South West CDC residents go green with campaign to reduce energy consumption
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 January 2007 1635 hrs

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SINGAPORE: It pays to go green - that's the message the South West Community Development Council (CDC) wants to get across to residents, with it's Cool South West! programme.

With the help of the National Environment Agency, it wants to get residents to see that it makes perfect dollar sense to cut down on energy consumption.

They came in droves, some as early as 7 in the morning, and all of them armed and ready - all part of a recycling scheme which allows residents of South West CDC to exchange their unwanted goods for groceries.

It has been a hit among the 11 participating constituencies, and old clothing, newspapers, and even electronic goods are among the most common items they bring.

This year, 28 tons of clothing and 36 tons of paper have been collected, and more keep coming in.

South West CDC is pushing its green revolution in a big way, with regular events to remind residents that recycling can be interesting - like turning pulp into paper, and plastic bags into colourful decorations.

This year, there're also new programmes to get residents to conserve electricity at home, such as switching off electrical appliances at the mains when they're not being used, and using energy-saving lightbulbs.

Madam Asiah's family pays an average of $200 a month on electricity alone, but with the energy-saving lightbulbs, she can expect the bill to drop by 80 percent.

Organisers also want to encourage households to keep air-condition levels at 25 degrees celsius.

The NEA says that assuming an average household air-con unit is switched on 8 hours a day, simply raising the temperature from 24 degrees to 25 degrees celsius can save up to 470kg of carbon dioxide each year, and $170 on their annual utility bill.

"We are actually promoting awareness that by doing this really it's not just about climate change, just about mitigating climate change, but there are real practical benefits, that is saving electricity and therefore saving electricity bills," said Dr Amy Khor, MP, Hong Kah GRC. - CNA /dt