Students learn the importance of not being wasteful, food wastage reduction tips and how food waste can be recycled into new resources at Youth for the Environment Day 2017

Singapore, 7 April 2017 – As part of this year’s Youth for the Environment Day (YED), the National Environment Agency (NEA) today launched the ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project, to encourage youth to cherish food and take action to reduce the amount of food being thrown away.

2          The project was launched by the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, at Chongzheng Primary School. The two-year project involves introducing a closed-loop food waste management system at 10 participating schools, where emphasis will be placed on encouraging students and staff to reduce the amount of food waste they generate, followed by the participation of students, staff and canteen stall holders in the segregation and treatment of the remaining food waste using on-site food waste digesters to produce compost.

3          To further spread awareness of the importance of food waste minimisation and recycling, the students will engage neighbouring schools and their community partners to host learning journeys to their schools and share information on their efforts. The compost generated from the treatment of their food waste will be distributed during these learning journeys, as well as to community groups for their gardens.

4          Through this project, NEA hopes to instil in youth the value of not being wasteful, by cultivating appreciation and respect for the efforts and resources that go into growing and delivering food to our tables. In addition, through our young, the message of not being wasteful will be spread to the wider community, for example, parents of students and members of community groups, as well.

5           This project will also allow other schools to learn about the feasibility and benefits of setting up closed-loop food waste management systems on their premises, and encourage them to kick-start their own food waste reduction initiatives and implement onsite food waste recycling methods such as food waste digesters. By making waste reduction a way of life, this will contribute towards Singapore becoming a Zero Waste Nation and help build a sustainable Singapore for our present and future generations. Please refer to Annex A for more details on the project and list of the 10 participating schools.

Closed-Loop Food Waste Experiential Trail

6            To reinforce the message of the value of food and how food waste can be managed through a closed-loop system, students were brought on a food waste journey through an Experiential Trail set up at Chongzheng Primary School.

7            Through five stations of interactive displays, the Trail illustrated to students how much hard work and resources go into growing food, and how they can reduce food wastage by buying and ordering only what they need and can finish, and donating excess food to help the needy. The Experiential Trail also included a visit to the food waste digester installed at the school, where the students learnt how food waste can be converted into compost. At this station, each student was also given a cup of compost with soil to grow his or her own plant, thereby closing the food waste loop.

8            The launch event was attended by about 500 students from both Primary and Secondary schools, who enthusiastically took part in the activities. Ms Audrey Wong, Principal of Chongzheng Primary School, said, “The Experiential Trail has enabled the youth to experience and understand the laborious process required to produce the food that they consume and learn about the possibilities of how they can reduce their food waste. I am glad that Chongzheng is one of 10 participating schools in the ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project, and we look forward to building a food-waste free Singapore.”

‘Love Your Food’ Activity

9              As part of YED 2017, which will continue over the month of April, schools and students are also invited to participate in a class or school-wide collective ‘Love Your Food’ activity. The activity requires students to finish their food and take photos of their cleared plates and efforts to symbolise their commitment to Zero Waste. The photos can be uploaded via Instagram or submitted to NEA directly, and the group with the most creative photograph will stand to win prizes worth up to $450.

10            Each year, YED aims to encourage our youth to brainstorm, develop and implement initiatives that promote cleanliness and waste minimisation. To spark off ideas and assist schools in organising their own environmental activities, each school will receive a ‘Captain Green’s Box’ containing resources and information, including a guide on the ‘Love Your Food’ Activity. Schools are welcome to contact NEA for more materials and resources to support their activities. Please refer to Annex B for more details on the YED 2017 activities.

11            Chief Executive Officer of NEA, Mr Ronnie Tay, said, “To achieve a clean and green future, it’s important for everyone, including our youth, to come together to make environmentally-friendly behaviour our way of life and champion environmental stewardship. Through YED and programmes such as the ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project, we hope to inspire our youth to make a conscious effort to reduce and recycle their waste. I am glad that the number of YED activities organised by schools is growing each year, and I encourage more schools to join us in our endeavour.”

ANNEX A

Background on ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project

1         The National Environment Agency (NEA) is working with schools to spread awareness of the importance of minimising food wastage. NEA supports the schools by providing educational resources such as posters, a toolkit, videos, exhibits, games and presentation materials on food waste reduction that schools can use.

2         To complement this effort, NEA launched a two-year food waste reduction and recycling project for schools in April 2017. The ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project involves engaging schools in a hands-on closed loop process that demonstrates to students and staff how food waste can be managed through reduction and recycling.

