The library’s green action team, known as GreenSprouts and more affectionately as the Taugeh team, kicked off the inaugural NUS Libraries Cares for the Environment Week on 6 June, through a series of activities:

• inviting colleagues to undertake an online pledge to perform concrete green actions. These include measures like reducing aircon usage at home, to using less water during mundane tasks as teeth brushing
• soliciting old spectacles from colleagues in a rare but well-received spectacles donation drive
• developing a simple Green Policy that will become the basis of NUS Libraries continued commitment to environmentally-responsible activities
• hosting a mini exhibition that displayed posters on environmental sustainability. A grateful shout-out to NUS Office of Environmental Sustainability for providing most of the artwork
• bringing in Mr Tan Yi Han, co-founder of PM.Haze, to deliver the illuminating “Stop the Haze” talk

A lot of people, I think, went away from Yi Han’s passionate talk armed with a deeper understanding on why haze seems to return to our shores every year without fail, and what we can do on an individual basis to literally #StopTheHaze! For example, because some ordinary household stuff contain raw materials derived from crops that are grown on haze-producing property, consumers can help stop the haze by only buying products that bear the RSPO label. These labels bear testimony that the companies making these products do not engage in destructive slash-and-burn tactics.

Do you have any practical ideas on how we can keep the haze at bay? Share them by leaving a comment on this space. The Taugeh team loves all your feedback!

Meanwhile, click on the photo below to get to our official gallery. Stay tuned. Stay green.