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Besides the main mission of promoting and raising awareness of the need to conserve and preserve the environment in order to save our mother Earth, Earthlink NTU is also interested in enhancing the relationship and communication between its members. On the morning of the 23rd of January, Saturday, a second subcommittee outing in academic year 15/16, was organized to fulfill that aim. It was a visit to Fort Canning Park, Singapore. Fort Canning Park is a site integrating nature and history, and was perfect for providing an opportunity for all Earthlinkers to experience the beauty of nature and get to know about some historical facts about it.

At 8.00a.m, participants gathered at the foyer for the School of Humanity and Social Sciences to mark their attendance. After each participant had been assigned to their respective groups, there was an ice-breaking session conducted to let all the participants mingle among themselves and to get familiarized with each other. At 9.45a.m, we boarded the buses and departed to the destination.The journey only took us approximately 45 minutes as there was no traffic congestion along the roads. We gathered at a field near the entrance and listened to the opening speech given by the Camp and Welfare Director. He talked about the purposes of the outing and told us some historical fun facts about the place. For instance, under the British Army, the fort served as the headquarters of the Singapore Base District until the spread of World War II into the Asia Pacific in 1941.

Immediately after that, the participants proceeded to have fun with our very first activity which was the station games. One example of the station games was the catapult construction competition. After we had been introduced about some types of cannons which were used back in 18th century and shown a catapult prototype built using rubber bands and ice cream sticks by the game masters, each team was tasked with building one themselves, which was subsequently used to lob an eraser into some cans stacked together. The team that hit the most cans wins the game.

There were a total of 5 station games awaiting the participants. However the plans did not go smoothly  after all the teams had finished playing about 2 station games, there came a heavy downpour which forced all of us to seek shelter and wait for the rain to stop. While waiting, we carried out some wet plans which could be done indoors. When the rain had finally stopped, we were behind schedule and was forced to cancel 2 station games.

Nevertheless, after we were done with lunch, we proceeded with the most important and fascinating activity of the day, which was the nature walk! The Nature guides led the participants in a walk around the Spice Gardens to learn about various species of flora planted there such as the peppermint plant, lime grass, pepper et cetera. The nature guides played their roles well and professionally in giving extra explanation and information about anything that interested the participants. Throughout the journey, it was pleasing to note that all Earthlinkers never forgot the rule of not plucking any plants.

Finally, the memorable subcommittee outing 2 was concluded with a closing speech and all participants then headed back to NTU by bus. I strongly believe that this journey had successfully bonded all the participants and raised essential environmental awareness among them.

Have you ever wondered where the bag of waste you dump into the chute goes to? It may disappear from our sight and minds, but the rubbish doesn t just go away. Many bags of waste are collected according to a centralised system, and then transported straight to incineration plants. Currently, Singapore has 4 commissioned incinerators  Senoko Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant, Keppel Seghers, and two in Tuas. On 8 January, Earthlink organised a site visit to the Senoko Waste-to-Energy plant as part of Earthlink s Waste Journey Trail. Participants were given an educational tour around the facility by a friendly plant operator, who also studied in NTU.

The Senoko WTE plant is located at the north, and serves the east side of Singapore. It processes the largest amount of waste daily. The waste may be sorted out for plastics which hinder the burning process, as well as flammable items. Waste is burnt so as to reduce its volume by up to 90%, after which the ash will be transported and landfilled at Semakau. Burning waste generates a fair amount of heat, which has to go somewhere (as we are all familiar with the law of energy conservation). In the plant, this heat is captured to generate steam, which is directed to turn a turbine to generate electricity; hence the name  Waste-to-Energy plant.

It may seem somewhat pointless to know about all this dirty, behind-the-scenes stuff; how many of us truly ponder about and appreciate the organised waste management system we have in Singapore? Having not lived in the past where rubbish lined the streets and rivers, how can we imagine what life was then without proper waste management? We all owe the people working on proper waste handling a big round of applause. Despite common perception, waste management is not a  dirty process  it is an organised system that maintains proper sanitation and techniques in handling the waste we all generate. The people working in incineration plants are not unfortunate people who are stuck with doing  dirty and smelly things  they are hard workers who help keep our country clean.

