Month: December 2018

Goh Peng Wai, Shin Han Wei Kenny, Siew Hui Xin, Ruth, Tan Jerry, Tan Jiaqing

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei
Industry Advisor: Earthys

Greenwashing is the practice of making a misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology or company practice. A company may appear to be more environmentally friendly and advocate for sustainability, but all these may just be a façade. Greenwashing can do more harm than good if consumers purchase products that are not genuinely green, misleading them from supporting businesses or products that are actually environmentally sustainable. Are notebooks promoted as eco-friendly made from recycled paper? What is the source of this “recycled” paper? This project aims to identify the extent greenwashing among RVRC students and develop a campaign to educate students on the phenomenon of greenwashing. The project seeks to gauge students’ awareness of greenwashing, the different forms of greenwashing and to determine if students are able to link these to the impacts of greenwashing on the environment, consumer behaviour, and so on.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle, Responsible Consumption, Green business

Goh Si Jie, Joshua Goh Yong Sheng, Pereira Yip Ding Xian, Teo Zhi Yi, Ting Shou Teck

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

There is an estimated 450 eco-labels across 25 industry categories, labels indicating that a product is environmentally-friendlier compared to similar products in the market. However, how effective are these eco-labels in influencing consumers to purchase a product? This project aims to determine whether the presence of an eco-label on a product would influence NUS students to purchase it over a similar product without an eco-label. If so, how much more are students willing to pay for the eco-friendlier option? Do they even know what the eco-labels mean? Before these questions are answered, how many of them even bother looking for eco-labels on the products they buy? This project seeks to understand how the demographics of different students affect their purchasing behaviour and to create awareness to reduce apathy and ignorance among consumers. This is done to maximise the influence the eco-label has on increasing consumer’s purchasing behaviour.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle, Responsible Consumption, Greenwashing

Chua Min Jun Luke, Devarajan Preethi, Johnson Ho Chong Xiang, Liow Zhi Xin ,sherlyn, Xia Runze

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

In 2015, Southeast Asian countries suffered one the worst haze. Since then, are Singapore consumers buying sustainable palm oil products to mitigate the haze?  This project aims to investigate if NUS students are purchasing sustainable palm oil products (SPOP). The project seeks to examine the reasons why NUS students may not actively decide to purchase SPOP. The project also aims to suggest ways to improve knowledge on the sustainable palm oil issue. To achieve these aims, we conducted a survey to assess students’ knowledge on the issue. Half of the participants have good knowledge but they do not actively decide to purchase SPOP. We then conducted a focus group discussion to investigate the reasons behind this lack of action. The results show that participants do not think their consumption of SPOP will alleviate the negative impacts of consuming non-SPOP.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle, Responsible Consumption

Beh Jing Yi, Chew Yong Soon, Khoo Wu Zhe, Samuel, Sin Kah Kek Kelly, Yeo Zhang Yi

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari
Industry Advisor: MEWR

Global awareness of sustainability has risen in recent years, but the uptake of sustainable behavior is lagging behind. More needs to be done in the field of sustainability marketing, with regards to understanding people’s motivations for adopting sustainable behavior. The millennial generation, who show high levels of environmental concern and form a large part of society, are prime for such marketing. Our project examined three core values that drive millennials to adopt sustainable behavior, using the platform of food waste at RVRC. First, we identified three critical millennial values as part of our literature review. We evaluated these criteria with a quantitative survey of students’ opinions on marketing techniques. Then, to test and verify our findings, we launched a marketing campaign at the RVRC Dining Hall, and measured the food waste levels before, during, and after our campaign. Lastly, we followed up with a post-campaign survey to ascertain students’ reception to our campaign. We have assimilated our findings into a meaningful understanding, to be shared with MEWR.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle, Responsible Consumption, Food Waste, Sustainable Behaviour, RC Dining

Andy Chan Wai Yee, Eng Yu Ting, Evelyn, Lee Yi-fei Sophia, Sin Huiwen Cheryl

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Industry Advisor: MEWR

The motivation of our project is to propose the best way to encourage awareness and behavioural change in millennials. Our project aims to investigate the effectiveness of existing sustainability campaigns in marketing sustainability to millennials, and to propose recommendations on the type of marketing strategies which will appeal to millennials. To do this, we decided to zoom in on raising the awareness of climate change in millennials, in line with the Year of Climate Action 2018, and more specifically on reducing plastic and paper waste. Based on our analysis of past and existing campaigns on sustainability, we came up with several initiatives targeted at RVRC students, namely posters, website, social media account, and a waste reduction challenge. From the feedback and data gathered from our campaign, we are able to conclude that the most effective marketing strategy points to direct engagement and peer influence, rather than social media.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle, Responsible Consumption, direct engagement, social media, Year of Climate Action

