As a social impact hub, Temasek Shophouse (TSH) has, from the beginning, worked to both encourage and elevate social and environmental initiatives. Care for environmental sustainability is built into our DNA, with our building housing biophilic interiors such as our three-storey high living green wall, and smart technology with energy efficient fixtures.
The importance of our environment and the threat of climate change have come into sharp focus on the national level this year, starting with Parliament debating and passing a historic motion declaring climate change a global emergency. Climate change and its impact have become growing threats to our survival, and it is thus more pressing than ever that we consciously choose to support the preservation of the environment and incorporate sustainability into our lives.
A multi-ministry enterprise, the Singapore Green Plan 2030 was launched earlier this year, detailing a comprehensive list of environmental targets and initiatives that call for collaborative efforts across the 3P (Public, Private, People) sectors.As residents of a social impact hub, we recognise the importance of the sanctity of our environment, and are committed to working towards Temasek’s vision of a sustainable Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) world. Temasek Trust, Temasek Foundation, Stewardship Asia Center and ABC World Asia are collaborating to take ownership of our environmental impact, firstly by accounting for our carbon emissions since TSH’s opening. Doing so would allow us to better understand our carbon footprint, how to reduce it, and where we most need to incorporate sustainability into our corporate practices.
We are also working closely with our staff members to encourage them to join us on this eco journey, and to provide them the support they need to incorporate environmentally-friendly habits into their daily lives. As we move forward, we will also be reaching out to our community and corporate partners, as well as members of the public, to create opportunities for them to join us in this continual learning process. Our digital campaign, #CarbonCopyChallenge, is the first way in which we have begun our outreach this year. The campaign sparked a social media movement that encouraged us to reduce our carbon footprint by copying one small action by a friend (e.g. going meatless, or shopping for second-hand goods, or unplugging unused appliances) and challenging friends by tagging them on social media to do the same and continue the chain. These actions were further encouraged with fun rewards as participants spurred each other on to take up this challenge to reduce their carbon footprint.
At TSH, Sustainability is the central theme of our events and programming from April through August 2021. Through these programmes we aim to engage members of the public in active learning and increased awareness, in a bid to ignite greater conversation and action towards environmental causes, and to encourage everyone to be environmentally active citizens.
Besides the digital movement with #CarbonCopyChallenge, TSH is working on an upcoming programme - Renew Earth Sweat Shop by Post-Museum and artist Veronyka Lau. This programme is created to encourage the community to rethink labour and to engage their help to renew the earth. It began as the Renew Earth Sewing Club in 2017, with a few friends coming together to upcycle discarded fabric. Through a series of community workshops, exhibition, and fashion presentation, they aim to raise awareness and educate the public on ways to address fabric waste and create spaces for people to learn, sew and upcycle together. The series will be held at TSH from May to August 2021, and we look forward to your participation.
As we take active steps towards living more sustainable lives as both individuals and organisations, we look forward to engaging and learning with you in the months to come at TSH. We hope that as we journey forward together more consciously and cohesively, we can attain our goal of ensuring a more sustainable world for future generations.