All the participants had varying levels of revelation as they learnt more about the back-end processes of waste management  the most significant of which was that our waste is not sorted through for recyclables before being incinerated. Metals are sieved out of the burnt ash via a huge electromagnet before landfilling, but items in perfect condition such as bedframes, mattresses, cupboards, and glass, are all burnt without distinction. This is a huge waste of useful resources that could have seen a new life outside of the incineration plant. The 60% recycling rate in Singapore comes mainly from the items put into the big blue bins near households.

Clearly, we cannot be ignorant and complacent, taking for granted that things will all be taken care of by someone. Knowing this, we can all do our part by sorting out the recyclables from our waste. Yet, it is not enough just to recycle items. Why do we think the 3R s are ordered by Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Recycling prevents a take-make-waste society, but reusing is inherently better than recycling as it excludes all the energy-intensive processes to make a downgraded product. Reduce is the most encouraging action we can take, since it eliminates all the wasted resources and problems down the road.

Ever wanted to know what were the dark shadows circling above you in the sky? How about the different butterflies often seen skittering around flower patches? The dragonflies (or damselflies) swiftly teleporting from one area to another? Or do you simply fancy taking a leisurely nature walk to relax after the stressful semester?

Earthlink organised a Biodiversity Audit Training Programme at the Jurong EcoGarden (JEG) to teach participants about how to identify and distinguish between different bird, butterfly, and dragonfly species found in the garden. It was held over two days: the first being a thorough educational lesson on some aspects of identification and morphology, plus a leisurely sightseeing stroll through the garden; the second being the actual audit of the biodiversity found there.

But first, did you know that there was a garden teeming full of life just right next to the NTU? The Jurong EcoGarden is located just beyond the perimeter of the campus, at the Cleantech One building. It is an easily accessible green space, a home for a wide variety of species, and a respite from our stressful student lives. This means that you can just go on and head there right now!

Anyhow, coming back onto topic, the general principles of bird, butterfly, and dragonfly and damselfly identification are size, shape, and colour. Armed with just this knowledge, one can already go trekking through a jungle and differentiate many species from one another.

Just by carefully looking at its size, we can distinguish the smaller tree sparrows from the Javan Myna we often see crowded around food places. For butterflies, the wingspan of the Common Birdwing are much larger than that of the tiny Grass Yellow. We can also tell apart a dragonfly from a damselfly by its abdomen. Damselflies have much longer and slender bodies, as well as closed wings when at rest.

The shape of a bird varies widely over different species. Tree Kingfishers have longer beaks, Sunbirds have hooked ones, and Zebra Doves have longer necks. Butterflies do not only have B-shaped wings; the Common Rose can be distinguished from the similar-coloured Common Mormon by its rounder forewings.

Colour plays a big role in setting apart species. The Oriole is a bird with a unique yellow plumage, the Crimson Sunbird has a red collar, while the Olive-backed Sunbird has, well, an olive back. No doubt one has admired butterflies for their beautiful colours and patterns. Streaks of white and green across a butterfly s wings suggest a Psyche, spots suggest a Leopard (the butterfly kind, not the animal), and the Bush Brown can be identified by its glaring eye spots on its forewings. Dragonflies and Damselflies also have beautiful distinguishing colours. The Common Parasol has a dark red body and wings, the Yellow Featherlegs has a yellow thorax, while the Blue Sprite has a blue thorax and a blue anal appendage.

Knowing the morphology, or names of the specific body parts, of birds for example, can help us to identify and describe their various unique features. Do look it up if you re interested!

