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School Pledge for Eco Action 2015

Person in-charge: Mr Tan Wee Siang

Designation: HOD (Innovation and Special Projects)

Email: tan_wee_siang@moe.edu.sg

Direct line: 6587 3805

Mobile Number: 9367 3694

EAST SPRING SECONDARY SCHOOL

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East Spring Secondary pledges to practice the following positive action to the environment.

Energy Conservation

Include 'switching off lights during lunch hour' into your staff office protocol

Set all electronic equipment to energy saving mode (PCs, Laptops, Photocopiers etc.)

Avoid switching on lights in areas where natural lights is abundantly available

Switch off lights and ceiling fans when leaving an empty classroom

Set air conditioning to at least 25°C

In addition to the above, the maintenance of aircon filter cleaning is carried out every month. The school

employs SH Electrical for the maintenance work.

After school has ended for the day’s lessons, the OSOs will be rostered to walk around designated

classroom blocks to check on the lights and fans.

The photocopying machines have power saving options enabled. When the machines are not in used

they will go into sleep mode. Other examples of equipment are the monitor and desktop in the offices.

Duplex and greyscale printing options are the default configuration at the computer and printer setup.

Picture 1: Duplex Printing Options in Printer Setup

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Waste Management & Recycling Set up recycling bins in school

Assign a proper recycling company to collect recycled waste, used office equipment and toner cartridges and bottles

Allocate specific areas for recycle waste disposal

Picture 2: Tetrapak Recycling Bin beside Vending Machines

Picture 3: Recycling Bins at back of Canteen

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Picture 4: Plastic Bottles and Paper Recycling Bin in Staff Pantry

The school engages a recycling contractor, VEOLIA, as contracted by MOE. We also recycle ink cartridges

through TES-AMM (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD, and they collect the cartridges every 6 months. The school

also reuses some of the banners and props (e.g decorative plants) during school event like school or CCA

open house.

Picture 5: Ink and Toner Cartridges Collection Recycling Box

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Resource Conservation Use both sides of paper to minimize excess paper usage

Use scrap paper and recycle materials (aluminum, plastic, cardboard etc.) for art & craft projects/school works

Submit school projects in softcopy (reduce print)

Use permanent cutlery and cups in school

In addition to the above, the school orders refillable, less toxic markers to replace disposable

whiteboard markers.

Picture 6: Marker Refill Cartridges Used by Teacher

The school also works with the cleaning and maintenance staff to practice resource efficiency (e.g.

buying bulk cleaning supplies and using refillable spray bottles).

Picture 7: Bulk Order of Cleaning Supplies

In addition, the school reduces hand-outs distributed by making information available online. (e.g.

educational materials such as presentation slides uploaded online and/or internal announcements sent

via sms). We have online portals such as MC Online and Ace Learning where teachers can upload notes

and materials to the students.

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Environment Education & Initiatives Cultivate green habits in school by displaying posters and stickers with tips on saving energy and

resources

Educate students of all level about 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle)

Set up Environmental Committee and actively involved in managing the school's green environment

Assign students for hands-on environmental activities such as pick up litters and manage waste segregation in school

Organise at least one environmental competition every year

Our school ensures a holistic approach to teaching the 3Rs through the following channels:

1. Global Thinkers Lesson

o Sec 1: Haze o Sec 2: Cultures of Recycling In The World o Sec 3: Alternative Energies o Sec 4/5: Waste Management, Water Resources, Pollution in Singapore VS Other Countries

2. Subject Lessons (whole year for all levels)

o Physics: Electrical conservation and utility bills

o Chemistry: Pollution and conservation

o Geography: Pollution and natural resources

o Art, Design & Technology: Reuse of materials to make artpieces 3. Environment Education Quiz (Customized quiz for all levels)

Picture 8: Sample of Global Thinkers Lessons

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Teachers and students are regularly sent for training workshops and conferences etc., to increase their

knowledge on environmental issues.

Picture 9: Students Attended Environment Champion Workshop

The school conducts and participates in internal and external competitions and events with an

environmental theme.

1. Project Runway - Fashion design competition using recycled materials by the Sec 2 students.

Picture 10: Students dress themselves with recycled materials

2. ‘Building my People, Building my Home’ competition - Design a landscape which best represents

about the community living in Singapore in 2020, using recycled materials (Sec 1 level).

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Picture 11: Designing a Landscape to Represent Singapore in 2020

3. Water Month – Save water photo competition which delivers messages on saving water.

Distribution of NEWater to students with the message to save water.

