- Singapore’s largest supermarket retailer plays its part in protecting our environment
In line with its mission to be the Best Corporate Citizen, NTUC FairPrice today launched the ‘FairPrice Green Lifestyle Campaign’, to commemorate World Environment Day on 5 June 2009 and to promote social responsibility towards environmental protection. Supported by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd (Philips), the year-long campaign hopes to heighten awareness of green issues and engage FairPrice’s stakeholders, including its customers, employees and the community, to collectively create a bigger impact towards environmental sustainability. The campaign was officially launched by Guest-of-Honour Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources at Ang Mo Kio hub.
The ‘Green Lifestyle Campaign’ is part of FairPrice’s long-term goals of protecting and conserving the environment and bringing together the community it serves. It aims to heighten awareness of green issues and will focus on the three main pillars of staff, customers and community in order to engage these stakeholders and create a bigger impact towards environmental sustainability.
Mr Seah Kian Peng, Managing Director of FairPrice’s group business said, “At FairPrice, we aim to be the best corporate citizen. This means that we integrate social values into our business decision making to achieve positive and sustainable results not only on our business but also on the environment and the community. While we continue to focus our efforts in helping our customers and the community ride through these difficult times, we believe it is also important to push on with our initiatives to preserve the environment in the long run. We hope this campaign will help us take positive steps in this direction.”
The Green Lifestyle Campaign encourages staff, customers and the community to adopt a green lifestyle through three simple actions – Shop Green, Choose Green and Think Green. These simple acts include using a reusable bag when shopping to reduce plastic bag wastage, using energy efficient products to conserve energy and contributing ideas to make Singapore a greener place.
To encourage staff to develop a green mindset, store managers will be challenged to lead by example and reduce at least 10 percent of energy consumption at home. Staff will also be encouraged to contribute ideas to make FairPrice stores and offices more environmentally-friendly. Currently, FairPrice stores are already using energy efficient lightings and chillers. All store front signages have also been changed to LED lightings.
On customer engagement, FairPrice hopes more customers will help to reduce plastic bag wastage by shopping green. FairPrice launched the ‘Green Rewards Scheme’ in 2007 to encourage customers to bring their own bag when they shop at FairPrice. Since the launch, it has given out more than $350,000 in Green Rewards rebates to its customers. As part of the Green Lifestyle Campaign, in-store Choose Green Roadshows will be organised to offer eco-friendly products at reduced prices. One focus of this roadshow is the ‘Change a Bulb’ programme whereby Philips will offer discounted energy saving light bulbs to customers who bring in their old light bulbs for exchange at the roadshows.
To encourage the community to Think Green, FairPrice is partnering SEC in the ‘Green Singapore (GS) 2050’ project, a community initiative conceptualised by the SEC and North-West CDC for today’s youth to express their environmental concerns and collectively brainstorm for environmental solutions.
“GS 2050 aims to get the youth to think about their future – not only on an individual level – but also collectively. Through the GS 2050 survey, we hope to find out what young people today, who will be adults living and working in Singapore in 2050, think about Singapore’s environment today, and what they want it to be in 2050. This knowledge will help today’s planners ensure that developments in Singapore meet the needs of the future. Through this kind of engagement, we hope to infuse a kind of environmentally conscious ethos within the youth of Singapore, and start networks of youth working together for the betterment of their future.” said Howard Shaw, Executive Director of SEC.
As part of GS 2050, a web portal (http://www.youthhabitat.sg) has been set up for youths to network, exchange information and build capacity. It also gives voice to Singapore’s youth efforts on the environment and spurs them on to become good global citizens. In support of this initiative, FairPrice will be offering its network of stores to publicise and encourage youths to participate in environmental protection through this web portal.
Also in the pipeline, is a Bulb Replacing Project that will involve FairPrice and Philips staff replacing existing light bulbs with energy-saving ones in the homes of needy families. This initiative aims to foster community togetherness and enable residents to reduce consumption and save on their energy bills.
NTUC FairPrice’s commitment to the environment is a longstanding one and it has worked with many partners, such as the National Environment Agency, to spread environmental consciousness. This latest campaign sees it partner with a private organisation (Phillips) and a non-profit organisation (SEC) and to contribute to environmental sustainability. In addition, it will also work with members of the community, especially the youth, to broaden its partnerships to help the environment.
Philips is a sponsor of the campaign and will be providing prizes and awards for some of the activities under the Green Lifestyle Campaign.
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About Singapore Environment Council
The Singapore Environment Council is a non-government, non-profit organisation, with the status of an Institution of Public Character. The SEC works to promote greater public awareness of the natural environment; to nurture the concern and responsibility of individuals towards it, and to encourage greater involvement in its protection. To do this, the Council aims to co-ordinate environmental promotion and protection activities across the island, working with and encouraging all relevant organisations. In this way it strives to reach as broad a cross-section of the population as possible. To ensure the continual development of this work, the Council researches and develops measures for the promotion and protection of the environment. These are designed so that as many different groups within Singaporean society as possible can adopt them.
