Head to the beach!

Ocean Minded has organised a beach clean up for this Saturday, July 11th, at East Coast Parkway between the hours of 9am – 11am. The clean up will take place at the beach in front of Big Splash.

All volunteers should RSVP with Alicia Lee at alicia.lee@crocs.com before 8 July to qualify for a 20% discount at the Ocean Minded store in Vivo City.

Hope to see you there!

Eco footwear launch

Ocean Minded recently invited Green Drinks to the launch of Meilani and Durbo, casual footwear that contain recycled material.

The company was careful to use recycled material where possible. The nylon toe post was made using recycled plastic bottles, and the footbed and outsole use recycled Croslite, the same material used in making Crocs.

How did Ocean Minded gain access to this material, and how is it that they are licensed to use it? Their parent company is Crocs, who acquired them as recent as last year.

Do pay their store at Vivo City to check out their other range of shoes containing recycled material. They are located at #02-62.

A big thank you to Green & Clean Laundry, and Bloomerang!

Zhiwen from Bloomerang explaining the company's values and practices.

Green Drinks would like to thank the good people at Green & Clean Laundry, and Bloomerang for taking the time to share their passion about sustainable practices in their respective fields of wet cleaning and advertising in June’s session of Green Drinks.

Green & Clean Laundry gave a very honest talk about the processes of both dry and wet cleaning, and how perchloroethylene (perc) as a potential carcinogen affects the environment, the workers at the laundromat, and the end-users, that being you and me.

Bloomerang shared their cradle to cradle business strategy, and the extensive lengths they have gone to in order to make the BloomerHang, a recycled cardboard hanger advertising medium, as sustainable as possible. At the end of it, participants were given at least one bloomerHang carrying advertising by Terraplana – a sustainable footwear brand – which gives the bearer a whopping 40% off at their stores at 69 Haji Lane, and the upcoming Ion shopping mall at Orchard Road!

We applaud their amazing efforts to push for sustainable practice, and their willingness to share their love for the environment and their care for others.

Thanks heaps!!

Panasonic showcases green products and effort

Panasonic is rolling out an Asia-Pacific-wide campaign starting in Singapore today, being World Environment Day (WED).

Between 5 and 7 June, Panasonic is holding an ‘eco ideas’ roadshow at Suntec City Mall’s Tropic Atrium, between Tower 1 and 2, showcasing their green products, as well as educating and encouraging visitors in making an environmental effort.

Be sure to check it out if you are in the area.

As part of their campaign, Panasonic is giving away prizes to contributors of the most interesting green tips. Drop your suggestion here.

Happy World Environment Day!

It is World Environment Day (WED), a yearly affair earmarked by the UN to promote awareness of environmental issues, and encourage action by individuals and groups to partake in a more sustainable future.

This year’s theme is “Your Planet Needs You – UNite to combat climate change”, and the host nation for 2009 is Mexico.

In conjunction with this year’s WED, UNEP is promoting Home, a film documentary about the environment by Photographer and Founding President of goodplanet.org, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Yann Arthus-Bertrand. This movie will be screened today at cinemas in countries all over the world.

For those who cannot make it to tonight’s screening by Singapore Environmental Council (SEC), there is the shortened 90 minute version, which is available here. The full version is 120 minutes-long. Everybody should take the time to watch it! The cinematography is amazing!

Happy World Environment Day!

Green radio

Radio ga-ga

Saw this on Gizmodo. This is one for the campers, and outdoor adventurers who can’t do without their radio!

Kikkerland is selling the Radio Solar Crank pictured at left.  Users are given the option to charge up the device using solar or  by manual hand crank.

Gizmodo reports that one minute of manual cranking delivers approximately 30 minutes of radio broadcasting.

It is available for US$32 at the Kikkerland Shop.

Image taken from Kikkerland

Thank you, Bud Cosmetics!

Eric Chew sharing what we should look for on the label of skincare products

Last week, Eric Chew from Bud Cosmetics gave a presentation about common myths and half-truths about our everyday skincare products, so as to raise awareness on the toxins in skincare products.

Bud Cosmetics imports, and sells a healthy range of natural and organic skincare products at their cosy shop at Square 2, in Novena.

During the talk, he shared figures from the US non-profit organization Environmental Working Group, on how the average person uses 10  different skincare products daily, and that women ingest up to 4.5kg of lipstick in their lifetime. In addition, he talked about how skincare products are not rigorously regulated, and encouraged participants to always read the label before picking up a product. Also, he said to  visit Cosmetic Database, a skincare toxins resource which advises which toxins, and corresponding health threats,  lay in day-to-day skincare products.

Thank you, Eric, for sharing your personal experiences and knowledge on skincare products!

Great green resources

 

Low Carbon Singapore

Friends of Green Drinks Eugene Tay and Nadya Hutagalung have independently set up websites that seek to inform and inspire.

Eugene Tay, who also runs a community of green websites including Asia is Green, The Green Business Times and Zero Waste Singapore, has just started Low Carbon Singapore, an online community targetted to everyone and anyone, encouraging them to, in their own words, “take action to move towards being a low carbon economy”. His site also looks at issues and policies of the Singapore government.

Nadya Hutagalung recently started Green Kampong, a site that aims to raise awareness and educate people about conservation issues, as well as encourage a greener lifestyle through lifestyle tips.

Both are great websites and you should definitely bookmark them as your green resource!

Green Kampong

America creating clean energy jobs

US president Barack Obama annouced his new energy plan on Earth Day in Iowa, and made clear his administration’s goals to strengthen the economy by developing the clean energy sector.  Their latest initiative is to lease federal waters to generate electricity from wind and ocean currents. 

Watch the speech here. See the Obama administration’s new energy plan here.

Other green jobs that were recently created include green roofing, which helps lighten heating and cooling loads on buildings, and in turn cuts costs of heating/cooling required.

 

NUS to submit eco car for German competition

TODAY reported that the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be submitting a hydrogen fuel cell car for the upcoming Shell Eco Marathon to be held between May 7 and 9 in Germany. The competition challenges students worldwide to build a vehicle that can travel further while using less energy, and the winner will be determined after a seven-lap race.

A final year project by the Faculty of Engineering, the team of 10 worked together for 10 months to build the KRUCE, otherwise known by its lengthier name as the Kent Ridge Urban Concept Ecocar. Said to be a zero emissions vehicle, the KRUCE is able to run a distance of 300 km using only 1 litre of fuel, and is noiseless in motion.

The KRUCE will face 66 other cars from 37 countries.

All the best!!!