Published 31 March 2022 ● Last Updated on 31 March 2022
Detailed posters depicting the impact of various projects from Secondsguru’s 5th and the 6th Zero Waste Bootcamp are on display in a “Traveling Exhibition” across public spaces in Singapore to spur youth and members of the community to come together and take collective action. The exhibition is on at the Jurong Regional Library till the end of April 2022. It moves to Geylang East Public Library in May and stays there till end June, 2022 before heading over to the next public space for display.
Follow us on FB and Instagram to track the journey of the exhibition.
Our baby steps towards creating a world made up of more environmentally responsible individuals has borne fruit – our Zero Waste Bootcamp (ZWB) wrapped up its 6th edition in December 2021. When we launched the programme in 2019 in alignment with Singapore’s “Year Towards Zero Waste”, little did we know that these tiny drops would end up making a mark in the mighty ocean. The objective of the bi-annual ZWB has always been to encourage environmental stewardship amongst youth and to equip them with skills and knowledge to embrace more sustainable lifestyles themselves. After the wrap up of the 6th round, we have over 125 alumni who have contributed positively towards making this world a better place. Together with the youth teams, we have cumulatively organised over 40 community events and forged more than 50 collaborations with like minded eco partners to live the dream of a more sustainable future. We are really proud that the collective impact of the bootcamp projects since inception stands at an impressive 23k + touch points in the community in Singapore.
The Bootcamp is a conscious attempt by Secondsguru to harness youth power and converge their abundant energy towards creating a future ready, resilient and sustainable Singapore. It is structured to equip participants with skills and knowledge, to group them with like-minded individuals, to pair them with partner non-profits – so they can craft and execute meaningful projects. Once the projects wrap up, the journey of each team is converted to a poster and exhibited at public spaces in Singapore. These posters have been moving around Singapore in a ‘Traveling Exhibition’ since May 2021-having been at 7 venues in less than 12 months!
Why an Art Exhibition?
1. Well, each project was crafted and executed carefully by the respective team as deftly as an artist creates a piece of art.
2. We have noticed that sharing real examples by real people is an impactful way to get more to join the environment sustainability and social sustainability movement.
Want to know more about the bi-annual bootcamp’s format? Simply click here. To sign up, complete this registration of interest form and we will be in touch with details, when the next bootcamp is ready for launch. Still have questions, mail us at bootcamp@secondsguru.com.
The 6th Zero Waste Bootcamp
Change begins with us! This is a powerful statement that we love and live by at Secondsguru, and when this change blooms from the youth of the country, then we can be sure that the world is well on its path to transformation. The 6th Zero Waste Bootcamp saw 5 teams undeterred by ever-changing COVID restrictions – adapting their plans to benefit the larger community as they went about trying to solve an eco-problem for a local not-for-profit entity. The teams worked on myriad projects to benefit the community and the environment; the projects ranging from creating a composting hub to addressing waterway pollution, to raising awareness about waste management and creating healthy food bundles. In this article, we highlight all of the teams, their projects and the posters from #ZWB6 so our readers can get a broad view of the scope of issues which were addressed.
Team 5 FoodPrints
[*Partnering the team in this initiative was National Parks – Hort Parks*]
Composting is a sustainable way to utilize food waste. The best part: the resultant soil is often compared to gold because it is so very rich in nutrients or, as some may call it, plant food. Delving on the very benefits of composting and the use of this black gold was Team 5 FoodPrints. The team comprised Sanjeeb Mohapatra, an environmental researcher, Aana Agarwal, an urban planner, Bagas Danara, a business analyst, Dijin Wee, an occupational therapy student and Sya Kassim, a teacher. They started off by learning about the different methods of composting, and then conducted awareness programmes for 40+ members of the public on how to start their own composting as well as the benefits of the humus. These programmes that were run online garnered a lot of attention and sign ups! Today, composting has turned into a part of the team members’ daily routine.
The team also supported the set-up of a centralized composting hub at Hortpark. The future plan is to encourage food establishments and offices in the area to contribute to this centralized compost hub and share the “black gold” produced in the process among themselves and the wider community.
Food for the Soul
[*The Bootcamp team supported Foodbank with their efforts*]
Food is among the basic necessities for life to sustain but did you know that 1 in 10 people in our small island nation are food insecure? Missed meals, malnutrition and hunger can lead a society as a whole to deterioration because what you eat is what you are since the gut is your second brain. To change this situation, curtail the number of people that go hungry and to promote healthy eating, Food for the Soul had some novel ideas. They promoted healthy eating habits through social media campaigns and nutritional quizzes via Food Bank and Secondsguru’s social media channels. They also suggested a healthier food bundle for just $20 per beneficiary for the corporate sponsors of Food Bank. This healthier bundle has been designed to include fresh vegetables from local farms, enabling a healthy eating lifestyle along with providing food security. This team that consisted of Tan Wan Lin, a student, Meena Ganesh, a supply chain analyst, Nicole Too, a student, Chu Yao Min, an admin assistant and Samantha Lei, a corporate trainee.
Green Tummies
[*Food From the Heart, partnered with Green tummies on this project*]
A team that strongly believes you should order only as much as you can eat, Green Tummies includes three students, Tan Li, Wang Haomin and Suhaimi B Razali. These three musketeers helped Food From the Heart (FFTH) amplify their annual “Clean Plate Campaign” to raise awareness about food wastage. Half the world is wasting food not paying heed to the fact that the other half is often going to bed on an empty stomach. If we need to change this dire situation each one of us has to become mindful of what and how we eat. It is imperative to order only as much as you would need, share the extra portions if any. This is a pledge that the campaign urges everyone to take. Through their campaign the team was were able to channel 200+ unique visitors to the FFTH website and widen the campaign’s social media presence by reaching out to 3500+ individuals. Over 40 interest groups and individuals also partnered with them and committed to be long term supporters of the annual campaign.
Super Mario Bros
[*PAssion WaVe, Marina Bay was the partnering organisation that provided the Super Mario Bros the platform to achieve their aims*]
If we need to protect this world some swift action is required to reduce the usage of single use plastics and Super Mario Bros, a team consisting of 5 students, Benedict Yeu, Tay Wan Ting, Matthew Tan, Tiffany Tan and Huiling Tan worked on just that. Apart from creating a training video on how to clean water bodies and safely remove plastic waste while kayaking, they also created training material and Instagram filters to depict the dangers of plastic to marine life and the environment. The team members also conducted two cleanup drives in which the debris retrieved include tobacco packets, plastic straws and bags, facial masks, plastic wrappers, canned drinks, plastic bottles. The goal of this group of bright students was to educate people about single use disposables, the right method of disposal and encouraging communities to involve themselves in clean up activities.
The Little Acorn
[*The team worked with PAssion WaVe, Sembawang to create awareness about littering and correct recycling in Singapore*]
In their bid to create awareness about littering and waterways pollution, the student team of Jianing Wang, Kenneth Tan, Prachi Goenka, Isaac Tay, Jiaxu Zhong, conducted 5 park clean-ups from which they gathered ~25 kgs of waste. Supported by PAssion WaVe, these young minds have conducted several online workshops reaching over 10K audiences through social media. With the help of 54 volunteers from the community, the clean up campaigns in Sembawang park were well received and written about in the media.
Want to know more about the bi-annual bootcamp’s format? Simply click here. To sign up, complete this registration of interest form and we will be in touch with details, when the next bootcamp is ready for launch. Still have questions, mail us at bootcamp@secondsguru.com.
Related Articles:
Zero Waste Bootcamp| How 5 youth-led initiatives created meaningful impact in Singapore
0 Comments