Green initiatives through partnerships–how your Town Council continues to build a greener town
TPTC holds fast to its commitment to make our town greener. Recently, we implemented three new initiatives, all made possible thanks to the support of our incredible partners.
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Many organisations use the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) as a guide for their sustainability initiatives. It’s no different for our Town Council. We recently implemented three green initiatives to support the 12th UN SDG, which is all about sustainable consumption and production.
In all three initiatives, we enjoyed tremendous support from many like-minded partners – both individuals as well as organisations. Let’s learn more about what we’ve accomplished together.
SINGAPORE’S FIRST-EVER USED HOUSEHOLD COOKING OIL COLLECTION POINT
Most households usually pour cooking oil down the drain. Out of sight, out of mind. However, what we thought of as waste can actually be repurposed to protect the environment.
Instead of discarding it, you can recycle used oil to make biofuel. This way, you can reduce waste, create a green energy source, and minimise the amount of pollutants that enter our ecosystem.
In collaboration with Apeiron Bioenergy and Our Green MoCa, TPTC took the lead in addressing this issue by launching Singapore’s first-ever recycling collection point for used household cooking oil.
The launch was held on 22 June at 40 Cambridge Road. It was a fun, informative and meaningful event thanks to our partners and volunteers.
Our partner Apeiron Bioenergy is the company that will be collecting and refining the oil into biofuel. Their team was there to explain to attendees why it’s essential to discard used cooking oil responsibly.
Also in attendance were the founders of local plastic recycling company Semula Pte Ltd. They shared their tips on recycling and held a workshop for making coasters out of recycled plastic.
Our long-time partner Ecoworks also came by to support the launch. One of their founders gave an eye-opening talk that dispelled common misconceptions about reducing, reusing, and recycling.
We are grateful to our friends from the People’s Association and Our Green MoCa for their excellent planning, coordination and logistics – supported by our Property Management and Conservancy teams.
Special thanks to local business owner Mak Cik Nasiah for serving us her famous curry puffs, and to all the residents who joined us on that rainy Saturday morning.
How to deposit used cooking oil at the collection point
If you want to recycle your used cooking oil, simply store the cooled oil in a tightly sealed plastic bottle and deposit the bottle into our collection point at 40 Cambridge Road.
Make your trip even greener by bringing empty containers to buy laundry detergent from the Ecofill machine that’s also located at 40 Cambridge Road. It dispenses the detergent liquid directly into your containers, so there’s no need to use additional plastic packaging.
COMPOST COLLECTION DRIVE AT HENDERSON
As a tiny island with few natural resources, we must make the most of what we have. Composting is a great way to do that, as it helps boost the fertility of our soil with kitchen scraps that would otherwise be discarded. But we recognise that it can be a challenge to compost in an HDB unit.
To make it easier, TPTC ran a neighbourhood composting initiative in the Henderson area. Together with our community volunteers and partners, we collected plant-based kitchen scraps and eggshells from both our residents and businesses for composting.
Some of the amazing partners who joined us included HDGAC (Henderson-Dawson Green Action for Communities), Ismaili CIVIC, City Sprouts, EcoSamiSG and our Residents’ Network.
During the collection drive, we managed to chat with residents and learn how we can support them in composting and other aspects of sustainable living.
We also presented all contributors with potted plants as a token of our appreciation.
At the end of the drive, we saw an up-close demo of how the collected scraps are layered with coconut husk fibre in the composting bins.
If you would like to start a composting initiative at your estate, do reach out to us!
THE SOLARNOVA PROGRAMME
Singapore receives plenty of sunlight all year; so it only makes sense for us to harness it as clean energy. That’s why TPTC partnered with Sembcorp Solar to launch the SolarNova programme to install solar panels on the rooftops of our HDB blocks.
Not all blocks can be a part of this programme, though. Eligible blocks must pass a thorough feasibility evaluation conducted by both the Town Council and Sembcorp.
To date, we have started generating solar energy at 25 blocks. Solar panel installation is ongoing at other blocks, and we are continuously evaluating more blocks for eligibility to join this initiative.
The electricity generated by these rooftop solar panels will be used to power common facilities such as lights, lifts and water pumps; and any surplus energy will be channelled back to the power grid.
With this initiative, we aim to achieve net zero energy consumption on average at common areas on our properties. This will significantly cut our carbon emissions, and contribute to Singapore’s national efforts to combat climate change.
Get involved in our community initiatives
These three green projects took off because of the creativity, proactivity, and dedication of the wonderful people and organisations in Our Tanjong Pagar. We’re always looking for more residents like them to join our green movement: just reach out to us if you’d like to contribute!
