MEDIA RELEASE 27 MARCH 2009
Republic Polytechnic’s Singapore Book of Records Feat to Draw Public Attention to Need for Energy Conservation and Recycling
Mosaic assembled from 106,060 plastic bottles is part of WWF Earth Hour programmeSINGAPORE – Republic Polytechnic (RP), the tertiary institution that approaches learning with a difference, achieved a Singapore Book of Records listing for the largest mosaic ever made from plastic bottles in the republic. About 2000 RP students and staff joined more than 2000 participants from 20 secondary schools to collect and construct the giant mosaic using 106,060 plastic bottles from a total of 133,326 collected. The mosaic, which covers an area roughly the size of five-and-a-half badminton courts at RP’s Sports Complex building in Woodlands, aims to draw public attention to the need for energy conservation and recycling.
The event, held as part of pre-publicity efforts for World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Earth Hour programme, which will take place on the evening of 28 March 2009, was graced by Guest of Honour Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan, Mayor, South West District and Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. Mayor Khor completed the giant mosaic when she and representatives from RP and the secondary schools simultaneously placed the last bottles in position.
"We are delighted to have the support of Republic Polytechnic for WWF's Earth Hour in Singapore,” said Ms. Amy Ho - Managing Director WWF-Singapore. “Their involvement along with that of the many other organizations we now have on board will make a very real difference. What's more, organizations like Republic Polytechnic have an incredible ability and responsibility to engage students and the broader youth community to create a sustainable future for our planet, this means Republic Polytechnic's support is not only good for Earth Hour, but has the potential for encouraging a longer term focus on action against climate change.”
Recycling a 1.5 litre soft drink bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes*. RP and the schools did Singapore proud by their joint effort of collecting and assembling more than 100,000 plastic bottles in just two months. RP’s conservation interest group felt that the key learning experience was the understanding that while each person may have collected an insignificant number of bottles, collectively, the impact is far greater. By piecing all the bottles into a visually stunning giant mosaic, they hope the conservation message can reach the whole of Singapore.
Going the extra mile, RP intends to dispose the 106,060 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles in an environment-friendly manner after the mosaic is dismantled. The PET bottles will be carted away by recycling contractor Eveready Manufacturing Pte Ltd to be reduced to flakes of about 10mm in size. They will be washed with hot water and soda and then processed into yarn, which can be woven and made into clothes.
More than 4,000 participants collected 133,326 plastic bottles in total from 1 Feb 09 to 18 March 09. Thereafter, members from RP’s Conservation Interest Group washed and dried them, then manually sorted them before assembling 106,060 by hand in sections charted out on the floor. Lastly measurements were taken by two officials from the Singapore Book of Records. To recognise participants’ contribution, awards for the Republic Polytechnic plastic bottles challenge were presented to Unity Secondary School for winning the “First Prize” - Top Collector with 30,069 bottles, Orchid Park Secondary School came in second placing with 12,676 bottles and Riverside Secondary School took third placing with 11,050 bottles. North View Secondary School was given the Special Commendation Award for their environmentally friendly idea of re-using carton boxes to contain the plastic bottles collected.
“The event is a worthy collaboration between Riverside Secondary School and Republic Polytechnic to inculcate greater awareness among our students and staff on the need to recycle and to conserve limited natural resources,” said Ms Tang Wai Yin, teacher, Riverside Secondary School. “Global warming and an excessive carbon footprint will do irreparable damage to our environment. We all should make it a personal and communal effort to help preserve the delicate environment from further deterioration.”
The project is the brainchild of Soh Zhi Hao, Jasper and Choo Li Qi, Sabrina, both, third year students from the School of Applied Science and members of the Republic Polytechnic Conservation Interest Group. Their proposal got them selected as finalists for the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy programme (www.bayeryoungenvoy.com). Jasper was subsequently selected by Bayer as one of three Singaporean representatives for a study trip in Germany in late 2008 under the Bayer programme.
“Republic Polytechnic's 100,000 plastic bottles challenge is a part of RP's efforts to engage the community around us to combat climate change and global warming together. If everyone contributes a little each, it will accumulate to make a huge difference,” said Mr. Soh.
Republic Polytechnic Conservation Interest Group constructed a lightbulb-shaped
mosaic out of 106,060 plastic bottles in support of Earth Hour
Republic Polytechnic
Benjamin Chow
Tel: 31001779
Email: benjamin_chow@rp.sg
Mileage Communications Pte Ltd
Ooi Kelly/ Ronald Wong
Tel: 62221678
Email: kelly@mileage.com.sg / ronald@mileage.com.sg
* Source: http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/ccird/milieu/milieuoct05.pdf pg. 10
About Republic Polytechnic
The first educational institution in Singapore to adopt the Problem-Based Learning approach for all its diploma programmes, Republic Polytechnic has six schools and one centre offering thirty diploma courses in Information & Communications Technology, Engineering, Applied Science, Technology for the Arts, Sports, Health & Leisure, Events and Hospitality, Innovation and Enterprise, and Culture and Communication. Republic Polytechnic is committed to nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial learning in an environment that develops problem-solving process skills and a life-long learning attitude. Its holistic, broad-based curriculum, covering culture, enterprise development and cognitive processes, prepares students for an active and meaningful role in society. Republic Polytechnic strives for excellence by achieving various national and international accreditations, including People Developer Standards, ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS 18001, Singapore Quality Class, Singapore Innovation Class, and the Singapore Health Awards (Gold). For more information, visit http://www.rp.sg.
Annex A
Secondary Schools participating in the Republic Polytechnic 100,000 plastic bottles challenge
- Ang Mo Kio Secondary School
- North View Secondary School
- Orchid Park Secondary School
- Riverside Secondary School**
- Sembawang Secondary School
- Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
- Boon Lay Secondary School
- Bukit Panjang Government High
- Fajar Secondary School
- Fuchun Secondary School
- Hillgrove Secondary School
- Hua Yi Secondary School
- Jurong West Secondary School
- Yusof Ishak Secondary School
- Zhenghua Secondary School
- Unity Secondary School
- Woodlands Ring Secondary School
- Swiss Cottage Secondary School
- Deyi Secondary School
- Naval Base Secondary School
Note to editors:
Green all the way
RP student organisers took pains to ensure that as much of the resources used during the event can be reused or reduced. They sourced alternative solutions to bind the mosaic together to ensure the bottles would not be toppled accidentally. Rather than super glue; 500m of nylon/raffia strings were used and these will be reused for future events. If glue had been used, recycling plants would not accept the ‘contaminated’ bottles. Other materials were two rolls of masking tape for floor marking, one marker pen, and 950L of water used for stabilizing strips. The water will be collected after the event to water grass strips around the sports complex. Lorries used to transport collected bottles were filled to just within safety limits to optimise each trip. In addition, proper route planning was done to ensure fuel efficiency. These measures help to complete the life-cycle of materials in an environmentally friendly manner rather than letting them be incinerated and thrown into landfills.