Fwd: THE GPPN CUPS ISSUE

[Sue Helen]

Hi people, 

I think some of you already know the issue but if not this is a summary: there was a proposal to the GPPN committee to try to go as clean as possible and reduce waste. Unfortunately, we didn´t think about it in time to make it a "statement" and some people were afraid that If we didn´t do it all the way we´ll look like hipocrits. The idea was to minimize waste by providing reusable cups, but there are concerns with implementation issues, like people not keeping their cups, like looking like hipocrits by asking them to reuse cups but giving them hard copies of the welcome pack, a notebook, and the use of plastic plates (reusable plates would be too much of a hassle) Anyway this is the idea that we´re discussing right now, the  GPPN committee hasn´t agreed but I think we need to decide now If we would go for it because of time constrains. I´m fowarding the email I sent to GPPN, let me know your thoughts on it, 

Sue  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sue Helen <zueh...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 1:00 PM
Subject: THE GPPN CUPS ISSUE
To: Midhfa Naeem <mid...@gmail.com>, Natasha Godinho <natasha...@gmail.com>, Nirmali Ruth Sivapragasam <nir...@nus.edu.sg>, Tan Yen Zi <tany...@nus.edu.sg>, Rafael Barreto Souza <rbarret...@gmail.com>, Victoria Soelle <vso...@gmail.com>, Meryl Haddad <meryl...@gmail.com>


Dear all, 

I´m sorry I´m writing this until now, you know crazy assignments time. Anyway I though about a way to solve the issue with the cups that could satisfy both sides. The basic idea is to acknowledge how hard it is to go green even when you believe is the right thing to do, so it would basically be something like this: 

1) We make it like a "challenge/campaign" we call it One cup at a time or something catchy (sorry, creativity is not really my thing)

2) When I make the introductory remarks, I talk about how we wanted the conference to be as clean/green as possible (minimizing our waste) and we realized how hard / uncomfortable nor just for us but for the participants it would be. But because we believe change is about the small feasible things we can do, and because if we expect to see policy changes we should be willing to make changes in our lifestyle, we decided to incorporate it in the conference by "challenging" the participants to test their ability to contribute in making small behavioral changes. So we are giving them a cup to use during the tea sessions and lunches to help us reduce waste and to test their willingness to contribute. Also because we´re not naive and we´re policy students who believe people respond to incentives everyone who is able to keep their cup, will exchange it for a Singapore´s souvenir at the closing event. 

So the implementation would be something like this: 

1) We give them the cup in the welcome bags

2)We have the support from the environmental committee in two ways: 

- The environmental committee is the one that buys the cups and keep them for the other events.  

- People from the environmental committe could be around during the conference to help get the cups lost by people. 

3) Victoria and me looked at the cheap Singapore´s souvernirs at Mustafa, we can give them bookmarks ($2) we can think about Kaya toast too I think we can get cheap ones at fair price too. 

I´m copying Rafael here and forwarding the email to the environmental committee subject to your approval. Let me know what you think since we´d need to buy the stuff Wednesday at the latest. I think we can decide: 

1) We say is too complicated and forget about it (bad for the environment but easy for us :P) 

2) We buy the cups without the whole "challenge" thing and have backups (extra cups) in case people lose them 

3)We go for the "challenge" or some modified version of it.   

Night!

Sue 

[Rafael Barreto Souza]

Sue,

Just clarifying, would GPPN buy the welcome package reusable cups with some sort of logo, and the Environmental Cmte only get the extra (non-logo) cups as backups in case people forget/loose their cups during meal times? Or are you guys proposing that the Environmental Cmte buys all the cups?

I am just concerned about cost. If we are getting the simple non-logo backup cups, we shouldn't spend more than SGD 70.00 max., and I personally think that should fine. It's a green initiative in  a LKY student event and the Cmte has the mandate to step in and help financially, besides it wouldn't be a lot of money. However, if we were to bear the cost for the whole thing, we would have to take a closer look into how much it would cost us and how much money the Cmte be left with for the following semester.

