All across Singapore on Saturday evening, businesses and individuals will be doing their part for the environment by switching off lights, shedding their clothes and throwing out old mobile phones.
At Orchard Road, 6,000 people will form the shape of ‘60+ SINGAPORE’ to mark the campaign, organised by international environment group WWF and now in its fourth year.
The event started in Sydney in 2007 but has now gained traction in more than 135 countries.
Last year, WWF added to its original challenge to turn off lights for 60 minutes: Now represented by ‘60+’, Earth Hour calls on people and organisations take action for the rest of the year as well.
WWF Singapore chief executive Elaine Tan said that the campaign was meant to start a chain reaction that would inspire individuals and organisations by pitting themselves amongst each other to take actions to protect the Earth.
“We want people to make it personal, and understand that they own a stake in ensuring that the planet remains in good health for future generations,” she added.
In Singapore, where WWF’s Ms Tan said the NGO has gained tremendous support over the past three years, Earth Hour activities will not be contained to just the prime shopping belt.
Local telecommunications and cable provider StarHub will celebrate Earth Hour by switching off non-essential lights at its customer services centres on Saturday night, but it will also use the Earth Hour challenge to launch its new electronics recycling initiative.
The firm vowed to plant 30 trees at a local park if customers bring 3,000 kilogrammes of e-waste to its new recycling bins by Earth Day on 22 April. Awareness of e-waste recycling is still relatively low in Singapore, partly due to the lack of collection bins.
Starhub’s bins can be found at StarHub’s Customer Service Centres at OUB Centre, Tampines Mall, Plaza Singapura and StarHub Green. An e-waste recycling bin will also be placed at the Grid MMS Office at *SCAPE.
Starhub chief executive Neil Montefiore noted in a statement that only 10 per cent of the 50 million cell phones replaced every month worldwide are recycled.
“As a provider of electronic equipment and e-services, we feel that it is only right to provide consumers with an avenue through which they can safely and responsibly dispose of their electronic waste,” he said.
Property developer CapitaLand will be asking customers and tenants at 30 properties in Singapore to shed their extra clothes to reduce the need for heavy air-conditioning for its second annual Wear Less Day.
Citing the significant energy-saving and awareness-raising benefits of turning the air-conditioned temperature up by only one degree, the firm has announced it will extend the initiative to once a month for its corporate offices. CapitaLand has 235 properties throughout Asia and Europe that will turn non-essential lights off at 8:30PM on Saturday.
City Square Mall, Singapore’s Kitchener Road eco-themed mall, plans to use Earth Hour to celebrate its one year anniversary and review its environmental targets. When the lights dim at 8:30, visitors will be treated to a free screening of an environmental film about the impacts of over-fishing called The End of the Line.
To raise awareness of the need to reduce energy demand, Philips Lighting has pledged to install energy efficient lighting systems in three children’s homes if 1,500 people make a pledge on its Facebook page to use more efficient lighting.
Other Earth Hour related activities from businesses around Singapore include:
- NTUC FairPrice is supporting Earth Hour by switching off non-essential lights at more than 250 supermarkets and by encouraging 75,000 Facebook fans to switch off their home lights too;
- Singapore technology firm Keppel Group will turn off all non-essential lights at its properties, and will also send over 100 employees to create the ‘6’ in the ‘60+ SINGAPORE’ formation at Orchard Road;
- Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shops will give out free cone coupons if customers post ideas for reusing ice cream containers on Facebook;
- Tangs department store will match dollar for dollar the proceeds from the $10 reusable bags that customers buy to replace plastic bags. The funding will benefit Earth Hour;
- Starbucks will give free coffee to customers who bring in their own reusable Starbucks mug during earth hour;
- Telecommunications company Nokia will plant a tree in each customer’s name for a WWF project in Indonesia if customers bring old phones for recycling to its Earth Hour booth;
- Marina Bay’s iLight Festival, a non-profit project run by SmartLight Singapore, will switch off 31 LED lighting-based artworks during Earth Hour while visitors participate in free workshops and a movie screening. iLight organisers have enlisted owners and tenants of 47 of the surrounding buildings in a “Switch Off, Turn Up” campaign that is expected to save enough electricity to power 762 four-room housing flats over the course of the festival;
- Natural cosmetics company The Body Shop will give a free bottle of body gel to every customer who brings in three clean, recyclable bottles from 31 March to 22 April.
Josephine Chow, general manager of The Body Shop Singapore, said they participated in Earth Hour for the chance to combine efforts with others for the betterment of the environment.
“We also see this as a great opportunity to engage consumers in stores while educating them on recycling and waste reduction,” she said.
WWF has asked people and businesses to help raise awareness by broadcasting their Earth Hour activities through social media channels. For Twitter messages, the organisation designated the hash tag #earthhoursg.
Said WWF’s Ms Tan: “As we kick off the fourth year of Earth Hour, we are confident…that many people will be motivated to go beyond the hour, and to do their bit for a sustainable planet.”
