EARTH HOUR IN SINGAPORE!

Singapore Heartlands Unite for Earth Hour 2009
- Over 1,200 youth volunteers reach out to 30,000 households

On March 28, 2009, ECO Singapore, the leading youth social enterprise advocating sustainable lifestyles for youths, will again support WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) in Singapore for the highly successful annual Earth Hour event. For one hour starting from 8:30pm, commercial entities and residential households around the island will power down their lighting collectively, drawing attention to the extent of energy that actually goes into superfluous lighting.

In 2008, ECO Singapore organised the first community Earth Hour event in Singapore at Punggol Community Club, engaging around 10,000 households in the area door to door through the efforts of more than 300 student volunteers. Residents were then invited to a community event held at Punggol Community Club.

For 2009, the occasion will be celebrated simultaneously at five locations: a downtown event at the Esplanade and four community events in the heartlands supported by community organisations like Community Development Councils (CDCs) and schools.

ECO Singapore will be co-organising the event at the Esplanade and the main organiser of all the four heartland community events – one in each district. At each location, youth volunteers will engage households door to door to amplify the energy conservation message and share tips on saving electricity. Highlights at these community locations include cultural performances and screenings of environmentally related movies and messages. A total of more than 1,200 student volunteers will be educated on energy conservation and trained to engage the residents. The aim is to engage about 30,000 households in total.

Corporate sponsors and partners for the community events include Starbucks, NEC and City Development Ltd (CDL), and Discovery Channel and Northwest, Southwest and Southeast Community Development Councils.

Key details of the Earth Hour community events are as follows:

(a) Northwest District
Venue: Zhenghua Community Club
Guest of Honour: Liang Eng Hwa, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC
Student volunteers: West Spring Secondary School, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic
Community partner: Northwest CDC

(b) Southwest District
Venue: Hong Kah North Community Club
Guest of Honour: Dr Amy Khor, Mayor Southwest District, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
Student volunteers; Commonwealth Secondary School, Catholic Junior College, National Junior College
Community partner: Southwest CDC, Hong Kah North CCMC

(c) Southeast District
Venue: Bedok Community Centre
Student volunteers: St Anthony Canossian, Temasek Junior College
Community partner: Southeast CDC, Bedok CCMC

(d) Northeast District
Venue: Damai Secondary School
Student volunteers: Damai Secondary School, Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic

“After the success of last year event co-organised with Punggol Community Club and Northeast CDC, we look forward to making 2009’s Earth Hour at the Heartlands even bigger, reaching out to more Singaporeans. We started our planning earlier, and we have a committed bunch of young enthusiastic people in our team who want to make a difference,” says Sean Ow, volunteer chairman of ECO Singapore’s Earth Hour @ Heartlands project team 2009.

Wilson Ang, president of ECO Singapore adds, “Climate change is now more just a movie or something we read about in the papers. It’s something happening right now, and it is likely to affect many generations to come if we don’t do something about it. Through Earth Hour and other ECO initiatives, we hope to reach out to more young Singaporeans, bring about a conscious change in mindset, and inculcate more environmentally-sustainable lifestyle choices.”

To pledge support and action for this cause, visit the Earth Hour @ the Heartlands website, www.earthhoursingapore.org, or join ECO’s Earth Hour Singapore Facebook Group.

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About Environmental Challenge Organisation (Singapore)
Environmental Challenge Organisation (Singapore), or ECO Singapore, is the leading non-governmental youth environmental social enterprise in Singapore promoting sustainable lifestyle choices.

Operational since 2005, ECO Singapore has established an active environmentally-oriented voluntary youth foundation, creating leadership opportunities for Singaporean youths at home and abroad, and instilling a sense of commitment and ownership in local and global environmental issues and solutions.

ECO Singapore challenges youths aged 17-35 to choose sustainable lifestyles and embrace environmental issues holistically. ECO Singapore actively drives and supports local and global environmental initiatives with support from other environmental stakeholders – such as the National Environment Agency, Public Utilities Board, the National Youth Council, local and international environmental groups

ECO Singapore Website – http://www.eco-singapore.org
ECO Singapore Facebook group - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6718125635
For a list of participating companies and organisations – www.earthhour.org/singapore

— volunteer coordinator

Earth Hour (Singapore) 2010

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Singapore Heartlands Unite for Earth Hour 2009