Earth Hour
ECO Singapore takes on the grassroots movement to coordinate this effort in 2008 to get as many Singaporeans as possible to start taking actions against climate change by participating in this global event.
A step-by-step blog was created for people who want to learn and ACTUALLY do something. It gives a complete guy whether you are an individual, working in a company/organisation or a school teacher.
Currently, there are about seven grassroots activities, ranging from stargazing to movie screening, organised by various stakeholders out of their own initiative. Members of the public can take the opportunity to attend these events!
The key grassroots activity was the "Earth Hour in the Heartlands", collectively organised by Montford Service Learning Club, North East Community Development Council, Punggol Community Club Youth Executive and Youth Challenge.
About 400 students came down earlier in the day to visit about 81 bocks, consisting of about 10,000 households, to share tips about how to conserve energy. They also invited the residents to a community dinner at the Punggol Community Centre.
The event ended with a countdown towards Earth Hour, followed by a family-oriented environmental film, "The Simpson Movie".
"ECO Singapore took a proactive role to coordinate the Earth Hour (Singapore) grassroots movement to kick start simple actions that individuals can do, regardless of the position they are in," said Wilson Ang, President of ECO Singapore. "We hope that by getting involved in such international initiatives, we would also show that we are all global citizens and we can play a role to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle."
This event also created a platform for youths to interact with the public meaningfully. This engagement and empowerment of the youth have been important milestones, both in organising and participating in Earth Hour.
"As the campaign co-ordinator, it has given us a greater exposure in project management and re-aligned our perspectives in global and local environment issues," said Kephren Ayanari, ECO Singapore Volunteer Co-ordinator for this movement. "This is a great opportunity to learn to work with multiple stakeholders and supports ECO Singapore's mission by engaging more youths to take the lead and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle."