Andreas Dwi Putra Soegiarto (FoS), Cheng Sher Min (FoE), Ng Han Xiang Nick (FoE), Ng Yu Xiang Nowell (FoE), Tan Kai Hin (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

Fast fashion is a phenomenon where apparel designs rapidly change to capture current trends. The high demand for such clothing is high, and greater consumption leads to higher disposal of these garments. In Singapore, only 8% of 156700 tonnes of clothes are being recycled in 2015. Textile waste is a significant environmental problem. Our initial studies indicate that current platforms for clothes recycling have low outreach. Therefore, we aim to explore reducing textile waste by clothing exchange through an online platform. The same platform will also educate visitors on the harmful effects of textile waste. A Facebook group was created to encourage people to trade and donate their clothes as well as to have greater awareness about the impacts of huge textile disposal. The group comprise of mainly young adults as they are the main age group that discard the most textiles. We are also collaborating with NUSSAVE to provide them with the donated clothes we collected through our platform. Success of the project will be measure through the participation rate of our Facebook platform and also by measuring the increase in awareness of textile waste through our education measures by conducting surveys.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Fast Fashion, Social Media, Clothes exchange

Liew Jia Min (FoE), Low Fei Yun (FASS), Rao Pranathi Mahesh (FoE), Stuart Chen Tze-Jin (FoS), Tchea Yu (FASS), Tristan Ho Ze Min (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

In Singapore, 7,673,500 tonnes of waste are generated every year, and a meagre 4,649,700 tonnes of waste are recycled (about 61%). This dismal statistic highlights the dire need for integrating Zero-Waste Schemes into existing Waste Management Systems. Especially on campus, the wastage of resources – food, paper and water, needs to be curbed with immediacy. In this project, we attempt to investigate the possibility of achieving a “Zero-Waste” Campus. Zero-Waste refers to minimizing the production of waste that needs treatment or landfilling. Hence, the adoption of a “Zero-Waste” scheme inherently involves the reduction in consumption and an increase in recycling efforts. We will be conducting a trial of the “Zero Waste Challenge” on a randomized student sample. This project has two aims. Firstly, to encourage individuals to discover environmentally friendly ways of performing day-to-day activities with the aim of producing zero waste during the course of one week. Through this, we hope participants will realise that it is possible to cut down on the waste we produce. Next, using the feedback gathered from participants from both pre-campaign and post-campaign surveys, we would pinpoint the difficulties that a typical student faces when trying to reduce the waste they produce on campus, and feedback to the school management on how it can better facilitate a zero waste lifestyle on campus.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, zero waste campaign, vlog and blog, waste reduction.

A Pethanakshi (FoS), Chang Rui Zheng (FoE), Lee Wan Yee (FoS), Ngeow Shan Yong Destin (SoC), Tan Zhi Han (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisors: Mr. Hor Chor Kiat (UCI, NUS) & Mr. Kelvin Ng Kian Yong (OCA, NUS)

Green advertising refers to creative, or even interactive, designs that motivate behavioural change through various types of appeals, such as guilt and beauty appeal, aiming to steer consumers toward more environmentally-friendly behaviour. Since green advertising has not been a prevalent method in NUS, our project aims to evaluate its effectiveness in influencing consumer behaviour on the usage of paper serviettes in NUS bistros. Furthermore, this project focuses on a consumer-oriented, reductionist approach, because reduction is preferable to technological alternatives that have high embodied energy, which offsets any environmental advantage that technology claims to bring. Green advertising posters will be placed in three bistros for three weeks and compared against conventional infographic posters using the per capita rate of serviette consumption data. A quantitative survey questionnaire will be issued during the pilot test to the bistro customers to obtain their evaluation of the green advertisements. Qualitative feedback of the posters were also obtained. Through this evaluation, we hope to ascertain if green advertising is indeed effective in influencing behaviour and its possible implementation on a larger scale.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Green Advertising, Paper waste

Basyir B Othman (CEG), Chew Chi Yin (FASS), Lim Ming En (FoE), Tan Wei Ling Jillian (FASS), Tan Zhi Wei (CEG)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Industry Advisors: Mr. Hor Chor Kiat & Mr. Lim Wei Xiang Harry (UCI, NUS)

