Award Category

Award Recipient

Private Sector

Ms Farah Sanwari
Executive Director
Sustainable Living Lab

With the goal of changing consumer mindset to consume less, Ms Farah Sanwari co-initiated Repair Kopitiam, a community project aimed at promoting a repair culture, in 2014. The initiative offers repair services by repair coaches, who are volunteers trained by Sustainable Living Lab to repair basic items. The repair coaches involve their “patrons” in the process as much as possible, passing on the joy and satisfaction experienced from restoring the items to them. To date, more than 300 volunteers have been trained to run the programme and conducted more than 130 workshops, with more than 60 items repaired at each workshop. Repair Kopitiam is held monthly in heartland areas such as Ang Mo Kio, Jurong West and Tampines. As part of the Eco Kepalas @ South East Schools programme, which aims to groom students to become Eco Kepalas, or environmental champions, Ms Farah conducts workshops which impart Design Thinking, a critical thinking process that teaches youths to understand the issues at hand, challenge assumptions and redefine problems to arrive at alternative solutions, thereby identifying gaps on the environmental front and innovating relevant strategies. Ms Farah also co-founded FiTree, a Muslim environmental group that aims to inspire Muslims to be true khalifah fil ardh, or Stewards of the Earth. She spearheaded the Green Iftar, a campaign promoting the adoption of eco-friendly iftar, or breaking of fast, practices by mosque congregations during the Ramadan month, such as using recyclable or reusable crockery and utensils.

Mr Sylvain Richer de Forges
Founder/Consultant
BlueStrike

As the Sustainability Director of the Siloso Beach Resort, Mr Richer de Forges actively looked for ways to advance environmental sustainability alongside business interests. He analysed and improved infrastructure systems efficiency, resulting in a reduction in electrical and water consumption that is 40 per cent lower than the BCA Green Mark Platinum Rating. Siloso Beach Resort was also a recipient of the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards in 2017, President’s Award for the Environment in 2013 and ASEAN Business Awards in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Category in 2012. Mr Richer de Forges provides sustainability advisory services to large corporations under the Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS). As a member of the National Climate Change Committee from 2009 to 2011 and a representative of the Singapore Environment Council, he also provided recommendations in governing the parameters of environmentally-friendly industrial and consumer products. He has produced analytical articles on various sustainability topics, as well as books such as ‘Climate Change: A Silent Threat’ and ‘The Diversity of Life on Earth: From Heritage to Extinction’.

Public Sector
(includes teaching and non-teaching staff in tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics, and ITE colleges)

Ms Amy Ho
Director, Office of Environmental Sustainability
National University of Singapore

Ms Amy Ho hopes to pass on her green lifestyle to her students through sustainABLE NUS (I am ABLE!), a holistic campaign that aims to raise awareness, prompt action, and empower the student body to achieve a sustainable campus. By working with more than 40 partners, Ms Ho and her team introduced various seminars and workshops for the student body, such as the Aviva Digital Garage Operation Lifehack 2.0 – The Sustainability Edition. Organised in 2018, the hackathon brought students together in solving a problem statement in relation to three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Office also organised a series of activities to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change during the NUS Climate Action Month in March 2018. Ms Ho guided several student-led initiatives including the implementation of an “eco-tax” of 10 cents per plastic bag in NUS canteens and bookstores, as well as BYO projects mooted by the student group Students Against Violation of the Earth (SAVE). Ms Ho oversees the environmental activities organised by various student environmental groups, which has doubled to almost 20 in the last seven years. She has also been instrumental in the development of the NUS Sustainability Strategic Plan 2017-2020, which steers all campus-wide sustainability efforts. Ms Ho actively engages the various steering committees, external agencies, internal partners, staff and students to fill the gaps in identified areas and set sustainable targets to be achieved by 2020, such as improving energy and water efficiency indices by 20 per cent and increasing the green space areas in buildings on campus to 45,000 m².

Non-Government Organisations & Grassroots Volunteers

Mdm Lalithama Nair
Chairperson
Woodlands Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) Environmental Committee

For the past 15 years, Mdm Lalitha has conducted recycling craft and DIY sessions for housewives, kitchen waste management workshops for parent support groups, as well as tree-planting and gardening programmes for schools and residents. She also conducts Kids GROW (Gratitude, Respect, Ownership, and Wisdom) to instill these values in pre-schoolers through garden-based lessons. She initiated the Nurture Nature event in 2010 to promote green living among residents through talks, workshops and demonstrations, and trained student volunteers from Evergreen Secondary School to lead some of the activities for the event. She was also instrumental in the setup of various community gardens in Singapore, and participated in the Singapore Garden Festival every year since 2012 to educate the public on green gardening techniques. With her appointment as Chairperson of the Woodlands Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) Environmental Committee, Mdm Lalitha has led her team to carry out several projects such as the installation of e-waste recycling bins and upcycling of old e-waste items.

