Over 700 suggestions received on building eco-friendly Singapore
By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 August 2008 1839 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The government has received over 700 suggestions in less than a month on how to create a more eco-friendly Singapore.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development launched a website on July 29 to gather feedback from the public.

For Lee Swee Mein, he is hoping that the government can heighten the profile of a website that he founded to a national level. Called YouSwop, it allows people to exchange unwanted items such as shoes, clothes and books with one another via the website.

Mr Lee, a business development manager, said: "I have a swop corner, it's actually a corner where I keep my unwanted and unused things, and exchange them for something that I need when the opportunity arises.

"I hope that one day, all Singaporeans will adopt this culture and save the environment by exchanging their unwanted items, instead of throwing them away. By swopping an item with someone who needs it, we are in fact reusing the item."

Another suggestion from the public is to get rid of plastic packaging when selling items like cooking oil, so as to promote the use of refillable packs or bottles.

Arthur Yap, a logistics deputy manager, said: "To save the environment, we can have refillable packs for all the consumable liquids... Instead of buying a container of shampoo, we bring our own container and then they can fill it in for us. That way, we save on logistics cost, we save on containers, we save on plastics, and it's a much more sustainable idea.

"We used to do this a long, long time ago when my parents went to the provision shop with a tin to buy kerosene or to buy rice, and I think it could make a comeback and we could really use much less materials for our daily needs."

Various government ministries are now studying the feedback that they have received on the website. At the end of the year, some of the suggestions will be revealed at a public forum for discussion.


- CNA/so