While the importance of recycling has been instilled into the public’s psyche due to government efforts to increase recycling rates, incorrect categorisation of rubbish and recycled waste contamination still remains a pressing issue. Some possible reasons for the abovementioned problems include the failure to recognise labels on receptacles or limited cognitive processing as people multitasked and thus disposed their recyclables into the wrong recycling bins. Overtime, this may result in an increasingly polluted recycling stream and a costly downstream recycling process. This project aims to encourage correct disposal and recycling habits, which in turn reduces the rate of contaminated recyclable waste. We will conduct survey to identify the preferred mode of instructions on recycling lids that would help correct disposal habits. We target all three types of recycling bins available in RVRC – Metals, Plastics and Paper. Our survey would also test the awareness level that used food containers and plastic bottles need to be washed before disposal. To increase the salience of the bin, recycling compliance as well as the accuracy of items recycled, we will replace the lids of recycling bins with specialised lids that reflect the shape of the item meant to be thrown. For example, a bin meant for plastic bottles will have the outline of a plastic bottle on the lid. This way, consumers will be able to identify these bins from a distance, even if they were multi-tasking. Furthermore, recycling bins will also be fitted with pictorial instructions to facilitate correct recycling methods. Although recycling bins have become an omnipresent part of our lives, the right recycling habits and accuracy of items disposed play a crucial role in ensuring that recycling rates increase in both quality and quantity.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, recycling bin design, waste contamination

Ang Wei An James (FASS), Lim Zhi Zhong Walter (FoS), Shawn Lim Hui Siang (FASS), Tan Yong Jia (FoS), Terence Chou Jun Xiang (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

GEQ Group 27 AY2015/16 identified an interesting point regarding the role of convenience in promoting recycling habits in their project. As an extension of their idea, we seek to investigate if the converse would be true: would increasing the difficulty of disposing unsorted general waste encourage the act of recycling? Thus, our team is investigating the correlation between recycling and convenience during specific time windows. Additionally, we are looking into contamination rates of the recycling bins before and after our investigation. We will be carrying out our pilot study at one of the Blocks at Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) to check if raising awareness can contribute to a reduction in contamination and an increase in recycling rates. Keeping in line with RVRC’s vision of sustainability, our goal is to cultivate better recycling habits among residents. These habits, and the methods used to cultivate them, possess the potential to be scaled up in the future to include the rest of Singapore, fostering a positive culture of being proactive when it comes to recycling. In a nutshell, we feel that there is room for improvement when it comes to recycling. Rethinking and recalibrating the current methods in place, we intend to begin by centralising general unsorted waste disposal and revising existing recycling practices if required.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Recycling, Waste sorting

Faith Oh Ke Jing (FASS), Goh Yin Hao (FoE), Teh Wen Han (FASS), Teo Zi Lin (FASS)
Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

Industry Advisor: Mr. Hor Chor Kiat (UCI, NUS)

Social media usage has increased significantly around the world, with Singapore expecting to have around 3.2 million Facebook users by 2018. Such usage involves data centres which require a large amount of energy to function. Facebook data centres were responsible for emitting 649,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2016. We hope to encourage users to reduce their social media usage, in particular Facebook, by exploring alternative ways to engage their time. Our execution consist of two phases. The first phase is to increase awareness of the impacts of data centres and social media usage. This is done through visual posters displayed in RVRC and also oral presentation in social gatherings. Volunteers joining our programme then take a pledge to reduce their social media usage. For the second phase, we will organise different activities, such as movie screenings or a board games session, and get participants to join us. Throughout the project, we will monitor the participants Facebook usage through a tracking application called My Data Manager. We hope that this programme will initiate a behavioural change and reduce usage of social media for our participants.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Social media, Energy, Habit survey