Ms Pek Hai Lin
Manager
Zero Waste Singapore

Ms Pek Hai Lin first started the BYO Singapore movement in 2017 to encourage retailers to provide incentives to consumers who bring their own reusable bags, bottles or containers. In light of its positive response, Ms Pek subsequently developed the BYO Rating, a system to assess F&B retailers’ efforts in reducing plastic disposables, and introduced the BYO movement to schools to educate students on issues of plastic pollution and marine litter, as well as companies to encourage employees to stop using plastic disposables in their pantries. To date, BYO Singapore has reached out to about 5,000 people, and reduced the use of more than 2.6 million pieces of disposable items. Prior to the BYO Singapore movement, Ms Pek co-founded Project.R, a zero waste lifestyle online store offering green lifestyle products, with all proceeds going to Zero Waste Singapore. The initiative has aided in the reception of consumers towards reducing the use of disposables. Ms Pek has also been leading her team in the second phase of the ‘Food Waste, Don’t Waste!’ campaign since March 2019, a pilot project conducted at Tampines Greenlace HDB estate to encourage residents to segregate and dispose of food waste in dedicated food waste bins. Ms Pek and her team conducted door-to-door outreach, learning tours and engagement activities.

Educational Institutions
(includes environmental education advisors, principals, teachers and staff)

Ms Eugenie Yeoh
Teacher
Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School

As part of the Greening Kuo Chuan Committee, Ms Yeoh orchestrated the Applied Learning Programme – Project Work (ALP-PW), which saw students putting up environment-related performances and presentations, and conducting activities during recess time to engage others on environmental issues. Students of each level explore a different environmental theme each year, and put up corresponding performances as part of community outreach efforts. In 2016, Ms Yeoh and her committee created the Green Ambassadors group to provide students an alternative platform to lead their green initiatives, such as the food waste reduction project including the purchase of two food composters, and the Tetra Pak recycling programme. Recognising the importance of environmental education since young, Ms Yeoh has mentored many projects showcased on national platforms such as the Environment Challenge for Schools, Senoko Sustainability Challenge and Sembcorp Green Wave Competition

Mr Tan Guan Rui, Jacob
Senior Teacher (Biology)
Commonwealth Secondary School

In overseeing the Environmental Education programme at Commonwealth Secondary School, Mr Tan led the school-wide plastic reduction campaign by enforcing a ban on disposable straws, cups, lids, stirrers and takeaway containers in the school canteen and cafeteria, as well as the cessation of sale of bottled water by July 2019. Mr Tan also started the Ecobricking movement to convert plastic waste into reusable building blocks known as ecobricks, which can be used to make modular furniture, garden spaces and full-scale buildings and houses. He also led the school’s Eco Club, partnered the National University of Singapore and National Parks Board on a series of initiatives contributing to a 15-month research work on marine litter in Singapore, and started the school’s Biodiversity newsletter to raise awareness of the flora and fauna, and green initiatives in school. Mr Tan has also led efforts in the evolution of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) elective to a multi-disciplinary module which focuses on Nature Conservation, Food Security, Water Resources and Clean Energy.

Mr Tan Siong Leong
Year Head (Upper Secondary)
Woodgrove Secondary School

As the overall-in-charge for the Environmental Education (EE) committee, Mr Tan launched the EE week to heighten students’ awareness of various environmental issues through different activities such as assembly talks and quizzes, and implemented the school’s inaugural water rationing exercise in 2016. He also initiated a learning journey for the EE Committee and School Management Committee to PacificLight Power Plant in 2019, to understand the various science and mathematics concepts and to teach them better in class. He constantly pursues collaborations with various government and corporate organisations to carry out public outreach projects, such as Refresh! (Let’s Go Green) @ Causeway Point to encourage members of the public to lead a water-saving lifestyle. Mr Tan also organised the Green Outreach Project in collaboration with NEA and SembWaste, for students of graduating classes to conduct door-to-door outreach within the school vicinity. The 2019 drive saw 1,900 kg of paper and 522 kg of clothing being collected for recycling. Mr Tan was also a key contributor of the school’s Environmental Policy implemented in 2016, and spearheaded the Economy Drive (ED – Go Green) project and a food waste recycling trial project.

Youth & Students
(includes members of youth groups, youths in tertiary institutions and JCs, secondary and primary school students)

Mr Muhammad Faaiz B Faris
President, Environment Club
ITE College East

Rising to the challenge of the President of the Environment Club, Mr Faaiz led his committee in various green efforts such as the Clean & Green project where students cleaned up the neighbourhood around the campus and collected close to 100 kg and 700 kg of trash and recyclables respectively. He also headed a team of 12 ‘Bridge Warriors’ to conduct weekly cleaning of overhead bridges, bus stops and walkways around the campus. In a bid to minimise food waste, Mr Faaiz initiated the Food Treasure project in 2018, running donation drives to collect excess or unwanted non-perishable food items from staff and students, and selling them below retail prices at monthly bazaars. All proceeds go to the school’s financial assistance schemes. Mr Faaiz and his team also clinched ‘The Best Award’ at the 3^rd International Convention on Vocational Student’s Innovation project in August 2018. They presented a self-regulating water sprinkler system programmed to gauge soil humidity levels and will be activated only on non-rainfall days, hence saving up to 50 per cent of the water used for watering.

