Social Entrepreneurship Forum » Ecology

Piranti Works

Elaine Ng — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:00:46 +0000

OUR SPECIALTY:

The MAGNO Wooden Radio, a beautifully crafted wooden gadget equipped with AM/FM tuning, two shortwave bands receivers and a mp3 player input, is built from sustainably grown wood and blends design elements of both retro and modern minimalist. It stands out against the commonplace plastic products all around us and comes in three sizes.

THE INNOVATION:

Through the production of the MAGNO Wooden Radios and other sustainable products that are made with environmentally responsible materials, designer Singgih Susilo Kartono hopes to improve the economic conditions of his Indonesian village of Kandangan with its local craft industries. He marries the two most abundant resources in the village of wood and labour, and employs 30 villagers who make about 150 handcrafted radios each month.

What’s more, Kartono who seeks to “redefine the relationship between a user and a product”, includes a built-in flaw in the radio: The MAGNO Wooden Radio’s surface is uncoated and has to be oiled periodically to protect the wood. He hopes that this would give the owner of each radio a chance to feel the wood and also to care for it.

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

The MAGNO Wooden Radio is produced under Piranti Works, which was founded by Kartono in 2005. The ingenious design of the company’s products has won several design competitions such as the Japan Good Design Award G-Mark 2008 in the category of Pioneering & Experimental Design as well as the Design Plus Award 2009 (Ambiente-Frankfurt Germany) among others.

Ground Up Initiative (GUI)

Elaine Ng — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:17:07 +0000

OUR SPECIALTY

‘Xin’ is an organic, healthy choice of candy with no artificial colouring or flavouring. Each of the heart-shaped candy also comes in an environmentally friendly packaging. Each pack of 18 sells for sgd$3 and an one kilogram pack costs SGD $48. Bulk orders are welcomed.

THE INNOVATION

‘Xin’ was created as a means to provide work opportunities for socially disadvantaged people as well as to bring a healthier choice of candy to the market.

The production of the candy such as packing and selling the sweets provides work opportunities for the socially disadvantaged such as single mothers and the physically disabled. The ‘Xin’ team works with special needs groups such as the Simei Care Centre, to pack ‘Xin’ candies. Profits are invested back to the social enterprise and/or used for activities and financial funding.

Since lack of work opportunities is the one greatest challenge posed for the socially disadvantaged, purchasing the candy is one way to help them through empowering them economically rather than giving one-off donations. The ‘Xin’ team also hopes to persuade elderly who sell packs of tissue paper in hawker centres to sell the candy too. This way, it earns the elderly an income, helps the disadvantaged and saves the environment all at the same time.

BRIEF BACKGROUND

Ground Up Initiative is a group of young people who want to make a difference to the world they live it. They started out as a flood relief team to Malaysia and never stopped since then. Other than producing Xin candy, the group has since focused on a weekly farming activity aptly named Balik Kampung at Kranji to reconnect youths to earth – understand the value and importance of preserving our environment – through working on it. The latest addition to the group’s activities, in April 2009, is the Sustainable Urban Farms (SURF), an initiative to bring educate and empower city dwellers to for community gardens starting at Bottle Tree Park.

Action

Find out more about how you can get involved in Ground Up Initiative’s Balik Kampung and SURF programmes.

Food#03

Elaine Ng — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:09:13 +0000

OUR SPECIALTY

Fairtrade coffees by the cup or to go. Also, vegetarian food like the somewhat famous Tempeh Burger, which has its own Facebook page. The popular soya patty burger comes with a small side salad and is priced at an affordable $11.90 without GST, just like the other items on the menu.

THE INNOVATION

Most social enterprises usually have a predominant social cause but as a vegetarian and environmentalist himself, owner Woon Tien Wei chooses to focus on green issues though he would not refuse to publicise or support social causes when he is asked to.

A cafe by the day and social activist by the night, Food #03 has hosted and provided support for several social causes and projects in the form of publicity on both its website and by word of mouth, as well as physical space on the second level of the cafe at no costs. One ongoing project is the Soup Kitchen Project which serves vegetarian food to anyone, poor and hungry or not, for free at the cafe every Monday.

Besides being an eco-friendly cafe hidden deep within exotic Little India, the place is also a breeding ground for ideas to happen and groups to gather. Environmental and social groups such as Green Drinks Singapore, Social Enterprise SG and Food not Bombs frequent the cafe for their regular meetings.

BRIEF BACKGROUND

The vegetarian cafe of a social enterprise is the brainchild of Woon Tien Wei, 30, an artist who decided to name the cafe after his last art project, Food #02 last year. Post Museum next door is opened by his wife, Jennifer, and social projects are often jointly organised, if not supported, by the two.

On top of serving eco-friendly and socially conscious food and supporting social causes and groups, the cafe also collects plastic bags and takeaway containers, which will be re-used, and leftover food is given away to friends and the less fortunate around the area. For example, the Really, Really Free Market organised at Post Museum promotes an alternative economy to the current on where wasteful spending is prominent, by encouraging people to bring down things that they do not want anymore and which are in good condition, as well as “shop” for things that might be trash to others but treasure for you.

World Toilet College

liling — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:23:35 +0000

Improving the world one flush at a time!

Dirty toilets attract the wrong crowd

OUR SPECIALTY:

A series of certified sanitation programmes including Restroom Specialist Training Course (RSTC), Sustainable Sanitation Course (SusSan), Restroom Design Course (RDC), School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Course (SSHEC) and Disaster and Emergency Sanitation Course (DESC).

THE INNOVATIVE IDEA:

The first and only brave soul to professionalize the sanitation and restroom industry and ensure that the needs, design, maintenance and cleanliness of restrooms receive mainstream attention. The World Toilet College by the World Toilet Organisation addresses the needs of both the urban and rural toilets in a holistic manner, an essential hygiene problem often overlooked.

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

After attaining financial independence at the age of 40, founder Jack Sim decided to devote the rest of his life to social work. He established the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS) in 1998 to break the taboo of toilet and sanitation and legitimize it for mainstream culture. In 2001, Jack created the World Toilet Organization (WTO) as a global network and service platform wherein the various toilet associations, academia, government, UN agencies and toilet stakeholders can learn from one another and leverage on media and corporate support to influence governments to promote sound sanitation and public health policies.

Later established in 2005, the World Toilet College (WTC) was started as a social enterprise, with the belief that there is need for an independent world body to ensure the best practices and standards in Toilet Design, Cleanliness, and Sanitation Technologies are adopted and disseminated through training.

“Today’s market for sanitation is dysfunctional, mainly due to muted demand and low priority among individuals. Market based approach is required to address the problem at the grass roots level and at a larger scale…”
- Jack Sim, founder, World Toilet Organisation

Contact Details:

Tel: 63528921 / 63529178
Fax: 63521392
Email: info@worldtoilet.org

Address:

19 Toa Payoh West
Singapore 318876

For more information: