Some months ago, my son volunteered me to be a parent volunteer for one of his school outings. When I say he volunteered me, it means I only found out I was to be a parent volunteer after he told his teacher I would be more than happy to be a parent volunteer.
I decided to take the morning off from work to do it anyway. The boys were brought on a social studies tour of Fort Canning Park and since I grew up playing at this very park in the city when I was in the primary school next door, the trip had extra meaning for me.
I had almost forgotten how lovely Fort Canning is. Lush greenery in the midst of the city, clean air and the sounds of birds (and some cars and construction as well).
It made me feel thankful that we still have pockets of nature here in Singapore, filled with history and stories of Singapore. I think it is awesome to have so many trees in Singapore, kudos to our NParks folks.
So when Kleenex asked me be part of their Forest Stewardship Council campaign, I agreed. All you have to do is to take a pledge to make small changes in your own home that will improve the environment for future generations, at their Facebook page, and for every 20 pledges collected, Kleenex will sponsor the planting of a tree in a local park.
You can make your pledge here: http://mrbrwn.co/1rmGzzw
I made my pledge and also placed a wish on the Wishing Tree.
Some of the little things I pledge to do to save the world (and some I am already doing) is to make sure we don't leave the lights and fans on when we don't use them. My kids know the familiar refrain from their father: "Who left the fan on in the room again?"
It is strange to hear myself saying stuff like this, stuff my father used to say to his sons. I guess it rubs off on you.
I also have a slightly bad habit of grabbing more than one tissue from the tissue box each time. I don't know why I do it. Maybe I think two tissues are better than one. I shall use tissues more sparingly from now on.
My children are also taught not to waste water when they wash their hands or bathe. And from their grandma, my kids learn that water used for washing rice and vegetables can be reused for watering plants.
There are so many more small changes I think we can make to save the environment. Share them here in the comments, and do make a pledge and wish at the Kleenex page.
I'd like to see more trees planted in our little island.
