Our Reflection

As responsible global citizens, we are aware of the environmental degradation that has already crippled the roots of our society and is currently posing one of the largest threats to mankind as we develop and modernize. Especially in the Singaporean society, as we are one of the most globalized and integrated countries worldwide, we are greatly affected by any challenges the world faces, including climate change. Hence, in order to save the Earth and as such save ourselves from the impending threat, it is essential that we manage resources wisely, especially if they’re non-renewable.

Such non-renewable energy sources include fossil fuels, currently internationally well-known for the easy harnessing of energy from them. However, fossil fuels are naturally made on Earth in a process that takes up many thousands of years, and at the rate we are using them, the Earth is never able to replace these sources on time to meet the world’s energy requirements. Therefore, there is a need to conserve such sources, to make sure that they can last for as long as they can, and are not wasted unnecessarily. In our daily life, fossil fuels provide energy to power our home; everyday appliances such as the television, the lighting, the refrigerator, all these require electricity which are generated from fossil fuels. Making sure that such appliances do not unnecessarily consume energy freely will go a long way to ensuring that the fossil fuels needed to generate the energy will not go to waste. Small things such as switching them off immediately after use, or even making full use of the time during which they’re switched on, will contribute a portion, nevertheless how small, towards saving Mother Earth.  Whatever we do has a direct and definite impact on the lifespan of the fossil fuels sources, and as responsible global citizens, we will ensure that they will go to waste through monitoring our daily activities.

However, saving the environment is not an individual’s work. It requires the cooperation of the entire society to combat a problem that encumbers that entire society. Even though the actions of every individual may be relatively insignificant, however when you have an entire mass of people making an effort not to waste electricity, to reduce, reuse and recycle, then you have a very strong argument as to how much the people of Earth are indeed contributing to its survival. Hence, it is important that we must encourage community ownership and participation in building a clean, green, and resource-efficient country. Taking small step such as reminding one’s classmates of useful energy saving tactics that they might have disregarded or even taking the initiative to launch a campaign to promote events like Earth Hour will remind a lot of people about the prudence of conserving energy and may even inspire some people to do the same, essentially starting a chain of influence that will result in the entire society working as one and encouraging one another to make more environmentally responsible choices in the way they live, work, play and commute.

Lastly, one might argue that modernization is a double-edged sword in that even as we develop, more and more amounts of fossil fuels are needed to be used to support the increasingly resource-intensive lifestyle of most people today. However, this can be instead use to our own advantage in that new technology can be developed to overcome our resource constraints. Examples of such are the research in alternative and renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric power and wind energy. We have a personal interest in such areas of science, and as students of NUS High School, we have the optimal resources and ability to launch ourselves into such research, and in doing so we can better gain knowledge in the area, share them with other similar-minded people and maybe even develop new technology to improve existing alternative energy sources. We hope many of our fellow youth can adopt the same mindset and if need be, we would encourage them. The combination of cooperation, prudence and knowledge will aid our society as it faces the challenge of climate change.

Audit Cards

Ali's

Joel's

Rahman's

Wilson's

These are our audit cards. It does show that we are more wary of the need to save the environment as the days goes by. 

Our Carbon Footprints

Joel -
7 April : 7.83 tonnes per year
21 April : 6.67 tonnes per year

Wilson -
7 April : 7.1 tonnes per year
21 April : 7.03 tonnes per year

Ali - 
7 April : 8.97 tonnes per year
21 April : 7.86 tonnes per year

Rahman - 
7 April : 6.69 tonnes per year
21 April : 3.65 tonnes per year

Joel's Reflection

In this month I have realised the importance of saving our environment, as well as the impacts of global warming on us. If our carbon footprint remains this high, soon our Earth will face too much climate change, and Earth will become inhabitable. Thus, I changed my habits and strived to reduce my carbon footprint.

For example, I take the MRT to school daily instead of taking a car. As I live roughly 20 kilometers away from my school, I require to catch the first train, and thus I have to wake up at 5 am every day. Though this can be tiring and inconvenient, it helps save our environment. If everyone plays their part and strives to minimize their carbon footprint regardless of inconvenience caused, we will be able to live in a sustainable Earth.

