H3ORES 2014 Workshop Reflections

Short Introduction of the H3roes Programme:

In early 2011, Canon Singapore and the National Environment Agency embarked upon the H3ROES Green Initiative, seeking to help breed environmental leaders of the 21st century.Intent on creating a programme that would create impactful young leaders, Canon and the NEA developed a holistic set of requirements for the programme to train the young leaders – including Social Media, Strategic Thinking and Environmental Outreach.

Our Day @ the Workshop

Upon arriving at Dunman High School in the morning on May 24, the h3roes were directed to an auditorium, where various organizations did presentations about the environment-related activities that they have held. Ice-breaker activities were conducted and the h3roes were broken up into smaller groups with students from other schools. We met with our group members for the day, each full of excitement and also, trepidation. We then received a myth-busting mission: which is to prove or disprove a myth, such as: “Singaporeans only recycle when it is convenient.” Everyone was shrouded in a cloud of mystery, as all the groups have different myths and we did not know what the other teams got as their myth. Next, we went to a classroom where further myth-busting activities were held.

After the myth-busting activity, we headed to the school canteen. The professionals from WOW Kampung gave us further instructions and hints on how to carry out our experiment to prove or disprove the given myth. A table of equipment containing materials such as paper plates, tin cans, plastic cups, trash bins and many more objects were placed at the edge of the canteen. We were given the liberty to pick and choose any materials which may help us to conduct our experiment. We were then given time to come up with practical and measurable ways to carry out our experiment. After much brainstorming, my group members and I decided that in order to measure convenience, we chose a location to observe whether people actually go to the nearer dustbin to throw items that can be recycled, or would take the initiative to wash the item before depositing them into a recycling bin. We took pictures and recorded videos as evidence to support our findings and observations. Within a short time frame of 30 minutes, we have achieved substantial information to help us. It was indeed an interesting thing to do: observing the behaviour of others and seeing what decisions they make (to recycle or not?) from an outsiders’ perspective.

Lunchtime arrived. Meat was not served as an acknowledgement to keep to the dedication to saving the environment (the animals that we eat actually produce and release methane gas into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming!) We also used our own plates and utensils brought from home to contain our food, effectively cutting down on disposable plates and cups that could have been used.

After lunch, we are taught how to use a DSLR camera. We got a total of 30 minutes after the lesson to ourselves, when we take pictures of the school campus using the DSLR cameras. How is photography related to the h3roes project, one might wonder? We think that it is probably through taking photographs that we learn to look at things in a new perspective, and to appreciate the beauty of nature, thereby reinforcing our resolution as individuals to protect it.

We returned to classrooms and had a short discussion as a group to conclude our experiment, before we present our findings to other groups, using different mediums such as videos and pictures taken with our camera, pen-and-paper data, etc. After all the presentations, we split up into groups and had discussions with our facilitators from WOW Kampung. The sharing provoked us to think deeply and search within ourselves: Could we really afford more damage to be done to the environment?

The day was then rounded up with a group photo with all contributors and participants.

Insights gained

- It is not about the fate of the single plastic bottle: whether it is recycled or not. Let’s face it: a single plastic bottle recycled will not make much difference to the world. Rather, it is the act of recycling it, the fact that an individual cares enough to recycle it, that will change the world.

- It is our generation that is the catalyst for change. It is a fact that we are the first and only generation which has the chance to undo the harm that is still being done to the environment. This is a very critical period in history, that it decides the fate of the future world that we would want to see. Do we want to have a beautiful world? Is there enough faith left in humanity to change the way we now treat our environment?

- Championing environmental initiatives, raising awareness of the need to change the way we view the environment & leaving an impact so great on people such that it inspires them to do something: A Marathon Or A Sprint?

• ·         Marathon: It would not be easy to change the mindsets and habits of people. It will continue to be an ongoing battle to get people to change the way they behave and act towards the environment.
• ·         Sprint: Truly speaking, there isn’t enough time for a marathon. Our earth and environment has already suffered massive damages. Concentrated efforts must be put out to save what is left of our environment, before it is too late.
• ·         Sprint, but in a relay system?: One generation after the last one must shoulder the heavy responsibility in caring for the environment. Our battle is an ongoing process. We must never be complacent/ abandon the idea of caring for the environment ever.

-Saving the environment is most importantly not a one man job, and it is not lonely. Get support from others around us as much as possible in what we do, and together we will share a common vision of leaving a better world and environment than the one we inherit.

- In the course of the H3roes programme, ‘experiments’ were also being conducted on us. Pieces of paper were deliberately left on the floor to see if any of us would be observant enough and take the initiative to throw it away. At the very end of the programme, the contents of the trash bins that were placed in the classrooms that we used we shown to us: they are found to contain things such as plastic bottles that were thrown away by us where instead, they could have been recycled.

• ·         Even when we have the passion to do something for/care about the environment, sometimes we are not mindful about our daily actions, which may add further damage to the environment. Simply put, we may have the heart to save the environment, but the things that we do out of convenience and habit say differently. Mindfulness is then the key. We must bear in mind that there must be mindfulness in everything that we do, before other things such as critical thinking and problem solving can be allowed to proceed.
• ·         These experiments are a reflection of how ingrained our habits that are not friendly to the environment are within us. One may care for the environment but habits are hard to kick. Emphasis must be on undoing our harmful habits before environmentally-friendly habits could be forged.

-The myths themselves: these are real life issues that we face. We have already confirmed the myths. So what’s the next step? What about it? Are we going to do anything to reverse the trends, break habits, and alter mindsets? How?