Archive for eco action day

Eco Action Day is coming again

We first participated in the first edition of Eco Action Day back in 2007. Time sure flies, before you know it, it’s already 2010.

This year’s Eco Action Day will be held on 4th June.

There is a handy table on their website, which shows the total amount of electricity saved for the past three years. Unfortunately there is a slight dip in 2009, but I’m sure we will be able to reverse the trend this year.

Awareness about our impact on the environment has become mainstream, and it’s no longer a fad.

So go get your colleagues to join in, and together, we can make a difference.

Check out the Eco Action Day website today!

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It’s Eco Action Day 2009 tomorrow!

The 5th of June has been designated as World Environment Day.

In Singapore, we have the Eco Action Day 2009. So the emphasis is on the simple and concrete steps you can take to help the environment.

Star Bamboo has participated in past years, so I’m helping the organisers to publicise the event:

Eco Action Day

Ever thought of the number of hours you spend in the office and the amount of resources used per day?Simple actions such as the flick of a switch can make a world of difference. Try going green in your office for a day on Eco Action Day with us and see how easy it is!

Eco Action Day is a collaboration between Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Ricoh to reach out to organizations to join us in saving energy on 5th June, in conjunction with the United Nations’ World Environment Day.
By taking part, organizations pledge conservation activities that they will undertake on this day. The scope of activities is not limited and can be as easy as turning off all the lights in the office during lunch time. Total energy saved is then calculated after this day as evidence that real improvements are possible if companies will make the commitment.

As we spend a large amount of time in the office everyday, the commitment needed by companies and organizations cannot be ignored.

   
Help fight against climate change. Participate today www.ecoaction.sg

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Thanks, Ricoh

Do you remember Eco Action Day event that I blogged about a few weeks back? Ricoh was the supporting organisation. The Eco Action Day post-action ceremony was held last Friday but unfortunately I couldn’t make it.

To my pleasant surprise, I got a phone call from Ricoh saying that we’ve won a lucky draw prize. Assuming it was some small commemorative item, I popped down over to their Heeren office on Monday.

Ms Masayo Hada, a very nice lady, greeted me there. The prize turned out to be a business colour printer (a very welcome addition to the office), along with other small goodies:

Ricoh freebies

1 colour printer, 2 folders, notepads, staplers, and LOADS of pens.

Ricoh stapleless stapler

I was most intrigued by this little gadget. At first I thought it was some sort of hole-puncher, but testing it on recycled paper yielded the following result:

stapleless stapled

ah-ha! It’s a staple-less stapler. The flap created holds pieces of paper together without the need for consumable metal staples.

It’s a clever idea but I don’t think external organisations would appreciate this as it is not as sturdy as normal staples. Would try using it in the office though. :)

Thanks, Ricoh!

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Star Bamboo Blog is Ranked No. 1 in Google!

Yes it’s true, we are number 1!

Our blog site comes in right at the top of Google’s search results for “eco action day”. It’s #1 of 1,860,000 possible results.

Of course, the savvy net user would know it all depends on what you search for. The surprising thing is that our blog is barely 6 weeks old, yet we come out ahead of many other established web sites, including those for SEC (#3) and co-sponsor Ricoh (#4).

This validates what I’ve thought all along, and what others have been preaching: search engines love blogs.

Search engine ranking algorithms are jealously guarded trade secrets. Only insiders know exactly how they work. But the general rule of thumb is, the more incoming links a web site has, the higher its ranking. This is because incoming links are an excellent gauge of the usefulness of a web site (otherwise, why would anyone link to it?).

Thanks to our blog, we are already seeing a substantial increase in web traffic. And the best part is, it’s all completely free. You just need to put in the time and effort to write articles that others would actually want to read.

You can’t beat that for cost-effectiveness.

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Do You Remember What You Did on 5 June 2007?

Hello everyone, I’m back from army reservist training. After two weeks in the sun, I’m as brown as our Carbonised bamboo flooring. :)

First, a quick apology to those who have emailed or called me.

My computer got infected with a particularly stubborn strain of virus, which in turn opened the gate for at least another 10 viruses/spyware/Trojan Horses/worms. It was a real nightmare, as they kept resurrecting after apparently being disinfected. It took many hours and 6 different anti-virus programmes, but it’s finally gotten a clean bill of health.

Then my Treo 750v succumbed to mysterious software bugs, and many calls and SMSes were either lost or disconnected. So if I didn’t respond to an email or SMS you sent, please do re-send them. Sorry for the trouble.

