First local green consumer guide wins Earth award
By
SINGAPORE’S first local consumer guide of "green" products picked up top honours for having furthered environmental efforts here.
It was one of three winners of the Preserve Planet Earth Award yesterday.
The other winners were the executive director of the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA), Mr James Soh, who helped to promote environmental awareness among youth, and a four-year project to conserve Singapore’s coral reefs.
The awards, sponsored by the Rotary Club, HongkongBank and The Straits Times, were presented by Mr Chng Hee Kok, MP for Tampines GRC and vice-chairman of the National Council on the Environment, at the Mandarin Hotel yesterday.
The Preserve Planet Earth Awards, now in its third year, drew a record number of about 30 entries this year.
The organisers looked for people, programmes and products that have improved the quality of life and helped to conserve Singapore’s natural environment.
The top award winners were given a sculpture each, made by Iskandar Jalil.
The driving force behind the Green Directory was Mrs Cynthia Wee-Hoefer.
She said: "There was not a single source you could turn to for information on green products and services. So we created our own."
About 110,000 copies were printed and distributed last year. Mrs Wee-Hoefer now hopes to publish the directory annually and in more languages.
Associate Professor Chou Loke Ming, author of the marine conservation report on corals, said that his interest in the area was both professional and personal.
Said the National University of Singapore zoology lecturer: "Because the corals were not being properly managed or protected, we decided to survey the waters around Singapore and see how they could be saved."
The individual award winner yesterday was Mr Soh. He was picked for introducing the concept of environmental ethics as a criterion for expedition and exploration activities at the NYAA.
He said: "Having dealt with schools I came to realise the potential and enthusiasm of youth that can be tapped for environmental sources."
Besides the top award winners, certificates of merit were also awarded to: Ms Helen Newman on behalf of the marine conservation group which relocated corals; the National University of Singapore’s green group, Save, or Students Against Violation of the Earth; and Batey Ads, for its poster and T-shirt campaign spreading the green message.
Source : The Straits Times, April 22, 1993
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