Apart from having a recycling corner, the school has been very active in ensuring that its students are well aware of the need for recycling. Waste Recycling talks are held yearly so that students do not forget the importance of recycling.

In order to further instill the need for recycling amongst students, the Green Club organizes a yearly Waste Recycling competition. A total of about 4 tonnes of recycled material was collected just from the competition held last year.

Dunman Secondary has a good partnership with Altvater Jakob and was selected to be the school in which Altvater Jakob chose to launch their SMART programme in 2004. The school worked closely with Altvater Jakob to develop the school's own waste recycling programme which resulted in an increased collection of recyclable material from the students and staff alike. Recycling bins both given by Alvater Jakob and purchased by the school are strategically placed around the school to maximize the collection of recyclable materials.

Recycled materials are not only contributed by the students but by the staff, parents and canteen vendors as well. Even the cleaners play an important role in recycling.

The school was awarded a Commendation Prize by NEA for its waste recycling efforts during the Schools Clean and Green Week in 2004 and the Gold Award for the Waste Recycling Competition organized by NEA in 2005.

Our Green Club Chairperson receiving the Sustained Award from Mr Hawazi Daipi

1. Garden Roof Project

Dunman Secondary is the first school in Singapore to install a garden roof in its premises. A project team comprising of students and teachers was formed to look into the use of the garden roof to help reduce the ambient temperature of the classrooms in the upper most floor.

The project team found that the garden roof was able to reduce the ambient temperature of the classroom by almost 2 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the team found that the garden roof also helped the reduce the noise level in the classroom during rainy days.

Another garden roof was also installed next to one of the classrooms to reduce the reflected heat in the classroom.Dunman Secondary has shared its findings with several schools and organizations including St Hilda's Primary, CHIJ Kellock, Singapore Airlines, Senoko Power, AFPD Pte Limited, National Parks Board and Singapore Polytechnic.

2. Bioplastics Project from Waste Paper - Degradation of Cellulose Project

The school began research on creating bioplastics from waste paper through the degradation of cellulose. The project aims to create a cheaper method of making bioplastics through the use of waste paper. The students involved in the project made a presentation to Singapore Airlines to request for funding. With Singapore Airline's support, the project was exhibited at NEA's School's Clean and Green Week carnival in 2005 and was awarded 3rd placing in the Enviro-Innovate Competition.
The project is still on-going as research takes time but we are hopeful that a major breakthrough can be made sometime in the near future.

Mr Djeng, Assistant Manager from Singapore Airlines' Safety, Security and Environment Division with Reguram and Yen Kheng during the Schools' Clean and Green Week Carnival in 2005.

3. Student Initiated Projects as part of IPW

Some of the other environmental projects which were carried out by the students include :

1. Making recycled paper for Art classes

2. Study on the Habitat of the Mudskipper

3. Study on the Use of Compost for Plants

The school participated in NEA's Recycling Day outreach to the community together with our Public Waster Collector Altvater Jaokb at Tampines East CC in 2004. Dunman Secondary set up a games booth to educate (in a fun way) residents who visited the carnival on what items can and cannot be recycled.

Recycling Day 2005

Dunman Secondary co-hosted Recycling Day 2005 together with NEA and to promote the message of recycling, the students and staff formed the longest chain of plastic bottles in Singapore consisting of 25,500 plastic bottles collected from the Tampines neighbourhood, and spanning a total length of 5.5 km.

The longest chain of plastic bottles in Singapore (25,500 bottles spanning 5.5 km) - Dunman's effort to increase environmental awareness in the Tampines neighbourhood.

Dr Yacoob Ibrahim, Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Mr Ong Kian Min, MP for Tampines GRC, Mrs Edelweis Neo, Andre and Manasi launching Recycling Day 2005.

NEA - CIP Video

As part of the school's drive to promote recycling in school as well as around the neighbourhood, our students participated in a NEA sponsored video on recycling as a CIP. The video featured our students going around the neighbourhood to collect recyclable materials and educating the residents on recycling in the process.

CNBC - Interview on Recycling

Mrs Edelweis Neo, our principal was featured in the programme by CNBC Asia in Mar 06 on Green Money - Recycling in Singapore. She spoke about how recycling is promoted in school and the influence it can have on changing the mindset of Singaporeans towards recycling.

Overseas Visits

A Dunman Secondary students visited Ichnomiya Junior High School in Chiba Prefecture as part of an exchange programme sponsored by the Singapore Environment Council. During the trip, the students shared with the Japanese students on their experience in carrying out the Green Audit and how it helps raise environmental awareness amongst students in the school.

Our students also featured in Newsweek magazine in Japan.

Reducing the schools electrical consumption was also looked into by the Green Club. Working together with the school management, the Green Club introduced various measures to help reduce energy consumption in the school. Some of these measures include :

• Using only half of the hall lights during assembly
• Restricting the use of air-conditioned rooms to large class sizes.
• Using timer switches for the TV broadcast system as well as the air-conditioners in the staff room.
• Reminders placed in every classroom to switch off the fans, lights and electrical equipment when not in use.

The school tries to increase environmental awareness amongst students by incorporating environmental topics within the lessons. Some examples are :

• using recycled material to make art pieces
• paper making
• discussing environmental issues as part of English, social studies and geography lessons.
• encouraging students to adopt environmental research or projects as part of the Inter-disciplinary Project Work. Some examples of this are (i) the students study of the habitat of the mudskipper, (ii) the students study on the effect of using recycled water for fish tanks.

The school also organizes visits to various environmental related places such as the NEWater plant, Garden and Landscape Nursery in Diary Farm Road, Recycling plants, Chek Jawa etc.

Other involvement:

Dunman Secondary students also participated in the following events organized by NEA:

• the National Environment Quiz organized by NEA and Nan Hua Secondary.
• the Environmental Champions programme
• Waste recycling competition
• Adopt-A-School programme with Singapore Airlines