Equipped with this knowledge, we were ready to go hunt down and identify all kinds of species we learnt about. It was a truly marvellous sight. Instead of simply walking past the amazing biodiversity flying all about us as we often do in our daily lives, everyone slowed down and took everything in  the sights, the sounds, the sunshine. The child in us couldn t keep still as we eagerly tried to spot all the birds, butterflies, and dragonflies. The photographer in us emerged at the ready, cameras in hand, focused on capturing moments of Nature s intrinsic beauty in permanent photographs. Ultimately, everyone enjoyed themselves.

– The more  scientific knowledge one has of the natural world, the more intelligible it becomes, and the more beautiful it appears (Allen Carson, Nature and Positive Aesthetic). This is a very true idea, one that resonates strongly with me  and I believe every participant as well  personally. Have you ever felt lost in green spaces? Not the kind of lost as in lost in the wondrous beauty of nature, but rather lost in ignorance of what s there. I don t think many of us can distinguish the bird calls from bird songs, or those of different birds, or even one bird species from another. No, not the  yellow butterfly , or the  spotty one , but the Common Grass Yellow, and the Peacock Pansy. No, dragonflies (or perhaps Damselflies actually) are not a nuisance, but rather an amazing insect with unique, vibrant colours. After the Biodiversity programme, I can say that everyone could actually see and really admire the natural life around them. A bridge was connected between our ignorant selves and the real beauty of Nature, allowing us to indulge in not only aesthetic pleasure, but also a profound sense of understanding and appreciation. Hence, I sincerely wish for everyone to go and learn about the biodiversity of Nature, and be truly amazed at what has always been around us.

With more than a thousand truckloads of waste generated every day, the Semakau landfill is projected to be filled in just 20 years time. The unsustainable increase in waste generated in Singapore has led to Clean and Green Singapore s (CGS)  No Waste Day Challenge . NTU had its own  No Waste Day advocacy campaign organised by Earthlink on 20 October. A booth was set up at the South Spine concourse for students to learn more about how they can reduce their waste. At the same time, mobile student ambassadors walked around the school to personally interact with students and enthuse to them about reducing waste. By getting them to write their commitments down on a pledge card, Earthlink hopes to inspire students into making little changes in their lifestyle to reduce their waste.

To help students take the first step in reducing food waste (by taking away leftover food), and/or reduce the use of one-time takeaway containers and Styrofoam packets, there were reusable containers sold at the booth. There was also a photo competition with weekly lucky draws where students would have to upload at least two pictures per week of them reducing waste. This would encourage students to take actual steps in their lives to reduce waste.

It does not take a big leap to reduce waste in one s daily lives. If only we just paused to think about what we put into the bin (or perhaps what we throw on the floor), we would find that the  rubbish we throw are not just  rubbish ; they are resources that are being wasted.

Think about what and how much we are putting into the bin every day. Are those plastics, paper, aluminium cans or grains of rice? All of these can actually be prevented from meeting their end in the landfill. Plastic, paper, and metals can be recycled to be given a new lease of life. Leftover food can be composted and give nutrients to soil and plants which need them. We can also reuse or repurpose some things we do not need to form useful things, or even artistic pieces.

But in the first place, why do we take all these extra things we do not need? Do we really need all the straws and plastic cups to enjoy our bubble tea? Do we really need to take away food using disposable containers? Do we really need all those plastic wrappers and excessive packaging that comes with a product? Do we really need to print our lecture slides one on each page? Do we really need to order so much food when we know we cannot finish it? If we think a little deeper, do we actually know where the things we throw away go to?

There are many things to be said and argued about our waste, but there is no need to delve too deep. As long as we are able and willing to commit to making small changes in our individual lifestyle, together, we can reduce a lot of unnecessary waste. Hopefully, Earthlink s efforts during No Waste Day was able to motivate students personally to adopt our motto:  If I change, the world changes .

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

In order to promote bonding between subcommittee members from different portfolios, as well as to provide an event where participants can relax and get to know new people, Earthlink has held its first Subcommittee Outing on the 10th of October. This weekend getaway was held at the largest mangrove reserve in Singapore, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve  which is home to a vast variety of animals such as mudskippers, migratory birds, and giant monitor lizards.

