Squishy Science for the Youngsters

Posted by on April 26, 2011 No comments

Electronics for little kids- absolutely. Anne Marie Thomas shares how she put play dough together with circuit building to teach her toddler about electricity.

Systems Thinking with the Xavier Boys

Posted by on March 27, 2011 No comments

The greatest inventors and inventions of our time are necessarily systems- just for the fact that it is not a single invention, but an integration of many inventions that work harmoniously together. Systems such as how water, food, or electricity is delivered, how private and public transport keep a city humming, how computers and telecom interface with finance, healthcare, or even music, is not just about being creative or having a great idea. It is serious discipline of thought and requires an extraordinary ability to see emergent properties before they actually happen.

As the boys embarked on their project to come up with some systems solutions for Manila’s green problems, they tried their best to learn from what Singapore has done. Being a small city-state, every square foot of land is precious and planning is essential to ensure a certain quality of life.

Planning a City

Managed Growth

What works better than Color Coding? Charging motorists based on Use

Greenifying the Cities of the World

After a mere 6 days of intensive work and play, the boys presented their ideas at Pioneer Junior College. Although the ideas were not entirely original (is there anything new under the sun after all?), the thought behind the business plans showed that they were indeed thinking in terms of systems and applied it well in local terms. Indeed, everyone put on great work, showing good detail, planning, and market potential. However, of the six, one in particular stood out.

The main reason for their win is due to what Howard Shaw (Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council) said when he met with them. “The purpose of SEC is to educate, to assist, and to inspire government, society and industry. It is easy to educate. It is not that hard to assist. But it is very difficult to inspire.” Truly, what the green movement requires now is a change of heart, a change in behaviour, and what the group presented may not work, but in it are definitely the seeds that can inspire large-scale change.

For us, we are inspired by all their ideas (even those that did not get mentioned in presentation), energy, and willingness to do something better. We look forward to seeing their work in the future.

(All photos by Jonard Koa)

Water is Precious: Don’t be a Drip!

Posted by on March 23, 2011 No comments

Love this cartoon by Robert Zimmerman that reminds us of the silly ways in which we waste water. As the population of the world approaches the 7 billion mark, we are exacting unprecedented tolls on the earth’s resources, the most precious of which is water. Potable (drinkable) water may seem plentiful in urban households where all it takes is turning a tap, but in most of the rural areas of the world, it takes a lot of energy just to get one (1) jerry can full.

As usual, the biggest wasters are Americans, who find it natural to leave the water running when brushing their teeth or when soaping down/shampooing in the shower. Never having really experienced what it is like to have no water or electricity (not just for a period of time but as a way of life), the average American uses about 150 gallons of water to wash their car. Consider that in Asia, you can do the same with 2-3 buckets (less than 10 gallons) of water and have it just as clean. Having said that, it is not just the Americans that need to learn to conserve. We all do. It’s our planet and we need to take responsibility and care for it, (regardless of what other people do but shame on them anyway).

Interestingly, one of the best ways to conserve water is to buy recycled goods. Why? Because it takes a lot of water to produce goods. For instance, it takes about 100 gallons of water to grow and process a single pound of cotton. That should make you rethink what’s in your closet and what else you really need to jam into it.

Another interesting way to save a lot of water is to eat less meat and drink less coffee. Both use up a lot of water in processing, with a single cup of coffee needing 55 gallons of water to make (although most of that H2O is used to grow the coffee beans).

Every little bit counts when it comes to water, both conserving it and figuring out ways to save run-offs from the rain to water our plants and gardens. As more and more of us live on planet earth, we need to start making concessions when it comes to our unsustainable lifestyle of convenience and instant gratification. Seven (7) billion shouldn’t be a scary number if we can truly live and let live.