Muhammad Nazreen Bin Mohd Noor (SDE), Priscilla Leo Zhen Ning (FASS), Raebekah Soh Rui Min (FASS), Shai-Ann Koh Seow Yen (FASS), Soham Sheel Saini (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Recycling of plastic bags is largely inefficient and tedious, as both the production and recycling processes consume energy. Moreover, in Singapore, only 7% of plastic bags are actually recycled due to the poor recycling culture. A more direct intervention is to stem the use of plastic bags. To promote less plastic bags usage among students, our group proposes “No Plastic Bag, OK?”, a project in collaboration with the Subway branch at Yusof Ishak House (YIH). Food outlets at YIH are just a short walk away from Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) and are frequently patronised by RVRC residents. Yet, we have observed frequent usage of plastic bags by residents whenever they take away their meals, which is a wasteful practice, especially for such short trips. This unnecessary consumption of plastic bags results in high levels of plastic waste. Our group will primarily use pre- and post-implementation surveys to gauge the receptiveness of our project. We will also use collect data during implementation to determine the success of our project. In summary, we aim to decrease the plastic bag usage of patrons at Subway and to encourage the conscious choice of declining plastic bags.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, subway sandwich, takeaway plastic bag, packaging

Lau Jun Cheng Justin (SDE), Lim Zheng Kai (SoC), Megan Sonali Lourdesamy (FASS), Ng Wen Ching (FoE), Tan Zhi Ming Jaswin (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

Our group aims to investigate if an increase in awareness about environmental impact of consumer habits could lead to a positive change in sustainable behaviour. As residents of Ridge View Residential College, our meal plan includes food options from Sarpinos. During the course of our stay, we have noticed a particular wasteful consumer trend at Sarpinos (YIH branch) – consumers prefer to order food in take-away corrugated cardboard boxes instead of paper plates, even when they consume the food in the covered spaces around the outlet. Our research shows that corrugated cardboard boxes have a much larger carbon footprint as compared to paper plates. This prompted us to tackle this problem of food packaging wastage for our project. We intend to conduct our fieldwork and encourage patrons to make the switch to paper plates in a 3-stage process. In the first stage, we will observe and tally the typical number of consumers who do opt for paper plates. In the second stage, we will display a poster prominently at the front of the store to motivate people to choose ordering on paper plates over cardboard boxes. In the final stage, we will request the Sarpino employees to assist by asking customers if they really need a box. We will monitor and document the trend over this 3 week period to find if there would be an increase in the uptake for paper plates due to the increase of awareness.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Campaigns, Behaviour suvey, Single use plastics, Food packaging

Chua Yi Xuan (FoS), Lim Jia Wen (FASS), Sharina Bte Mohamed Amran (FASS), Tan Wen Xin (FoE), Tay Yong Qiang (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Ms. Aditi (Pocket Greens)

Singapore is a highly urbanized country with very little land available for food production. Over 90% of our food is imported. Food security is a key concern in the light of climate change where our food supply might be disrupted. Urban farming, where edible plants are grown in buildings, has the potential to supplement an individual’s diet. Growing your own food also reduces the carbon footprint incurred in buying imported produce. Focussing on undergraduates living in residential colleges, our group engaged the RVRC community by issuing a Plant-It-Yourself kit, to be grown over the course of 5 weeks. This kit consists of seeds potted in recycled containers and a digital instruction manual. The two main criteria for success to gauge their change in mindsets are: (1) the level of interest of participants has increased, (2) they expressed interest in the continuation of growing their own food. We will gauge these through surveys which will be done at the start, middle and end of the project to evaluate whether there is a progressive change in mindset. We propose that opening mindsets of students can be the first step in making growing their own food a sustainable lifestyle.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food, Urban farming, Food Security

Bernice Liau Wei Ting (FASS), Cheng Li Yi (FoS), Chua Chung Boon Roy (FoE), Ong Yan Ting (FASS), Pua Zhao Chen (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Laundry detergent is an ubiquitous and indispensable household commodity. However, detergent use could cause serious environmental repercussions, as chemicals such as phosphates in detergents could end up in water bodies via the wastewater system. This could lead to eutrophication and harm aquatic life. Excessive use of detergent would thus exacerbate these detrimental effects, and yet our preliminary survey shows that among the student community, there is little consciousness of the appropriate use of detergent. With the aim of alleviating these harmful consequences of laundry detergent, our project strives to promote consumer awareness about these repercussions and encourage good laundry habits, through educating the RVRC community on appropriate detergent usage and dosage. Our project has two approaches. First, we will provide weighing scales and measuring cups in the laundry room for residents to weigh their laundry load and to measure the appropriate dosage. Charts will be put up to inform residents of the appropriate amount of detergent to use based on the weight of their load. Our second approach involves educating the RVRC community on the harmful effects of laundry detergent and provide tips to encourage a change of laundry habits. Also, we will promote the use of detergent with the Eco-green label. Educational posters will be put up around RVRC to raise awareness. Finally, the success of our approaches on survey will be based on survey responses from the RVRC community.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, laundry detergent, water