After everyone was gathered at the HSS foyer, participants were assigned to groups and asked to introduce themselves to their respective groups. While waiting for the buses, participants played icebreaking games and had their breakfast. The wetland reserve was just 30 minutes away by bus, and everyone arrived in high spirits. The event was kick-started by station games, interspersed with nature walks along the reserve.

As the Nature Guides assigned to each group talked about the flora and fauna they could identify, many were fascinated by the diverse wildlife that could be found in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Aside from common plants such as fishtail palms  which can be easily found in abundance in a mangrove environment, participants also spotted animals such as mudskippers, monitor lizards, and even a pair of hornbills! On the other hand, station games that are scheduled between nature walks allow participants to take breaks from walking, as well as encouraging participants to work together with group mates in order to perform well in the games. Through the games, the group members can know each other better, possibly forging new friendships.

By the time the nature walks and the station games were completed, noon had arrived. Hungry participants were treated with a simple but filling meal in the form of a picnic-lunch. After a hearty meal and some rest, the outing resumed with a Coastal Walk along the edges of the wetland reserve. By this time, the tides had receded, and participants were able to spot the more elusive horseshoe crabs and tree-climbing crabs in the mud. In fact, some participants were even able to catch a glimpse of an estuarine crocodile at the river mouth, before it silently dipped below the water surface again.

When everyone had reached the end of the Coastal Walk, it was already late afternoon. After a brief group-photo session, everyone boarded the buses for the journey back to NTU. Despite the outing being extremely tiring, everyone agreed that it was very fun. Many participants were particularly fond of the nature walks and the interesting flora and fauna that they encountered, as well as meeting people from portfolios outside their own. All in all, this was a very valuable experience for the organizers and participants alike.

In early 2015, Earthlink NTU conducted an experiment and survey to study NTU population’s recycling behaviour and knowledge on recycling. This effort was initiated by our 22nd Management Committee under the lead of our former president Mr Ruskin Ong, the Recycling Portfolio and the Education Portfolio. With the data collected during the study, an in-depth joint report by the mentioned two portfolio has been produced.

The Recycling Report 2015 includes an examination of and discussions on the recycling practices and various key factors that might influence it, the contamination rate of recycling bins and survey respondents recycling knowledge. The report is split into two parts, part A and part B, for easier understanding.

As seen in the report, the contamination rate of the recycling bins are relatively high, especially for the paper and plastic recycling bins, and the number of recyclables found in the general waste bins were very high as well. Besides this, it is also noted that many respondents do not recycle frequently, and while most respondents seem to have an understanding of commonly known facts, there are still some misunderstandings.

To know more about the rate of recycling in NTU, and recycling behaviour and knowledge of the NTU population, read our full report below:

The full report can also be viewed at ISSUU:
http://issuu.com/webmasterearthlink/docs/recycling_report_2015__149494_/1

From the 14th to 28th of June, a group of 24 enthusiastic students from Earthlink participated in Ecoventure 2015; Earthlink s very own annual youth overseas community involvement program. Led by Earthlink’s Events Executive Overseas (EEO) portfolio, the volunteers went on a 15-day expedition to Ban Phongsavanh, a rural village in Laos. This project is part of Earthlink s sustained effort to introduce renewable energy to different rural community schools in Laos which was started during last year s Ecoventure. Ecoventure 2014 saw the installation of a 3kW solar panel system in another part of Laos.

After arriving at Luang Prabang, the nearest city to the village via a flight from Changi International Airport, the team travelled to Ban Phongsavanh by boat. The village was located upstream from Luang Prabang and it took the team 4 hours to arrive. The objectives of the expedition were to promote environmental consciousness among the locals through educational lessons and improve the conditions of the village s school by providing sustainable solutions. Over the course of two weeks, the Ecoventure team installed electric lights and fans in five classrooms to create a more conductive environment for learning. Part of the purpose of Ecoventure 2015 is the installation of solar panel systems in these schools as they did not have access to the national electricity grid. The team installed a 2kW solar panel system, sponsored by YingLi Solar, to power the school. The installation process was completed quickly under the guidance of a technician from Rezeca Renewables, one of the partners who helped made this trip possible. In fact, most of the time were spent laying underground electrical wirings between the various blocks of classrooms.