Best,

Rafael

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 3:09 AM, Sue Helen <zueh...@gmail.com> wrote:

ople, 

I think some of you already know the issue but if not this is a summary: there was a proposal to the GPPN committee to try to go as clean as possible and reduce waste. Unfortunately, we didn´t think about it in time to make it a "statement" and some people were afraid that If we didn´t do it all the way we´ll look like hipocrits. The idea was to minimize waste by providing reusable cups, but there are concerns with implementation issues, like people not keeping their cups, like looking like hipocrits by asking them to reuse cups but giving them hard copies of the welcome pack, a notebook, and the use of plastic plates (reusable plates would be too much of a hassle) Anyway this is the idea that we´re discussing right now, the  GPPN committee hasn´t agreed but I think we need to decide now If we would go for it because of time constrains. I´m fowarding the email I sent to GPPN, let me know your thoughts

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Rafael Barreto Souza

[Sue Helen]

Just the cups, since we could use them for our other events, normal cups no logos but yeah, all the non logo cups, basically the budget you gave to Victoria. (Or Anna did, don´t remember exactly)  

GPPN committee hasn´t decided yet, they still have the same concerns about implementation and coherence. But it would be good to know the EC stand on it, because of time constraints. 

[Rafael Barreto Souza]

Yeah, it was me. A total of 120 reusable cups is SGD 78.00 in Ikea. I am for it. It's a good initiative and any cups left could be reused in the future Cmte's events.

Lets wait until the end of the day to see what the others have to say. 

Please express your opinions!

Best,

Rafael

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 12:52 PM, Sue Helen <zueh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Just the cups, since we could use them for our other events, normal cups no logos but yeah, all the non logo cups, basically the budget you gave to Victoria. (Or Anna did, don´t remember exactly)  

GPPN committee hasn´t decided yet, they still have the same concerns about implementation and coherence. But it would be good to know the EC stand on it, because of time constraints. 

--
Rafael Barreto Souza

[Udisha Saklani]

I think its a great idea.It doesn't cost the Environment Committee a lot of money and GPPN is a good place for starting such initiatives.I'm up for it.

Udisha

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[Carolina Lima]

We have enough money to get cups, and we can either donate them to the canteen, either use them for future events.

So let's wait for the gppn comm decision, I agree that the coherence is an issue, but we don't need to be radical and don't have any disposable cups, we can have both and people can choose..

Carol

Sent from my iPad

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[Anna Jos]

I am all for it. It's sends out a good message, and not too expensive for the environmental committee.
I particularly like the challenging participants bit. We could explain to the participants how 'among educated people lack of environmental awareness is not a shortcoming, but loss of comfort is something that hinders our attempts to be more environment friendly at an individual and collective level. We at lky would like to take it as a social challenge to be ready to lose comfort. You as an individual can challenge your own need for comfort during the conference. For this, we introduce to you what we call 'a social experiment in plastic cups'! (Or something that sounds better).
Maybe we could even ask them to opt between notebooks n loose sheets of paper reminding them, to pick what they 'need'.

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[Lucy Heffern]

Good idea! 

Sent from my iPhone

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[Carolina Lima]

Guys, I think it is a great idea, but for the next time. We don't have enough time , gppn is in 3 days. Also, we already have a coherence issue, we can't challenge participants if we are serving food on disposable plates, giving them a welcome package with printed material etc... It does not make sense to challenge people if we haven't prepared a strategy in order to do so. But we definitely should keep the idea for next events. And I still think we can get the cups anyways...people can use them if they want, but we don't need to do a campaign around that and risk to be controversial.

Carol

Sent from my iPad

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[Rafael Barreto Souza]

Carol,

Old habits die hard. We are taking the first stand against plastic cups and trying to implement environmental awareness, but we are doing it gradually therefore we are keeping the plates and cutlery. As long as we state that it is a first step and that changing the culture in plastic-addicted Singapore is a challenge, I don't think we would look hypocritical.

Best,

Rafael

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Carolina Lima <caroli...@gmail.com> wrote:

le can use them if they want, but we don't need to do a campaign around that and risk to be controversial.

Carol

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Rafael Barreto Souza

[Carol]

I still think that we will, and we did not planned anything. GPPN is an important event for LKY, we need to be very careful. I totally agree that we should buy the cups but not doing a "campaign" right now, mainly because of time constraints. Encouraging people to use the cups is better than nothing. 

However, if you guys have an idea on how to implement the campaign in 3 days, pls share and we can present to gppn comm.

Cheers!

Sent from my iPhone

[Rafael Barreto Souza]

Everyone,

Since everyone agreed with getting the reusable cups, I will buy them tomorrow and bring Carol the receipts, ok?

Best,

Rafael

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 8:07 PM, Carol <caroli...@gmail.com> wrote:

, and we did not planned anything. GPPN is an important event for LKY, we need to be very careful. I totally agree that we should buy the cups but not doing a "campaign" right now, mainly because of time constraints. Encouraging people to use the cups is better than nothing. 

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Rafael Barreto Souza