Chua Hui Jin, Tracey (FASS), Faith Ong Chiu Ning (FASS), Justin Lee Kee Leong (FoS), Marion Grace Tan Leeyune (FASS), Tan Zse Fong Marcus (FoE), Tang Jia Xin, Lydia (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi
Industry Advisor: Vegan Burg, Whole Earth and Genesis Vegan Restaurant

In the past 50 years, a 24% increase of meat in the weight of food in the global diet has led to a 108% increase in biomass demand. The processing of livestock is considered more resource intensive (Bromberg, 2004) compared to meat analogues2 (Joshi and Kumar, 2015). Hence, the purpose of our research is to study the plausibility of introducing meat analogues into one’s diet to reduce meat consumption. Preliminary investigations through an online survey (125 respondents) reported that 98% eat meat as least once a day. Also, 61% were open to the idea of replacing actual meat with meat analogues. This was followed up with face to face interviews to affirm the authenticity of the online survey. The interviews paralleled the results obtained in the survey. Moreover, differing proportions of texturised soy protein, (20%, 40%), were tested through a blind taste test (42 respondents), in which its aim was to gauge the combination that replicated the satisfaction of real meat the most. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the taste of the food sample containing 20% of meat analogue and the control sample (100% real meat). A 20% replacement of meat with texturised soy protein, when extrapolated to the whole of NUS, would result in a reduction of approximately 25.5kg of CO2 per serving of meat consumed.4  In addition, above 88% of respondents accepted both 20%/40% of meat analogue in the samples given. With improved techniques of food processing, the possibility of a 40% replacement proportion might be more acceptable. These promising results create an avenue to (i) Conduct a taste test on a larger scale, and (ii) Collaborate with small F&B restaurants such as The Royals Bistro, to work out the feasibility of incorporating meat analogue into their menu.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Meat consumption, Diet choice, Sustainable food choices

Cheong Sue Ning (FoS), Kommareddi Lakshmi Sirisha (CEG), Liu Renxing (SoC), Ng Choon Kiat William (FoE), Toh Yunqi Cheryl (SoC), Zhong Yibai (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi

In NUS, recycling bins are placed around the campus to promote recycling habits among students. However, based on two surveys conducted in Ridge View Residential College (RVRC), we found out that almost 70% of respondents rarely or never recycle. Among these respondents, the most commonly cited reason was inconvenience and laziness. As for residents who habitually recycle, the reason given by them was convenience. The contrast in response between the two groups has led us to investigate if proximity affects recycling rates. Currently, the recycling bins in the tower block are only placed at one end of each floor which makes it inconvenient for the residents whose living on the other end to do recycling routine. From the survey conducted, 82.4% of the sample residents in tower block had agreed that having closer recycling bins might motivate them to recycle more. Many studies include Folz’s experiment had also shown that residents are more willing to participate in recycling activities. Folz’s result had revealed that communities with curbside collection had higher participation rate than the communities with local drop-off, which is 45% compared to 25%. (Domina & Koch, 2002) Hence to find out the impact of distance between residents and recycling bins towards recycling rate, our group have reallocated the bins in tower block next to the lift lobby – a more central location – so that residents have equal accessibility to the bins.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Recycling, Recycling Habits, Recycling Bins

Joel Tan Jun Yang (FASS), Lee Jia Yin Valencia (FASS), Nelson Ng Nuo Song (FoE), Nur Maisarah Bte Mohammad W (FASS), Toh Wei Wang (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

One source of plastic waste from students living in residential colleges will be that of plastic soap bottles. Of the 110 RVRC residents surveyed in our study, the average resident used 1.46 soap bottles in a semester. In RVRC alone, this means that its 650 residents produce approximately 85.4kg of plastic waste in a year. This presents a significant source of plastic waste which is present in all student residential areas in NUS. As such, our team is interested in exploring implementation of shared soap bottles within RVRC so as to minimize plastic waste generated. Ultimately, our study aims to reduce the residents’ usage of their own soap by 20%, from 1.46 bottles per semester to 1.17 bottles per semester. Our project is carried out in three phases. First, we collected crucial background information about the soap consumption habits in RVRC and the environmental impact of plastic waste. Data of these habits was obtained through an RVRC wide survey. Based on this data, we designed a pilot test for a shared soap system in RVRC, taking student preferences into consideration. Second, we will conduct the test for three weeks at E Block for one male and one female washroom. At the end of testing, we will gather data of soap usage and user response to predict the effectiveness of the soap sharing system if implemented throughout RVRC.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Soap, Plastic waste, Recycling