In addition, the Ecoventure team conducted English, Science, and Environment classes for the local children. All of the classes were conducted in English as some of the children had some basic level of understanding of English. Despite this language barrier, the children were fascinated by the lessons and were enthusiastic as the classroom had a good amount of attendees who turned up. Besides the lessons, the team also conducted a Sports Day where members of the team participated in various sport games with the local kids, and needless to say, everyone had fun during the session.

Throughout the entire expedition, the participants stayed at the village for eleven days while the rest were spent in Luang Prabang to restock supplies. The experience of staying over at the village granted participants plenty of opportunities to interact with the locals. The slow-paced cultured atmosphere provided a pleasant contrast to the busy city lifestyle that most of the members were used to. Moreover, the locals were friendly and approachable. Although most of the locals were shy initially, they quickly warmed up to the team. By the time when the team was about to return to Singapore, many members of the team were reluctant to leave as they had forged not just good relationships but also memories.

This trip had given the participants an opportunity to experience the opposite aspect of urban lifestyle. Despite the team s requirement to eat their dinner and having sharing sessions in complete darkness before solar panels were installed, the joy expressed when the first light was turned on was overwhelming. Suffice to say, the expedition was an exciting and rewarding getaway for the volunteers.

Earthlink would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the kind sponsorship from City Developments Limited and PacificLight Power Ptd Ltd, and support from Yingli Solar, Rezeca Renewables and YMCA (Singapore). Without any of these partners, the trip would not have been a success.

This community program was also featured in the facebook page of Singapore Embassy in Vientiane.

Earthlink NTU hosted a group of high school students from Macau on the 31st of July. As part of their journey to learn about sustainable development in Singapore, they visited NTU to find out more about the efforts taken by the university in promoting such efforts.

The efforts and plans of Earthlink in the past few years were presented to these students. Examples included events such as Ditch Da Disposable (DDD) by the Campaign Management (CM) portfolio, Keep Them E-Live by Recycling portfolio, Ecoventure by Events Executive Overseas (EEO) portfolio and AREaS Case Challenge by Education portfolio.

Mr Ryan Jin from ERI@N was also invited to share about the EcoCampus initiative in NTU. He spoke of the various green features which were consolidated into the design of NTU s structures. Some of these structures are The Hive and the new Halls of Residence. In addition, Mr Jin introduced the Powerz Mobile App, which saw high participation rate by NTU students, its features and purpose in reducing energy consumption on campus. Besides, the students were given the opportunity to try the app via the phones provided by our members.

After which, we had a tour around the campus by bus and visited the new building in NTU: The Hive. Mr Tong from the Office of Development & Facilities Management (ODFM) gave a presentation on the building and its key environmental features such as the use of natural lighting in teaching classrooms to reduce the dependency on electrical lightings, the passive displacement system which circulates cool air by convection and cools down the heated air with a single unit of cooling tube. In addition, The Hive was designed based on the prevailing wind direction of Singapore to enable the capture of wind throughout the entire year in order to reduce the requirement of fans to cool the building down.

Finally, we took a group photo at The Hive. It was an interactive session for both sides; while we learned about the culture and environment of Macau, they learned more about sustainability efforts on campus in NTU and the efforts of Earthlink in the environmental field.

Today, mankind faces many environmental challenges, including global warming and the gradual depletion of fossil fuels. In the short term, each of us can contribute in dealing with these challenges by practicing the 3Rs  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle  which help to reduce waste.

