DBS Bank｜Take you to the highest urban farm in Hong Kong! Promote food recycling

As the global warming intensifies and natural disasters are increasing day by day, all sectors of society are paying more and more attention to issues of environmental protection and sustainable development.

DBS Bank is a dedicated member. They take responsible banking, responsible corporate operations, and creating social influence as the direction of the bank’s sustainable development, and are committed to becoming a mission-oriented bank. .

Among them, the goal is to achieve a low-carbon future, helping the company to move towards the goal of net zero carbon emissions from operations in 2022.

Recently, DBS has cooperated with Taikoo Place and the local social enterprise “Rooftop Republic Urban Farming” (Rooftop Republic Urban Farming), which is fully supported by the DBS Foundation. "The Loop, Island East Centre" farm.

This time, I brought in Leung Wing Wu (Brother Wu), the former Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Amy Hu (Amy), Executive Director of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. and Director of Group Marketing Strategy and Communications, and one of the founders of "Yun Geng Yi Clan" Xu Jia (Andrew) walked everyone into the highest urban farm in Hong Kong to learn how to promote food recycling through rooftop farming and practice sustainable lifestyles.

Photography: Gong Jiasheng

Use office kitchen waste to promote food recycling

As the former assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Wu Ge has always been concerned about the impact of the deterioration of the earth's environment on the climate, and he also knows that human life needs will inevitably consume the earth's resources and cause damage to the natural ecology.

He has always had the habit of farming and farming. He pointed out that farming is one of the most effective ways to alleviate climate warming. Urban farms can effectively promote "Close the loop" and promote food recycling.

He said: "More than 10,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste is sent to landfills in Hong Kong every day, of which food waste accounts for about 30%! In fact, as long as everyone makes a little effort, they can effectively reduce food waste and reduce carbon emissions. It's like. This rooftop farm has complete facilities and diverse crops, and it advocates "zero food waste"." Amy added: "DBS Bank has always been committed to raising the environmental awareness of colleagues. This time it is in the DBS Bank office in the Island East Center. Pantry (pantry) set up a food waste recycling bin to collect colleagues’ food waste. After special treatment, the food waste will be converted into fertilizer and sent to the rooftop farm to grow a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs.” Island East Center The Loop farm can grow more than 30 seasonal crops throughout the year. The 24 kilograms of fresh vegetables harvested for the first time in September have been donated to local food bank Rakuten to help more disadvantaged groups in need.

Wu Ge said that rooftop farms are easier to control the soil composition than normal farmland, and the sunlight for high-altitude planting is relatively sufficient.

From an astronomical point of view, rooftop farms can also reduce the "heat island effect" in the city and cool down the city.

Andrew (left), one of the founders of the "Yun Geng Yi Clan", shared with Wu Ge and Amy that the beginning of the rooftop farm work was the discovery that the rooftop space of many skyscrapers was underutilized, and localized and sustainable agriculture The system is more conducive to the environment than industrialized agriculture.

Swire Properties Taikoo Place General Manager Li Songyan (left), and Amy visit the Hong Kong Island East Centre The Loop, the tallest urban farm in Hong Kong, to promote food waste recycling and reduce carbon footprint.

In addition to the rooftop farm, the DBS Foundation also co-organizes other activities with Taikoo Place to promote sustainable development. Earlier, it invited the "Cloud Farmers" and 4 social enterprises with the Fengsheng Society of Social Enterprise, including co-cooking. Homework, Soapdays, Breer and soil workshops are set up at the Sugar Factory Market Market to encourage everyone to support local agriculture, conscientious consumption and green life.

The vanilla planted in the "Island East Centre The Loop" farm can be made into tea bags and distributed for free at the Sugar Factory Market earlier to promote the concept of "Farm to table".

Amy, Executive Director of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. and Director of Group Promotion Strategy and Communications Department, said that he is very happy to work with Taikoo Place to recycle food waste in the office and turn waste into treasure. He hopes to be able to contact more organizations in the future. Work together to reduce the carbon footprint and expand the "sustainable development" ecosystem.

If you want to know how DBS promotes sustainable development, you can go to https://www.dbs.com.hk/corporate-zh/sustainability to learn more!

(Information provided by the customer)