OK, in case you’re still wondering, 5 June was Eco Action Day 2007. This was organised by SEC and Ricoh Asia Pacific to commemorate the World Environment Day.

Since Star Bamboo is participating, I eagerly flipped through the papers to see how it went.

In the end, only 30 companies participated, falling far short of the modest target of 100 companies. What a disappointment.

So what went wrong?

The Today newspaper cited reasons such as private initiatives and first-time jitters for the poor showing.

On closer scrutiny of the article, one thing stood out:

For photocopier vendor Ricoh Asia Pacific, a co-organiser of the programme, all 60 or so staff members will leave work three hours earlier today, when all office lights and electrical appliances will be turned off. This will save about 100 kilowatt-hours, the average amount of energy in a month consumed by a one-room HDB flat.

I was surprised by how Ricoh appeared to have misunderstood the campaign.

The spirit of Eco Action Day is to raise awareness of how much energy we are wasting and encourage companies to adopt more efficient practices at work. It’s about maintaining productivity while reducing energy consumption.

It defeats the purpose if staff are getting off work early, just so they could save electricity. Wouldn’t they save more energy then by shutting down for the entire day?

For Eco Action Day 2008, I have a suggestion for participating companies: Make it measurable. Whatever is measured gets done.

That is why schools focus on exam rankings and listed companies obsess with share prices. I once drove a car which has a needle gauge monitoring the fuel consumption. Needless to say, I spent the entire journey trying to keep it as low as possible. Indeed, I spent more time looking at it than at the road situation!

If you wish to encourage your staff to save electricity, then let them know how much they are using. Better still, make it into a game.

  1. First, establish a bench mark by averaging the electricity costs for the past 6 months.
  2. Tell them the figure, and suggest ways in which they could conserve electricity.
  3. Start one month before Eco Action Day, and challenge them to save, say 25%, for that month.
  4. If they meet the target, then a portion of the cost savings goes back to them, perhaps in the form of a coffee-maker or whatever. As long as they get to choose their own prize.

The company saves money, the staff are happy, and less energy is consumed. Everyone is a winner.

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World Environment Day (WED) and Why You have Probably Never Heard of It

Yesterday I helped to publicise the Eco Action Day event on 5 June, which is organised to coincide with World Environment Day (WED).

What’s WED, you ask? To be honest, I’ve never heard of it either until 3 days ago.

It is a United Nations initiated global initiative, and the first was held way back in 1972. Each year, a city will host a week-long international exposition to discuss various environmental issues.

For example, this year’s topic is “Melting Ice – A Hot Topic?” and will be focusing on climate changes and the effects on ice- and snowcovered areas of the world.

That description pretty much sums up why after more than three decades, you’d struggle to find anyone familiar with this.

  1. Lack of a permanent home: It is organised by the UN and rotated annually among different countries. I couldn’t even find an official WED web site. Instead, a new one sprouts up every year.
  2. Lack of hands-on action: The programme is dominated by conferences and discussions.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s of no use. In fact, it’s probably an excellent opportunity for academics and policy makers to exchange ideas.

But for the typical man in the street, this day will simply pass us by.

Which is why Star Bamboo supports the Eco Action Day:

  1. It is local: It is not happening in some faraway, exotic city, but right where you work.
  2. It is hands-on: It is not about attending lectures or discussions, but practical steps that you can take to reduce the amount of energy that you use.

I have two suggestions to make it even more meaningful:

Firstly, encourage participating companies to carry on beyond 5 June. Don’t just do it for a day, do it every day.

Secondly, it’s not just for the office – you can do the same at home as well.

Good luck! :)

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Have you signed up for Eco Action Day yet?

The Singapore Environment Council is organising an Eco Action Day on 5 June 2007, to raise awareness of environmental issues among companies.

Not much effort is required, just a simple flick of the switch to turn off any unnecessary lighting or office equipment.

I have already signed up Star Bamboo for this programme, to show our support and commitment to reduce energy wastage. The lights for our Singapore warehouse are usually turned on whenever we step into the adjoining office. Now, we will only turn on the lights when we actually retrieve stocks from it.

It’s a simple act, but it will save us 1/3 off our lighting bills. It’s so simple that we will be practising it every day starting right now – why limit yourself to 5 June?

Although this Eco Action Day programme is meant for Singapore companies only, all overseas visitors reading this are welcome to start similar initiatives in your company.

It’s easy, it’s simple, and speaks volumes of your commitment to the environment. If you decide to join in this effort, please drop me an email to tell me all about it. I’m all ears!

OK, better sign up first because the 28 May deadline is just around the corner. Click here to register now!

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