2009
In 2009, SAVE organized the first Earth Hour event successfully by collaborating with Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES) and Office of Estate Development (OED) to have non-essential lights at University Hall, Sports and Recreation Centre, Faculty of Science, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Centre For the Arts and all canteens switched off during Earth Hour. In addition, a candlelight vigil was held, and the letters ‘NUS’ were formed using candle lights on the Sports and Recreation Centre field.
A movie screening was held concurrently to spread the environmental message. The movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, was chosen for a few reasons. Firstly, it conveys the message that current human consumption rate is ecologically and environmentally unsustainable, and we must change in order to survive. Second, there is no environmental movie that has achieved the same level of success as “The Inconvenient Truth” in recent years. Lastly, being a blockbuster that was released just a few months ago, it proved to be a crowd-puller.
2010
Three weeks prior to the event, the Earth Hour Committee set up booths around the campus to spread the message about Earth Hour. NUS Students and staff were asked to help fold an origami lily as a sign of support for the movement and as a personal pledge to cut down on their individual carbon footprint. As a show of collective action amongst the NUS community for environmental action, a total of 2668 lilies were collected. These were planted in the shape of a huge tree on the SRC field on the day of Earth Hour, 27th March 2010, making the Singapore Book of Records for the largest display of origami lilies.
In addition to those who supported Earth Hour through folding the lilies, close to 100 NUS staff and students attended the Earth Hour Count Down held at the University Hall Nexus. Besides the switch off of all non-essential lights at the Sports and Recreation Centre, University Hall and buildings along Lower Kent Ridge Road, the event saw the launch of the Campus in a Tropical Rainforest (CiTR) Programme by Dr Amy Khor, Mayor of Southwest District and the signing of the NUS Students’ Charter for Sustainability in an effort to create long lasting action after the Earth Hour event. Indeed, SAVE received the “Best After Earth Hour Action” title from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The significance of this year’s Earth Hour lie in the support from the NUS Halls of Residences and PGPR who coordinated switch offs at their own hostels in line with the main event as well as the NUS student clubs’ consensus in signing the Student’s Charter. Due to the large scale nature of the switch off and the various technical and safety concerns involved, the event was also only possible with the assistance, support and advice of the Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES), Office of Campus Security (OCS), Office of Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE) and the Office of Estate and Development (OED).