Chua Rui Ming (FoS), Ngo Chanh Anh Minh (FoE), Teo Bei Fang (FoS), Wong Jia Hui, Benjamin (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Despite measures implemented by the National Recycling Programme for the past fifteen years, domestic recycling in Singapore has stagnated at low rates of about 20% from 2005 – 2015. Similarly, our group observed low recycling rates within various residences in NUS. In an effort to boost the recycling rates in NUS, we propose two methods to encourage people staying in NUS residences to recycle. The first method, inspired its success in other university campuses, involves better placements of recycling bins to enhance the convenience of recycling. The second involves the introduction of community incentives to encourage members to recycle. To demonstrate the feasibility of the second idea, we will assess its appeal among students, and prototype a program that could track students’ recycling rates. These two methods would be tested out in different phases at Raffles Hall and Ridge View Residential College. Conclusions on the effectiveness of the measures proposed would be drawn via a comparison of recycling rates in each location before and after the measures were implemented.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, recycling bin, reverse vending machine

Ng Wai Yee Ryan (FoS), Rachel Tan Rui Qi (FoS), Teo En Qi (FASS), Teo Yi Jiat (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Our team aims to investigate the feasibility of establishing zero-waste supermarkets in Singapore. The zero-waste grocery store was pioneered by two Germany-based social entrepreneurs, and reduces food waste through allowing consumers to choose the exact quantity of food they want to purchase. It also eliminates the packaging stage of the food production process. Consumers are encouraged to bring their own containers and bags, and purchase food items based on the weight of the products. The Ministry of Environment and Water Resource reported that food and beverage packaging comprises one-sixth of all domestic waste in Singapore in 2016. Household recycling rates are also relatively low in comparison to other developed countries, and public education campaigns have been unsuccessful in engendering commitment to recycling. We hope that the zero-waste supermarket, geared at prevention of waste, rather than retroactive mitigation of the impacts of waste, will improve environmental protection in Singapore. In order to answer the question of whether or not zero-waste supermarkets are viable in the local context, consumer demand for such a shopping experience is an important concern of corporations considering the shift towards zero-waste. Hence we aim to focus on the consumer aspect by investigating consumer likelihood to patronize such supermarkets, should they be set up in Singapore. Our project comprises a survey of the local population on their current grocery-shopping habits, as well as their willingness to go “zero-waste”, and a detailed analysis of the survey results within the Singaporean cultural environment.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, zero-waste, supermarket, packaging

Lim Zhong Yi Eugene (FoE), Lok Han Wei Kelvin (FoE), Muhammad Shafiq B Sabar (FASS), Sheikh Umar Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Banafe’ (SoC), Tan Ning Xuan (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Ms. Elaine Sam (NUS SAVE)

Printing of lecture notes and their eventual disposal is an environmental concern, as shown in a study done by University of Michigan, where they reported 1.5 million kilograms of paper waste was generated annually. NoteAbility is a student-driven initiative, where unwanted notes are collected from students, then re-distributed to their peers via an online platform. We hope to tap on the the potential of reusing unwanted notes, by passing them on from one cohort to another, instead of discarding after use. This platform will manage the balloting for the notes, and facilitate distribution. A pilot project will be conducted in RVRC, during which notes will first be collected from the students, then quality-checked, before eventual redistribution. Ultimately, this platform aims to reduce printing of new notes, by encouraging students to share their old ones. This brings about savings in resources required for paper production, printing, and paper waste management. We hope that this environmentally friendly practice of recycling lecture notes can be implemented at a larger scale after this project.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Paper waste, Recycling, Lecture notes

Adil Bin Azmoon (CEG), Cao Yexin (FoS), Gary Heng Hui Shen (FoE), Leong Yi Shuang (FASS), Maegan Liew Chew Min (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

The academic curriculum at most faculties in NUS carries a high proportion of project work. This increases the likelihood of every student working on at least one, if not several projects during their studies. Project work not directly pegged to modules are also encouraged for student learning and experience, with NUS having a yearly Student Achievement Award that recognize these efforts. However, the conclusion of student projects at the end of an academic module or stipulated deadline tends to abruptly end work on them without prospects for continuation. This means that previously invested intellectual and financial resources are often wasted when the projected deadlines cause discontinuation of further development of student ideas. Titled ‘Project Match-Make‘, our team aims to bridge the pool of existing student-led projects with the students who would potentially want to work/continue on similar projects. This would ensure the long-term sustainability of such ideas and projects. Our project involves the development of a school-based platform that serves as a medium for students to publicize their ideas and recruit new talent, and to aid interested students in seeking out relevant existing project ideas in their field of interest. Our intended project audience is the NUS student body.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Collaboration