Picture 12: (Left) Winners for Save Water Photo competition & (Right) Distribution of

NEWater with Water Saving Messages

4. Earth Month – Assembly presentation to increase awareness on saving electricity. Save That Pen

campaign to collect and recycle used pens.

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Picture 13: (Left) Assembly Presentation on Saving Electricity by Students & (Right) Save

That Pen Campaign to Collect Used Pens

5. HDB Anti-Dengue Outreach – Collaboration with NEA to reach out to neighboring residents to

spread the awareness of dengue fever.

Picture 14: Students Visit to Neighboring HDB for Anti-Dengue Outreach

6. National Youth Business Challenge (Eco-Friendly Business) – Green Club members set up stall at

Changi City Point to sell environmental friendly products.

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Picture 15: Booth at Changi City Point

The school has staff who specialise in environmental topics e.g. EEA (Environmental Education Advisors

and teachers in Green Club and Environment Education Committee).

Picture 16: Certificate of Appointment of EEA by NEA

The school also involves the parent support group in its environmental education efforts. Parent support

group was often invited to be the judges for our environment competitions. e.g Project Runway and

‘Building my People, Building my Home’ competition which were mentioned above.

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The school also takes concrete measures to reduce food wastage, such as food donation drives. We did a food donation drive competition during Total Defence Day, where classes compete to donate the highest amount of food. For visual reminders, posters are displayed in the common areas to promote positive environmental

behaviours.

Pictures 17: Examples of Posters Placed Around the School

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In addition, Green Club is a CCA in East Spring Secondary that combines environmental conservation

initiatives with entrepreneurial ideas. In each class, there is one Environment Ambassador as well.

Among the staff, an Environment Education Committee oversees and drives conservation awareness

among the staff and students. Global Thinking lessons with an Environment theme (3R) are carried out

for all levels of students. Our Pet Rocket programme is one of the innovative “out of classroom”

teaching methods that the school has adopted to encourage students to become more green and less

wasteful.

Picture 18: Pet rocket made by students using Picture 19: Preparing for rocket recycled materials launching

Last but not least, one of the major environment-themed events is the Earth Week in April. For this year, Earth Week @ East Spring was kickstarted on 21 April 2015 Monday by the Assembly Talk on Waste Management, presented by our very own Green Club members, who raised the issue on the insanely exponential increase in waste production and gave suggestions on what we can do as environmental citizens to reduce our negative impact on the environment.

Picture 20: Students present to school about waste minimization

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The audience was engaged throughout the session with the clever and timely use of videos, analogies and a consolidating quiz. I felt most heartened when I watched the four Green Club members speak with so much gusto and gumption. From shy, quiet students, they have transformed into confident, eloquent speakers under the leadership of the Green Club teachers. The students certainly look set to become the change agents of tomorrow!

Picture 21: Student’s entry for Water Conservation Photo Contest

Does the above picture look professional, like one of those stock photos on the internet? It's actually one of the winning entries in our Water Conservation Photo Contest which took place in March, championed by the Environment Education Committee to raise the students' awareness on water conservation. The Sec 2 Environment Ambassadors involved the school population in a voting process at the foyer on Tuesday after school, and the students voted for their favorite picture among the 7 finalists. The above photograph was taken by Vivian Wong Siqi (4E1), among the many enthusiastic submissions from our students, and her very inspiring caption for the picture was, "Water conservation starts from home, with our children. Teaching children good water management can be a challenge but it is an important lesson. We should explore dynamic and fun ways to teach our children that every drop of water is precious!"

Picture 22: Mini-carnival at atrium

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There was a bit of a buzz at the atrium during recess time on Wednesday too. Following the message (from our minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan) that was read out during flag-raising, the Green Club members were in action again during recess with an Earth Week Mini-Carnival, getting students to participate in environment-related games (like Earthopoly), and in the process learning more about environmental issues and winning some small prizes. You should have seen how some students were verbalizing their thoughts about environment conservation - that's certainly a first step towards actualizing them in their daily life! In late 2014, there were several hotspots for dengue outbreak and Tampines area is one of them. With this in mind, we contacted NEA to request for brochures which we can use to reach out to residents to increase their anti-dengue awareness. We invited NEA to give a presentation to our Green Club students where they understood more about dengue mosquitos and they learn tips on how to reach out to residents effectively.

Pictures 23: (Left) Presentation from NEA, (Right) Students Reaching Out to Residents on Anti-Dengue