3          Under this project at 10 participating schools, emphasis is first placed on reducing the amount of food waste generated, followed by the recycling of the remaining food waste using on-site food waste digesters installed at the schools. The 10 schools are as follows:

Closed-loop food waste management

4         Using the educational resources provided, the 10 schools are required to hold food wastage reduction activities, such as assembly talks, for their students and staff. In addition, students, staff and canteen stall holders will be involved in the segregation and recycling of their food waste, to allow them to understand first-hand how food waste can be converted into useful products, such as compost, using food waste digesters.

(Left) A stallholder at Chongzheng Primary School segregating food waste for onsite treatment. (Right) A group of Chongzheng Primary School students being taught how to segregate food waste for onsite treatment.

5         The students will also engage neighbouring schools and their community partners to host learning journeys and share information on their food waste reduction and recycling efforts. The compost generated from the recycling of the schools’ food waste will be distributed during these learning journeys, as well as to community gardens. Teachers are also encouraged to use the digester and compost as part of their curriculum, such as for values-based subjects (e.g. to impart the importance of not being wasteful).

6          NEA is working with the schools to help them plan activities to encourage their students and staff not to waste food. A food waste digester has been installed at Chongzheng Primary School, and the students, staff and canteen stallholders at the school are being trained on the proper segregation of food waste for treatment. The other nine schools are in the process of having food waste digesters installed on their premises. The digesters are expected to be installed in all 10 schools by end-May 2017.

7         Through this project, NEA hopes to build a culture of not being wasteful among the youth and spread awareness of the importance of proper food waste management to the wider community, for example, parents of students and members of community groups, as well. This project will also allow other schools to learn about the feasibility and benefits of setting up closed-loop food waste management systems on their premises, and encourage them to kick-start their own food waste reduction initiatives and implement onsite food waste recycling methods such as food waste digesters.

Vision of a Zero Waste Nation

8         This project complements NEA’s holistic food waste management strategy to work towards Singapore becoming a Zero Waste Nation under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015. In 2016, Singapore generated 791,000 tonnes of food waste. The amount of food waste generated in Singapore has increased by about 40 per cent over the past 10 years and is expected to rise further with a growing population and economic activity.

9           Throwing away food wastes resources and increases our carbon footprint. In addition, if waste continues to increase at our current rate, more waste disposal facilities, such as waste-to-energy plants and landfills, will need to be built at a faster rate. This is not sustainable for land-scarce Singapore. The proper management of food waste would also reduce the contamination of recyclables, as well as mitigate odour and pest nuisances.

10         Hence there is a need to minimise food wastage and recycle or treat unavoidable food waste. For an overview of NEA’s holistic food waste management strategy, visit www.nea.gov.sg/energy-waste/3rs/food-waste-management.

ANNEX B

Background on Youth for the Environment Day (YED)

1       Youth for the Environment Day (YED), launched in 2011, is the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) key platform for Singapore’s youth to lead, organise and participate in environmental activities, to show their passion for and commitment to keeping Singapore clean and green.

2       Under YED, schools are given the flexibility to plan and organise their own environment-related YED activities during the month of April. To encourage schools and youths to hold YED activities, NEA:

a. Holds a key event/activity in April that schools and the youth can participate in.

b. Provides funding through the YED Fund or Environment Club Fund to support the activities.

c. Provides schools with collateral to display or distribute to their students to show their support for the event and create awareness of YED.

d. Encourages schools to share the Minister’s Message on Earth Day (22 April), or the closest school day, to inspire their students and youth. Please refer to Annex C for Minister’s Message.

YED 2017

3       Continuing from last year, NEA will be celebrating YED 2017 with the theme “Imagine. Create. Change”, to encourage youth to think about their contributions towards a sustainable environment and to commit to carrying out collective actions that promote cleanliness and waste minimsation. The key message for this year is that the youth can do their part to lead a less wasteful lifestyle and be considerate to others and the environment by practicing daily eco-habits to reduce food waste.

4        The main YED event was held on 7 April 2017 at Chongzheng Primary School, and featured the launch of the ‘Love Your Food @ Schools’ Project by guest-of-honour and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli. This project will see closed-loop food waste management systems being put in place at 10 schools, where students and staff will be encouraged to not waste food, and on-site food waste digesters will be installed at these schools to convert the remaining food waste into compost.

Experiential Trail

5       The YED event also featured an Experiential Trail, which was carried out in partnership with ITE College East, NUS Students Against Violation of the Earth (SAVE), Temasek Junior College, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and The Food Bank. The Trail consisted of five stations where students experienced the following:

1. Growing food station: Students participated in a simulated rice planting activity, which taught them the value of food by demonstrating the hard work and resources that go into growing food.