Chin Jun Kang (FoE/ISE1), Noah Khoo Feng Yuan (SoC/COM1), Sonia Balamurugan (FoE/EVE1), Tan Shi Hui, Lynette (FASS/ARS1), Tan Zi Liang (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: Kah Wei | Student Fellow: Lim Boon Pin

The use of plastic shopping bags is ubiquitous in Singapore’s consumer culture, with an estimated 3 billion bags used in 2011. Life-cycle analyses of plastic bags have demonstrated that their consumption exerts a heavy toll on the environment. Our literature review has validated the effectiveness of positive psychology (PP) in motivating behavioural change. We investigated if PP could be similarly applied in the composition of slogans to promote plastic bag reduction among RVRC residents. An online survey of 37 RVRC students was conducted where participants chose between slogans incorporating PP and without. The participants deemed slogans incorporating PP concepts to be more effective in encouraging plastic bag reduction. We also found that goal-based slogans were the most favoured across the PP concepts. Our results provide a glimpse into the psychology behind environmental slogans and may be used to help design future slogans and campaigns promoting plastic bag reduction.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption

Joshua Ko Ying Hou (FoE/CHE1), Lee Zhi Han (FoE/ISE1), Low Jia Ying (FASS/ARS1), Shawn Teo Zhuang Yu (FASS/ARS1), Shereen Chelvaretnam (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: N. Sivasothi | Student Fellow: Wong Ci Yi

In this project, we will be exploring the possibility of achieving a paperless society in Singapore through reducing our reliance on paper. Contrary to popular belief, recycling paper is not sustainable as it is rather costly and environmentally degrading. Our project will be focusing on reducing print paper usage within the scope of NUS. This has been done through three phases: conducting a survey on 100 NUS students, interviewing staff in NUS printing shops and organising a social experiment on 15 NUS students. This will help us investigate in depth on the print paper usage of students, the aggregate amount of print paper used by the NUS community as well as the challenges students face in reducing their paper usage. The results of this project could lead to identifying possible solutions to reduce paper usage, which is the next step forward towards a paperless Singapore and a sustainable environment.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Paper waste, Paperless

Chan Cheong Cheng Hubert (FASS/ARS1), James Tan Song En (FASS/ARS1), Lim Chen Yue Sabrina (FoE/CHE1), Quek Cai Rong Allan (FASS/ARS1), Wong Wei Wen Clarence (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: Kah Wei | Student Fellow: Lim Boon Pin

A close inspection of the life-cycle-analysis of coffee shows that it is more that just a simple beverage. Coffee waste, in particular disposable cups, occupy substantial space in landfills and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, our group advocates the use of reusable tumblers to reduce this waste. Our journey takes us through the lens of both managers and consumers to investigate the reasons for the poor usage rate of reusable tumblers despite monetary incentives. We surveyed 113 NUS students on their consumers’ coffee consumption habits and tumbler usage. Simultaneously, we conducted an interview with a manager of Starbucks in NUS to understand the challenges cafe owners face in implementing green initiatives. Through our research, we concluded that on the consumer side, convenience is the main reason hindering reusable tumbler usage and proposed several solutions. On the management side, a stronger willpower and a more proactive top-down approach is required.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, habits survey, reusable products, LCA

Lesley Chng Yansi (FoS/SCI1), Michelle Low Jia Rong (FASS/ARS1), Phang Fu Chun (FoE/ISE1), Sin Yu Fan (FoE/ISE1), Yang Jiachen (FoE/MLE1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Sin Kah Fai

While technology usage is pervasive and obsolescence increasing, e-waste recycling amongst NUS students is less widespread. 75% of students do not recycle despite NUS’ recycling initiatives and the environmental and health threats loom ever more. Our project aims to find out how we can encourage more students to recycle e-waste. A literature review to understand determinants of recycling behaviour was followed by a survey of 154 students to gauge awareness and participation in recycling efforts. Based on this, informational flyers were distributed and a Facebook page about e-waste was launched. Our findings shows that 73% of students are willing to recycle if they know the consequences of improper recycling. For those who are aware, inconvenient access is a major inhibitor. We conclude that the university’s e-waste recycling will likely increase if NUS’ initiatives are augmented by awareness campaigns and improving access to recycling facilities.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, e-waste, Recycling, Social media, Habit surveys