Ms Yasmin Sim Su Hui
President, Business and Accountancy (BA) Green Club
Ngee Ann Polytechnic

As the President of the Business and Accountancy (BA) Green Club since 2017, Ms Sim recruited like-minded peers, redefined the Club’s vision with the creation of the tagline ‘Sustainability in Business’, and redesigned the Club’s logo. Ms Sim and her committee reached out to over 300 students through various activities such as annual beach clean-ups and upcycling workshops, in a bid to inspire them to rise as eco-entrepreneurs in their respective companies and help nurture eco-conscious consumers. The BA Green Club devised the ‘Escape Room’ project in 2018 to raise awareness of environmental conservation and promote the 3Rs by using recyclables for most of the game props. She has also organised corporate visits to Siloso Beach Resort and Marina Bay Sands to learn about their best practices in environmental sustainability. During her internship stint in 2018, she implemented several green practices in the company cafeteria, including the installation of a green wall to reduce room temperature, and the replacement of disposable cutlery with non-disposable ones.

S/N

Partners

Description

Conservation International

Aims to empower the community to protect local biodiversity, natural ecosystems and heritage of all Singaporeans through individual and collective action.

Conservation International showcased elements of their environmental education programme such as card games on plastic pollution and climate change to raise awareness of these topics and encourage a responsible lifestyle. A video on adopting habits to reduce waste and Conservation International’s award-winning ‘Nature is Speaking’ films that highlight the value of nature in the fight against climate change, were also featured.

National University of Singapore

Committed to protecting the environment and incorporating sustainability in all aspects of campus life – from operations, planning, construction, research, education, and instruction to public service.

The National University of Singapore showcased best practices on campus that endeavour to promote climate awareness and action, as well as waste minimisation and recycling – which are in support of the nation-wide initiatives of the Year of Climate Action and Year Towards Zero Waste respectively. Amongst the activities shared are Planting 10,000 Trees and the Students’ Against Violation of the Earth’s plastic bag tax and reusable bag library.

NEA Volunteer Booth

Promotes participation in NEA programmes in the Year Towards Zero Waste, with focus on the three key waste streams – packaging waste, food waste and e-waste.

Volunteers from NEA’s Volunteer Group shared about their volunteer programme ‘Volunteer with us’ and Year Towards Zero Waste initiatives.

Plastic-Lite Singapore

Aims to inspire and encourage Singaporeans to lead a lifestyle where usage of plastics is minimised, by promoting simple and effective initiatives such as bringing their own shopping bags and reusable bottles.

Plastic-Lite Singapore showcased Bounce Bags, a bag-sharing platform for members of the public, and how it came about, as well as the goals, challenges and milestones so far.

Public Hygiene Council

Leads the Keep Singapore Clean Movement and aims to create a culture where everyone is expected to dispose of trash correctly and clean up after themselves as an act of graciousness and consideration.

The Public Hygiene Council showcased their new initiative ‘R.I.S.E’ which stands for Reach, Inspire, Synergise and Empower. The R.I.S.E Champions Network is a coalition of like-minded groups with a shared purpose to progress the cause of keeping Singapore clean and beautiful through various activities.

Swapaholic

Empowers consumers to declutter and refresh their closet withoutcompromise to their fashion, wallet or our planet.

Swapaholic is a partner of NEA's Say YES to Waste Less campaign and a member of the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE). Swapaholic provided promotions for their upcoming SWAPATHON, shared key highlights of their past swap parties and conducted a mini quiz for participants to better understand the concept ofsustainable fashion.

World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature

Aims to protect Singapore’s essential needs through the actions of individuals, businesses and governments in the region.

The World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature shared about sustainable consumption and the actions that individuals can take to reduce food waste, as well as more information on PACT (Plastic ACTion), a voluntary business initiative to eliminate plastic pollution in nature and work towards a circular economy on plastics where no materials are wasted.

Zero Waste Singapore

Aims to promote education and engagement on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) among individuals and households, with focus on four key areas of waste – food waste, plastic disposables, household recycling and organisational waste.

Zero Waste Singapore promoted its BYO Singapore movement and educated members of the public on the need to reduce the use of plastic disposables.

Zero Waste Singapore also featured their Bring Your Own Bag campaign, where they worked with supermarkets to remind members of the public to bring their own bags in order to reduce the excessive usage of plastic bags. Supported by NEA, the campaign involved a slew of activities such as roadshows at supermarkets and outreach via social media.