COCA-COLA SINGAPORE, SCOUTS & PUB
SET 5% REDUCTION TARGET IN HOUSEHOLD WATER USAGE
ISLAND-WIDE WITH “LIVE POSITIVELY WATER BADGE” SCHEME

SINGAPORE, 21 March 2010 – On the eve of World Water Day, Coca-Cola Singapore, the Singapore Scout Association and the PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, today launched the “LIVE POSITIVELY Water Badge”, a scheme that aims to reduce the water consumption of 3,000 Singapore families by 5% over the next three months.

The new badge scheme for Scouts was unveiled this morning at World Water Day celebrations at Marina Barrage by Minister of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. A total of 3,000 Cub Scouts from primary schools island-wide will participate in the first phase of the scheme which kicks off today.

Coca-Cola believes this badge scheme will help to inculcate the importance of water conservation in youths and make them the catalysts for change within their families and communities. Scouts have always been taught to lead by example and this programme will help them to do just that with the conservation of precious water resources in Singapore.

To educate the Cub Scouts on water conservation, Coca-Cola worked with PUB to produce an informative Scout Quest Book which provides important tips on using water wisely, reading the utilities bill as well as the water meter. It also gives the Scouts an insight into how Coca-Cola Singapore saves water in its production processes.

Under the scheme, Cub Scouts will make use of the water saving tips they have learnt from the Quest Book and monitor their utilities bills for a period of three months. They will monitor and plot a monthly graph of their three-month home water usage in the Scout Quest Book. An overall 5% reduction in household water usage will earn them a “LIVE POSITIVELY Water Badge”.

The “LIVE POSITIVELY Water Badge” is one of the over 30 proficiency badges that can be earned by Scouts through fulfilling a list of periodically updated requirements for the various badges. The purpose of the proficiency badge programme is to allow Scouts to examine subjects of interest to them to determine if they would like to further pursue them as a career, a vocation, or a hobby. Originally, the programme also introduced Scouts to the life skills of contacting an adult volunteer, arranging a meeting and then demonstrating their skills, similar to a job or college interview. Increasingly though, proficiency badges are earned in a class setting at troop meetings and camps.

Antonio Del Rosario, General Manager of Coca-Cola Singapore and Malaysia said, “We are excited to launch the “LIVE POSITIVELY Water Badge”. Because of the importance of water to life, communities and our business as a beverage company, Coca-Cola has long been a strong supporter of programmes to help conserve and manage water resources. With this initiative, we are pleased to use our expertise in marketing and communications to share tips on water sustainability in a lively and engaging way with the Scouts. ”

Tan Cheng Kiong, Chief Commissioner of the Singapore Scout Association, said, “We believe this badge scheme will help Cub Scouts learn more about saving water and hopefully they can become water ambassadors in their own homes. We are happy that Coca-Cola and PUB are supporting us to impart important life skills to young people.”

Under its LIVE POSITIVELY commitment, The Coca-Cola Company aims to make a positive difference in the world by ensuring that sustainability is part of everything it does. In its global commitment to water stewardship, the goals of the Company in the area of water stewardship are as follows:

• The Coca-Cola Company aims to return to communities and nature an amount of water equivalent to what is being used in all of its beverages and its production facilities.
  
  
• The Coca-Cola Company has set a target of 20% improvement in water efficiency by 2012 as compared to its baseline figure achieved in 2004.
  
  
• The Coca-Cola Company will align its entire global system with stringent waste water treatment standards which require returning all water that is being used in its manufacturing processes to the environment at a level that supports aquatic life by the end of 2010.

The Coca-Cola Company will expand its support of healthy watersheds and sustainable community water programmes to balance the water used in its finished beverages. In Singapore, the Coca-Cola bottling plant has also successfully improved its water use ratio through water saving programmes and water conservation teams.

Since 2005, Coca-Cola has been involved in more than 250 community water partnerships in 70 countries to support locally relevant initiatives, such as watershed protection, expanding community drinking water and sanitation access, agricultural water use efficiency, and education and awareness programmes.

Some of Coca-Cola’s prominent water stewardship programmes include a US$20 million multi-year partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to conserve seven of the world’s most critical fresh water basins, cleaning up shorelines around the world under the International Coastal Cleanup programme, and a US$30 million commitment over the next five years to provide access to safe drinking water to communities throughout Africa through its Replenish Africa Initiative. Closer to home, Coca-Cola also helps bring clean water to underserved communities in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China.

In order to lead Cub Scouts through the “LIVE POSITIVELY Water Badge” scheme, 100 Scout leaders will be undergoing training on topics such as water conservation and local water initiatives at the NEWater Visitor Centre in Bedok. These Scout leaders are teachers who are in-charge of Cub Scouts in their respective primary schools.

The half-day session will be conducted by Justin Ng, a 24 year-old Scout Leader who has been trained by PUB as a Volunteer of Water and is using his skills to equip others. The 100 Scout leaders will also learn about what Coca-Cola Singapore has been doing to save water locally and globally. PUB will be on board too as they educate the leaders on local water knowledge and issues.