Chua Chee Han (FoE/CHE1), Emily Soh Yi Jie (FoE/CHE1), He Xing (FASS/ARS1), Sharne Jerhn Dta Sulaiman (SDE/ARK1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Nicholas Tan

Annually, more than 70,000 tons of waste glass is produced from the construction industry. Singapore either exports waste glass or dispose them into landfills given the absence of glass recycling plants locally. In this project, we investigated the steps required to adopt a closed loop system for glass use in the construction industry through recycling. A lack of policies to govern glass recycling and proper waste management at demolition sites has led to inadequacy in the efficiency of resource use for glass.  We investigated the status quo of glass usage and glass recycling in the construction industry. Studying the technologies and waste management techniques adopted abroad, we analysed its feasibility in Singapore’s context. It has been proven that usage of recycling glass in production of new glass reduces carbon emissions and contributes to greater product sustainability. Building codes governing practices of the construction industry can help create this closed loop system for glass in construction use.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Closed Loop Economy, Glass recycling

Chang Hong Yu (FoE/MLE1), Chow Jie-Ni (FASS/ARS1), Goh Jia Lin (FoE/MPE2), Jaipal Singh Khaira (FoE/MLE1), Tan Zi Rei (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: Saif Khan | Student Fellow: Lee Juho

Incentivizing participation in public events, especially student activities on campus, is most commonly achieved these days through the distribution of freebies and ‘goody bags’. As first year students in NUS, we have thus far attended only a few student events but are already the proud owners of 4 goody bags each that currently reside at the bottom of our closets. The bag’s content were sorted and trashed upon at the end of the event because these items hardly come in useful beyond the event. The goal of our project is to scale down this mindless trash generation by designing and creating a digital branding platform since the smartphone ownership within the student bodies is high. This can be extended to other institutions, business organisations and on a national level, such as National Day Parade since “goody bags” are often the main lure for crowd.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Event waste, Goody bags, Digital products

Christopher Lim Hao Teck (SoC/COM1), Goh Wei Qin (FASS/ARS1), Lee Heng Kit Andrew (FoE/CHE1), Lorraine Ong Xin Yi (FASS/NVG1), Sim Xin Wei (FASS/ARS1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Lee Juho

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person interacts with other people (NAS, 2016). Caregivers of autistic individuals experience financial burden and emotional or psychological distress (Shu, 2009). In this project, we investigate the feasibility of an online platform in ensuring the sustainability of caregivers. The platform aims to facilitate interaction and allow caregivers to educate themselves, by providing access to the latest information on autism, all these while maintaining anonymity. To obtain feedback on the feasibility of our proposed solution, caregivers are surveyed to find out about their challenges, mindsets, and their needs. One improvement was to alter the target audience as we lack relevant skills to effectively assist autistic individuals. We discovered that we are in a better position to meet the needs of autistic caregivers. It was reported that a centralised information repository would help guide parents to provide better care for their dependents (Foo, Yap & Sung, 2014). Hence an online centralised information repository would cater to this demand.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Accessibility, Autism caregiving, Information portal

Chen Xinyu (FoS/SCI1), Kaung Mon Thu (FoE/MLE1), Liew Bin Han (FoE/EEE2), Muhammad Idris B Abrahim (FASS/ARS1), Wee Shu Min Florence (SDE/RST1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Huang Jianyi

The convenience and availability of plastic bags in Singapore has resulted in serious environmental issues such as the release of harmful greenhouse gases and threat to marine life. In this project, we carried out a “Free from Plastic Bags Day” to assess its possibility as a long term implementation in NUS. A survey was conducted from 11am to 7pm (on 16 March 2016) at Utown NTUC and UTown Guardian to gauge customer response towards the initiative. The results indicate that 95% and 70% of customers from Guardian and NTUC respectively are willing to support the initiative. With these data, the “Free from Plastic Bags Day” was executed (on 31 March 2016). Towards the end of the event day, short interviews were conducted with the respective store retailers to assess possible difficulties faced should a long term implementation be effectuated. All data collected was then consolidated and analysed to conclude possibility of banning single-use plastic bags and the continuity of such initiatives in NUS.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Plastic Bags, Plastic Waste, Single Use Plastic