1. Buying and storing food station: Students were required to buy and store items properly (i.e. whether the items should be put into the freezer, middle compartment of the fridge or cupboard) to extend their shelf life. This helped them learn to buy only what they need and how to store food properly so as to not waste food.

1. Ordering food station: Students were invited to help themselves to ‘food’ at a simulated buffet. After they filled their plates, they were given a bag to represent their stomach space, and were asked to fill the bag with the food taken. The message conveyed was that to avoid food wastage, only order or take what you can finish.

1. Donating food station: Students were asked to select the non-perishable food items that they thought were in the greatest demand by the beneficiaries of food redistribution organisations (e.g. rice, biscuits, canned food and ultra-pasteurised (UHT) milk). From this activity, students learnt more about how excess food can be donated to those in need.

1. Recycling food waste station: Students were taught that food waste can be recycled through an introduction to how a food waste digester works. At this station, each student was also given a cup of compost with soil to grow his or her own plant, thereby closing the food waste loop.

6        Students who were unable to participate in the event can learn more by watching a video on the Experiential Trail that will be posted on NEA’s social media channels in early May.

‘Love Your Food‘ Activity

7        As part of YED 2017, all schools will also be invited to participate in a class or school-wide collective ‘Love Your Food’ Activity on 21 April 2017. This activity will task students to clear their plates to represent zero food wastage, and take and submit photos of the activity to NEA via platforms such as Instagram. The schools with the most creative photographs will be presented with prizes in the following categories:

8        The winning schools will be featured on NEA’s youth Instagram account, @be_ecowithme.

9         To date, 70 schools have indicated their intention to hold the ‘Love Your Food’ Activity on 21 April 2017.

10        Schools are also encouraged to organise cleanliness-related activities beyond their school premises in April. Schools can request for guides and materials from NEA or the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) to support their activities.

11        To encourage schools to carry out their own YED activities, each school will receive a ‘Captain Green’s Box’, which contains resources and helpful information, such as a guide on the ‘Love Your Food’ Activity. Interested schools can contact NEA for more information or to request for additional resources.

Youth Planning Team

12        In 2015, the Youth Planning Team (YPT) was set up as a platform for NEA to encourage youth (aged 17-30 years of age) to volunteer and co-create environmental initiatives outside of school. It is also a capacity building platform as YPT members are given opportunities to develop and carry out environmental projects.

13        This year, the YPT 2017 is made up of nine youths from 19-25 years of age. The team is led by Mr Kenneth Wong, who was a recipient of NEA’s EcoFriend Award in 2010. They were provided training on Singapore’s environmental issues, with a focus on food waste management, as well as on communications and social media. They are working on the YED youth online campaign on Instagram, @be_ecowithme. This campaign, on food waste reduction and management, will complement the YED 2017 initiatives.

ANNEX C

Minister’s Youth for the Environment Day 2017 Message

1       Last year in Singapore, we threw away 791,000 tonnes of food. That is equivalent to each of us throwing away about two bowls of food every day. Throwing away food is a waste of money, hard work, natural resources and time. The rice we eat takes three to six months to grow, and much more resources for it to be harvested, processed, packaged and transported to us. Yet it only takes seconds to throw it away.

2       This waste can be avoided. By taking on simple habits like ordering only what you can finish, asking for smaller portions if you intend to eat less, donating excess food or joining efforts to recycle food waste can make a big difference.

3       Let’s not waste precious resources. Caring for our environment, and for one another, needs to be a way of life for us. Each of us can contribute to a Sustainable Singapore, where we do not waste, and have a clean, healthy and pleasant environment for ourselves, our families and community. It needs everyone’s efforts.

4       We saw Zika hit Singapore last year for the first time and it was a big concern for families, especially among expectant mothers. The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito, which also carries the Dengue and Chikugunya virus.

5        By coming together as a community all across Singapore to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, we were able to stop the spread of Zika. Young and old went around their homes, neighbourhoods, offices and schools to check for stagnant water and throw away any standing water. Litter can also collect water and become breeding ground for mosquitoes, so volunteers and residents made efforts to get rid of any litter too.

6        Youth for the Environment Day (YED) encourages young people to lead, organise and participate in programmes that promote an understanding of the impact that our everyday actions can have on the environment we live in, and how youths can make a difference to protect and cherish what we have.

7        As young people, you have the greatest stake in safeguarding the environment for your future. Your lifestyle choices will also have a far-reaching impact on natural resources.

8        So what can you do for the environment? Environmentalist Robert Swan warned that, “The greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

9        So, the first step to take is to decide that you can, and will make a difference. Then think about what you often buy or use. Can you reduce, reuse or recycle them? Think about how you can look after the home and neighbourhood. Do the 5-step Mozzie Wipeout. Do not leave behind any litter.