As the flagship community outreach event by Secondsguru, the Zero Waste Bootcamps began in 2019 aligned with the “Year Towards Zero Waste” in Singapore.
What is the Zero Waste Bootcamp?
The Zero Waste Bootcamp (ZWB) is a 12-16 week programme where youth (aged 18-35 years old) team up, create and execute sustainability projects. The ZWB not only encourages environmental stewardship, but also fosters the development of creative solutions to environmental and social problems we face in Singapore today. Moreover, the ZWB equips youth with skills and knowledge to craft meaningful projects with sustainable impacts, giving them the opportunity to gain mentorship in their engagement with Secondguru’s founders as well as partner not-for-profit organisations.
How much do the youth participants pay?
Nothing in $, they pay via their time and commitment! The 1st four bootcamps (March 2019- 2020) were powered by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the bootcamps November 2020 onwards are powered by National Youth Council (NYC).
To sign up for the next bootcamp, complete this registration of interest form.
What participants can expect at the Zero Waste Bootcamp
The ZWB consists of 3 distinct sections: a 1 day kick-off event, execution of projects and a final review. The 1 day kick-off event is where participants meet and bond with their teammates, and begin to brainstorm solutions to local environmental sustainability issues in collaboration with partner organisations. After presenting their ideas, teams move on to roll out their action plans in the community for 12-16 weeks. Monthly review sessions are carried out with Secondsguru to ensure that teams are on track. Finally to conclude, the teams present their results and learning in the final review session, and the team with the best executed project gets a grant and other eco-prizes!
Participants can look forward to becoming certified Green Ambassadors, gain skills and knowledge to carry out a sustainability project and connect with other talented youth in Singapore. Their journey and projects will be showcased posters and displayed in a traveling exhibition in Singapore – here’s the showcase of the latest bootcamp cohort, which is currently moving through The National Library network!
If you’re looking to be an agent of change towards a more sustainable Singapore, join our Zero Waste Bootcamp (ZWB) where you not only learn about Singapore’s waste-scape, but also gain skills to carry out a meaningful project in the community! Indicate your interest here or scan this QR code
All photographs from previous ZWBs can be found on our Facebook albums page here.
A big thanks to all our partners who have supported Secondsguru as we work hard to make the Bootcamps happen year after year!
The Zero Waste Bootcamp Journey!
Since 2019, 9 Zero Waste Bootcamps have taken place thus far. Our cohorts have included working professionals as well as college students. In all, over 210 participants enrolled in the past 9 bootcamps, joining/ organising 85+ community events, and forging 120+ collaborations with a range of partners, sparking a cascading impact as they generated nearly 190K touch points through online and in-person outreach.
A broad scope of zero waste issues have been addressed in previous iterations of the ZWB, ranging from food waste to over-consumption of disposables to unsustainable fashion and so forth.
- ZWB #9 – Our 9th Zero Waste Bootcamp – Sep 2023 to Jan 2024 edition – saw 24 youth coming together to develop and implement 4 eco+social projects. Their projects involved setting up edible planters, promoting repair culture, advocating correct recycling practices and combating food insecurity respectively. See the details here.
- ZWB #8 – Our 8th Zero Waste Bootcamp – Feb to May 2023 edition – saw 32 youth coming together to develop and implement 6 eco+social projects. In a bid against issues ranging from unsustainable fashion to waterway pollution to food insecurity, the teams reached out to the community through a combination of physical and virtual events. See the details here.
- ZWB #7 – Our 7th Zero Waste Bootcamp – May to Sept 2022 edition – saw 24 youth taking on the challenge to craft and execute 5 eco+social projects, working hard to organise physical and virtual events to engage the larger community. See the details here.
- ZWB #6 – Our 6th Zero Waste Bootcamp – Sept to Dec 2021 edition – saw our 5 youth teams undeterred by ever-changing Covid restrictions, adapting their plans to carry out a mix of virtual and physical sessions to engage the larger community. Under the guidance of Secondsguru and a panel of mentors, the teams retained the essence of community-centric outreach, achieving the dual goal of environmentally and socially sustainable projects. See the details here.
- ZWB #5 – Our 5th Zero Waste Bootcamp – Nov 2020 to March 2021 edition – was also a mix of virtual and physical segments owing to Covid. See the details here.
Highlights of the winning projects from the bootcamp thus far:
- ZWB #9 – Repair| Working with Project Partner Repair Kopitiam, team Revamp Champs picked up skills on how to repair electrical appliances at specialised workshops. They have put these skills to good use at Repair Kopitiam events as well as other public outreach events. They even created social media content to promote repair culture.
- ZWB #8 – Biodiversity| Team AM Haze set out to get familiar with and understand the impact of using Sustainable Palm Oil, and how protecting peatlands can help contribute to an overall haze-free future with People’s Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze). The team conducted four outreach events to engage members of the public through interactive games and video content they created. The resources created by the team will subsequently be used in PM Haze’s events, presentations and workshops.
- ZWB #7 – Fashion | Team Fash-O produced an accessible digital guidebook as well as YouTube tutorials on basic clothes repair hacks, for Fashion Revolution Singapore. The team also raised awareness and advocated for sustainable fashion choices by conducting two community workshops to share repairing and mending skills they learnt in the 3 months.
- ZWB #7 – Waterways | Team Coastal Eddies ran awareness campaigns on littering and waterways pollution for PAssion Wave @Sembawang. They led three public cleanups at Sembawang Beach, redesigned the “picky corner” for enthusiasts to borrow cleanup tools from, and shared infographics on their Instagram account @coastaleddiess, to educate and inspire others to do their part in protecting marine life.
- ZWB #6 – Food | Team Food for the Soul addressed the challenge of food insecurity in Singapore, by creating a lower-cost healthier food bundle, in support of The Food Bank Singapore. They also created a corporate pitch proposal and video to promote the food bundles to corporates.
- ZWB #5- Waterways | Team Otterly-Eco held a Kayak ‘n’ Klean event to reduce trash along waterways in Singapore, and raised awareness about waterway pollution in a 3-part video series to support PA PAssion WaVe.
- ZWB #3 – Fashion | Team OATH, now renamed ‘Cloop’, focussed on spreading awareness about the impact of the fashion industry via creating a preloved clothes library to mend, rent, repurpose and donate.
- In their words: Team Oath’s Bootcamp journey and impact
- Oath on FB; and Cloop on FB
- ZWB #2 – Disposables | Team ReFeel created and marketed a BYOCup event at their CBD office building involving F&B vendors and multiple offices
- In their words: Team Refeel’s Bootcamp journey and impact here
- ZWB #1 – Food Waste | Team Food Fighters participated in food rescues, and ran educational booths where they used canes and dishes from rescued food to create awareness
- In their words: Team Food Fighter’s Bootcamp journey and impact here
Still have questions? Mail us at [email protected] if you want to ask us anything.
Zero Waste Bootcamp| How 5 youth-led initiatives created meaningful impact in Singapore