Clean & Green Singapore Carnival calls for everyone to embrace environmentally friendly habits as a way of life

Singapore, 5 November 2016 – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the Clean & Green Singapore (CGS) Carnival at the North West District today. Held this weekend at the open field opposite Khatib MRT station, several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and community groups showcased their environmental programmes at the annual Carnival, and called on visitors to begin adopting environmentally friendly habits and making them a way of life.

2          The theme for this year’s CGS is “Caring for Our Environment Together”, which aims to enable government agencies, NGOs and community groups to engage the community and inspire everyone to participate and contribute towards a Liveable and Sustainable Singapore. An Active and Gracious Community begins with each individual taking small steps to show care for the environment. Through CGS this year, local community groups and NGOs will be able to promote localised activities that residents can participate in, hence giving them opportunities to link up with different environmental groups.

3          This year, CGS aims to bring to life the five pillars of the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB), and how people can contribute to a sustainable Singapore. The exhibition focuses on SSB’s five pillars – with the ‘An Active and Gracious Community’ pillar underpinning all the other four pillars. The five pillars, led by the respective government agencies, are as follows:

1. An Active and Gracious Community by all government agencies;
2. Eco-Smart Endearing Towns by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), National Parks (NParks), and PUB, the national water agency (PUB);
3. A Car-Lite Singapore by the Land Transport Authority (LTA);
4. A Leading Green Economy by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), and Economic Development Board (EDB); and
5. Towards A Zero Waste Nation by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

4          Through the exhibits, visitors can learn more about the environmental activities and efforts of the community, and play an active role in achieving a liveable and sustainable Singapore, where caring for the environment is second nature to us. With limited land and water resources in Singapore, it is critical that every individual takes active steps to practise sustainable habits by changing the way we live, using our resources wisely and consuming less so that we can enjoy a better quality of life. With a growing ground-up movement, every individual’s actions will go towards forming part of our Singapore identity – An Active and Gracious Community that is aware of environmental issues and takes active steps to show care for the environment.

5          Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) said, “The revamp of CGS this year is timely and relevant as we continue in our journey to meet the SSB 2015 targets and objectives. We have done much over the past 50 years to create a clean and liveable environment. But we need to further our mission to build a collective culture that is attentive to environmental issues, and where every individual takes active steps to show care for our environment. More importantly, sustainable living needs to be part of the Singapore DNA. Let us continue to do more to care for the environment and preserve it for our future generations.”

Tree Planting

6          To launch the CGS Carnival this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong planted the Dipterocarpus grandiflorus at Yishun Ave 2, which is next to the CGS Carnival site. The Dipterocarpus grandiflorus is a medium-sized to fairly large tree which is native to Singapore and it can grow up to 45m in height. This tree planting is in keeping with the long and important tradition of planting trees to enhance Singapore’s City in a Garden vision which was started by our founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Eco-Fair

7          To facilitate the adoption of eco lifestyles at home so that caring for the environment is second nature to us, this year’s CGS Carnival will bring together 12 exhibiting partners who are also partners with NEA on environmental initiatives, to showcase their sustainability-related programmes and products at the Eco-Fair. The Eco-Fair seeks to encourage individuals to step forward and volunteer for upcoming activities. The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which are participating in the Eco Fair include Hemispheres Foundation, People’s Movement Against Haze (PM.Haze), Repair Kopitiam, Singapore Youth For Climate Action (SYCA) together with #LepakInSG and The Food Bank Singapore. Eco-products will also be on sale at the Eco Fair to members of the public. Some of the tips that visitors can pick up at the Fair include learning how to repair or reuse products conducted by Repair Kopitiam, how to creatively upcycle items, and how to play a part in environmental sustainability conducted by the Singapore Youth for Climate Action and #LepakInSG.

Role Models to Emulate

CGS Awards

8          Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented eight national awards at the CGS Award Ceremony to recognise grassroots organisations for their efforts in achieving high standards in the areas of public hygiene and cleanliness, resource conservation and energy efficiency. A total of 136 awards will be presented this year. Of these, 108 awards were for cleaners who have demonstrated pride and commitment in their work by keeping our hawker centres, estates and toilets clean.

Community in Bloom Ambassadors

9          Seven Community In Bloom (CIB) Ambassadors were appointed for this year’s CGS campaign. The CIB Ambassadors Awards recognise individuals who foster the love for gardening amongst members of the community, and are volunteers who go the extra mile to help others enjoy gardening. These ambassadors have regularly contributed time, effort and resources to engage the community, and facilitate ground-up gardening-based initiatives.

Culture of Green Living in North West District

10        The North West Community Development Council (CDC) has been actively encouraging the adoption of green practices with the launch of Green Living @ North West, a 10-year district Eco Plan, in 2009. This year, the North West CDC launched Bright Spots @ North West to extend schools’ cleanliness efforts into adopted precincts to increase green ownership by urging every individual to actively get involved. Being a strong advocate of environmental sustainability, North West CDC takes the lead by consciously adopting green practices. To show its commitment to go green, the CDC has ceased circulation of hardcopy newsletters and will achieve 177,553kg of carbon footprint savings yearly by going digital. Additionally, the CDC will be replacing the distribution of bottled water by encouraging the North West Brisk Walking Club to use reusable bottles, resulting in savings of 192,000 plastic bottles per year.

11        To amplify the importance of collective efforts by the community, Mozzie Watch Keeper @ North West was also launched this year to address the urgency of dengue and Zika prevention. The community was activated to learn, prevent, spot and report cases of potential mosquito breeding grounds swiftly through a mobile app.

12        Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District said, “Achieving a green and sustainable living environment requires collective actions by all members of the community. With this belief, North West CDC supported more than 80 sustainable green living programmes which were rolled out in the North West District to reach out to more than 745,000 residents in 2016.”