The earth is all we have

Hi,

On June 3, I was at Commonwealth Secondary School for the "Just One Earth Environmental Seminar 2009".

The first half of the seminar consisted of presentation by various speakers on importance of maintaining a green environment and sustainability of our resources. the second half of the seminar consisted of visits to various places related to the sustainable energy and waste management. I chose to visit the Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple for the excursion.

Mr Derrick Ho from MEWR (Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources) spoke on Sustainable Development Blueprint for Singapore and its Implications for Schools. It can be viewed in detail by clicking this link. Here is a more direct link to a list of actions that individuals can take in support of sustainable development.

You can see the pictures I took below.

Mr Edwin Khew, CEO of IUT Global Pte Ltd, a global environmental waste technology company taking us through how organic wastes are treated in his Tuas Factory, methane gas is collected, and the then the wastes are incinerated into ash and sent to Pulau Semakau for landfill	Sec. One students of Commonwealth Sec. Sch. explain their project on sustainability
Cattails, sedge, reeds, bladderwort growing in clean water from the school's washbasins	Pandanus growing luxuriantly in the marsh garden created with waste water from the school toilets

At the Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple,you can meet volunteer Mr Lee Boon Siong. He is very committed to greening the temple. Many of his technologies are applicable to residential buildings too. You may want to read about the temple at the Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple website before visiting it yourself.

Cheers

Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple, off Pasir Panjang Road, is the "temple of the future". It is designed to harness solar, hydro and wind energy for its energy needs	Mr Lee Boon Siong, a volunteer at Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple, explaining how even diffused light in the shade can be directed with a series of mirrors in a tunnel to light up the floor below
Diffused light is captured in the shade of the temple to direct to the lower floors	This skylight channels daylight through a winding tube using internal mirrors to deliver light to the temple interior
The hall is lighted by the sunlight coming from the atrium and ventilated by the mesh-like design of the walls	Solar panels come in this size. Mr Lee experiments with different types of panel. He found the "amorphous panels" to be the best for Singapore's cloudy skies.
Harvesting wind power is not so effective as Singapore is not windy enough.	There are more than 3 types of solar panels being experimented with by Mr Lee. There is much R&D in this field of technology.
Solar power is harvested to heat up water for the temple's use.	Look at the panel. Today 23 KWH has been harvested from the sunlight
Table cum bed cum cupboard at the temple is made of bamboo, a fast growing, sustainable alternative to the usual hard wood used in making furniture

To listen to some songs on the environment by Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, click on the link below:

http://asal-sakti.blogspot.com/search/label/Peter%20Garrett

Cheers