nearly a decade, Ms Erny Kartolo’s mother bought bottled water in bulk for her family, so that they would be hydrated when they ventured out of their home.

Every month, she would stock up on a box holding 40 bottles of water from suppliers such as Dasani.

“Her reason is that if she doesn’t purchase these, my family wouldn’t bring out water,” said Ms Kartolo, 22, a final-year communication studies undergraduate at the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.

That routine has since changed and her mother has jettisoned the practice, thanks to the Drink Wise, Drink Tap campaign.

The movement — the brainchild of Ms Kartolo and three schoolmates from the same NTU course — aims to nudge Singaporeans to drink tap water instead of bottled water, so as to reduce plastic waste in the long haul.

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