Another example is recycling. I recycle most of my waste, such as glass bottles, tin cans, and paper. Although I have to walk quite a distance to the nearest recycling bins, I still play a part in saving our environment. If no one were to take initiatives like this, we would rapidly lose our habitable Earth and be unable to live anymore. Is one moment of convenience or mankind’s future more important to us?

Everyone should do their best to help save our environment, and help keep our one and only Earth habitable.

Wilson's Reflection - Thinking of Mother Earth while 'mugging'

Exams are coming, and I am preparing notes. Funnily enough, I think of all the ‘conserving the environment’ actions that I do every day as I am preparing them.

I personally like to pen down all my school notes and study notes on paper, or type them out and print them. My mother keeps a set of papers that have only been utilize on one side, and we consider as a family that to be a waste if we just directly disposed them without utilizing them fully. All my notes are written or printed out on the reversed blank side of used papers, and that has been a habit, I thank my parents, which has cultivated in me since Primary school.

Another common energy-saving technique I employ in my daily life, thanks to my mom for screaming at me in my youth if I didn’t, is to immediately switch off all appliances after use.. This is not so much a technique as a mindset though. To other people who have a habit of forgetting such thing, I recommend pasting a post-it note over the exact switch as a reminder. It is more or less a foolproof method; I speak from experience.

NTUC has a Bring Your Own Bag campaign in that whenever a customer brings his or her own bag to carry their purchases home instead of NTUC having to provide resource-intensive plastic bags, NTUC will discounted them 10 cents off the final purchase. I can safely say that I have saved at least twenty dollars so far as a result. Hooray! (The kiasu Singaporean strikes again)Reusing bags has been a policy of my family since like forever and I strictly cohere to not accepting plastic bags whenever possible, for example the carriers the bubble tea shops (KOI!) provide or the small plastic bags used for small, portable objects. 

As I end my blog entry, I hope that all of you out there that have read this can seriously consider using them in your lives, not only does it conserve the environment; it helps cut down your monthly energy bill.  If already are, well done. Keep it up, and let us Singaporeans unite as one to combat global warming!

Rahman's Reflection - Importance of Recycling

I think everyone has an important role in reducing the carbon footprint. In the 21st century, there are many innovations that can help us to reduce the carbon footprint. For instance, many kitchen appliances now are much more energy efficient, minimizing the usage of electricity. Nowadays, vehicles have also become more fuel efficient. Some even run on electricity to minimize the byproducts of using petrol as fuel. I respect those scientists working very hard to create energy saving products.

In my daily life, I try very hard to recycle and minimize wasting of electricity. For instance, I try to recycle my notes that are not needed. I do sort out the rubbish sometimes. I am also making an effort to tell my family members to be energy efficient in their daily work too. My parents bought an electric dryer a few months back due to the continuous rain. I tried telling them to sun dry the clothes sometimes if the weather allowed but then they still preferred the electric dryer since it dries the clothes much faster.

I do realize that Singapore is putting a lot of effort in maintaining the environment through my IH lessons too. They are promoting recycling through various activities and contests. I have come across one which trades recycled materials with everyday home needs such as rice and sugar. I think that is very effective as it encourages people to compete as well as to recycle. Another which I heard of is playing games with recycled materials, such as using tin cans as balls and plastic bags as the basket. These games may seem attractive to the younger generations so such activities can help teach the younger people how to recycle.

Ali's Reflection - Changing lifestyles

I tried to lower my consumptions this month. I started to take vehicles less and started to walk more. If I had to travel by car, it would always be with my family so the cost is more worth for. Travelling is always a problem for me as I have to travel a large distance to school but at least I do not take a car to school but rather take public transport like bus and MRT. This way my carbon footprint is lower. I try to reduce wastages when I eat and I try to only take as much as I need. I make an effort to recycle used paper and I try to use both sides of the paper. It is much wiser to use as much of your resources than just throwing it away. I feel that this lifestyle change will benefit me in the long run to reduce my carbon footprint and not make such a big impact on the environment. This is a good effort to try and make people aware of what they are doing daily and try to get the people to try and reduce wastages in their lives. This shows how much of a difference just remembering to turn off your lights makes.