Twice a year, at the end of each semester, Earthlink NTU conducts Recycling Drives to promote the crucial practice of recycling, one of the 3Rs. Generally, the objective is to both raise awareness among NTU students regarding the practice of recycling as well as fostering the habit of recycling things instead of throwing them away. The Recycling Drives are conducted at the end of semesters to help students properly dispose of no-longer-wanted papers and notes after the exam period, as well as clear out other unwanted things when vacating their rooms (after the 2nd Semester each year).

From before the exam period to May 11, a total of 13 large green recycling bins were positioned at strategic locations around NTU, for hall residents to deposit their recyclable items. The types of items sought included paper, plastic bottles, glass containers, metal cans and unwanted clothing (clean and dry items only).

Earthlink also carried out door-to-door collections of the relevant recyclable items at NTU s halls of residence on 9th May, from 11am to 4pm. Aside from on-the-spot collection, visiting the hall residents also provided the opportunity to remind them of the presence of the large green bins that had been placed around NTU where they could deposit their recyclable items. It was heartening to note that many of the bins were well-filled, indicating good response levels for the Recycling Drive.

All in all, Earthlink managed to collect an impressive 1.8 tonnes (1 tonne = 1000kg) of recyclable materials through the Recycling Drive. The collected materials were handed over to 800 Super, a local company which provides waste management and recycling services, to be processed (sorting and recycling). 800 Super was also the provider of the large green bins used for the month-long collection of recyclable materials.

We hope that NTU students will continue to participate enthusiastically in Earthlink s future Recycling Drives and also do their part for the environment in other avenues.

Earthlink NTU had its second edition of Greening NTU this year on 9th and 10th of March. Continuing from 2014, the theme for this year s campaign is Ditch Da Disposables. It is to encourage the students of NTU to reduce the usage of plastic bags, takeaway containers, paper cups and other non-biodegradable materials.

Held at Concourse, South Spine, the main highlight of the campaign is a story tunnel depicting the life and journey of Frankie the disposable fork. The team of organisers meticulously planned and set up the tunnel. Student ambassadors led the participants through the tunnel while playing the role as Frankie. The images in the tunnel showed the life cycle of a disposable fork, particularly from the production factory to places such as canteen, dining table or dustbin, and finally into a landfill. In progressing through the tunnel, participants realized that the life of Frankie is brief, but requires a considerable amount of energy and economic resources to produce. Furthermore, it induced the participants to think whether is it necessary to pour so much effort into manufacturing a product that only can be use once. After passing through the tunnel, the participants completed a short survey and many had intention to reduce the use of disposable products in their daily life.

Besides that, a photo competition was also held. To participate in the competition, participants were asked to talk about the green acts they had done, for instance bringing their own container for takeaway or not using air-conditioner. The pictures were taken and uploaded to Earthlink s Facebook page. By utilizing the power of social media, Earthlink was able to highlight that small actions by individuals can lead to significant positive impacts on the environment collectively.

The event organisers also conducted a mini game booth, which also entitled the participants to enter the lucky draw. The game was simple and easily understandable. It aim is to educate the participants about the wasteful nature of disposables and the durable trait of reusable items. Participants were given a handful of recyclable and non-recyclable items. Their main target was to place them in the correct places. Besides that, the team of organisers were able to gain support from on-campus retailers to carry out a two-week stamp collection programme. Whenever the cardholder refuses a plastic bag upon purchase, one can obtain a stamp. If one collected five stamps, Earthlink will present a mystery gift to the respective cardholder.

Overall, the event garnered positive reviews from the public, especially the story tunnel. It was very interactive and much more engaging compared to past campaigns that used conventional information boards. Student ambassadors also played an important role by actively engaging the 140 people participating in the campaign. For example, they guided the participants through the tunnel while interactively narrating the life cycle of Frankie. Other than that, they were also tasked to convey the main message of the campaign and explain the stamp collection programme.

Special thanks to the event sponsors, namely PUB, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Lakerol, Honsei Coffee and iGave for their generosity and support towards this campaign.