Back to the city

Just read this interesting article "Back to the City" in the Harvard Business Review. It's interesting to see how things have changed over the years. Previously, people wanted to move away from the city to get away from it all. Live in a farm or have a house in the suburbs with a backyard and a garden. I think people are starting to realise the importance of convenience, community, support, and a lower environmental impact you would have if you live in a city. That may sound like an oxymoron but you would not need to own a car, you would walk more (and therefore be healthier), take public transport, use comparatively less energy in smaller accomodation (relative to what you would use if you owned a house in the suburbs), and the list goes on. The added bonus is if your city is well-planned and has good leadership.

Oooh, I want to extract this out of the article. It' s a very interesting piece of research "Car culture hurts mental health as well. Research by behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman and his team shows that out of a number of daily activities, commuting has the most negative effect on people’s moods. And economists Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer have found that commuters who live an hour away from work would need to earn 40% more money than they currently do to be as satisfied with their lives as noncommuters."

Public transport

There's a debate going on in Singapore about whether the long distance bus routes should be scrapped. Personally, I don't think they should be taken away. People should be given a choice of whether to take the trains or the buses, especially when they don't own a car. Aren't the trains and bus services supposed to be complimentary? Aren't we supposed to be developing a good public transport system so that we can wean ourselves off cars? I can tell you that if I need to get from Woodlands (north of Singapore) to Tampines, bus 168 is perfect. It would take me 45 mins to get there (door to door). If I take the train, I would be travelling from the north, all the way to the south and then back to the east again to Tampines, and that would take me more than an hour.

The point is, is that we shouldn't be taking away public transport when we are trying to encourage more people to take it. Doesn't Singapore's Land Transport Authority state in their Land Transport Master Plan that one of the strategic thrusts is to "Make Public Transport a Choice Mode"?

Lisa P Jackson

Hmmm.... saw this the other night. I'm wondering whether our Minister for ENvironment should do this to promote the environment. It doesn't have to be serious, as you can see here!!!

Where have I been?

Well, I was busy at work, then ended up in Melbourne for work. As some of you may know, Melbourne has been in the top 3 as the world's liveable city (according to the Economist). So, what is so special?
On arrival at the airport, the customs and immigration were really friendly. We had a nice taxi driver and we were at our hotel within 20 minutes. We were greeted with blue skies and lots of greenery, but a lot of freeways though. I spoke to a lot of people and they were really passionate about the environment, even the policeman who sat next to me during a dinner. He knew about energy efficiency and saving water. I wonder how many policemen in Singapore has this knowledge?

I also loved the food that we treated to - all sourced from local Australian farms :-) It really tasted good.

During my trip in Melbourne I was given a this from the people I met:

It's a timer to get people to stop taking long showers. Apparently, even though many pple install water saving devices at home, they still take long showers thus defeating the purpose of having water saving devices at home.

I was also given the coffee cup on the left. Take it with you to a cafe and order your coffee or tea. It comes with a cover and it is BPA free. The item on the right was bought in Southgate and is to replace the stainless steel water bottle that I had bought last year, and lost :-( This one is made of aluminium and lighter!

While buying the water bottle, I came across these...... they're glass milk feeding bottles with a plastic cover to prevent them from breaking. Why didn't I think of that?





Recycling bin with pictures of what you can or can't throw in the recycling bin. Well, this one is for co-mingled recyclables.

This is the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. It has a 6 star green star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. But I'm wondering why it's so brightly lit up!!

City view from the hotel

Another view from the hotel

The only thing that I was disappointed about the trip was that I couldn't go to see the refashioned or second hand clothes stores.... :-(

Lets Make Our World The Most Beautiful Home

Anyone get this through the mail?

The booklet came in the mail with recipes. I have no idea who is Supreme Master Ching Hai is though!