Environmental Awareness- My personal take

The Positive Message of 'Love the Environment' at I Light Marina Bay 2012 Festival

I believe to gain grounds on environmental awareness across the mass public requires cities to reach out to the public in creative ways other than broadcasted as oppressing issues on prime time news. Through the years, I have learned about environmental issues from seeing images of natural disaster around the world on prime time news and this has made me afraid of the future of our environment. As a result, over time I have shunned myself from the realization of environmental issues. However, the ‘I light Marina Bay’ festival in Singapore has made learning about environmental sustainability a lighter note.

Other than public awareness of environmental issues through prime time news, I think government need to invest in more creative communication channels within the local context of the community to reach out to the public. In addition, I believe environmental issues should be showcased to the public in a more positive light that engages the public rather than to make them afraid. The ‘I light Marina Bay festival’ in Singapore is a great example as it is able to reach out to individuals of all ages and educational background. Environmental awareness is communicated to the public through art installations that promote the exploration of energy efficient technologies. In addition, sustainability programs are set up for the public to explore sustainability in different ways such as ‘I Light Laughter’ story-telling, ‘Switch it’ painting workshop, and ‘Tip Me’ competition to allow the public to share ideas on energy efficiency tips. 

It provides a positive and fun experience that eases people into both environmental issues and current explorations in tackling them. Most importantly, I believe festival and events like this provides a positive and pragmatic experience that demonstrates to the public how they can make a difference in a local scale. For example, simply turning off their lights in their home more often or switching to more energy efficient lighting technologies. 

Image source

http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/love-is-very-much-in-the-air-at-i-light-marina-bay-2012/