AY2021G12C- “Save RV”

Yu Haihong (FOE), Wang Yuda (FOE), Marcella Antania Tan (FOE) & Zhang Yijie (SDE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Corinne Ong

While environmental problems remain a serious issue, many people do not regularly practise sustainability. One of the reasons might be a lack of knowledge of sustainability. Research has showed board games to be effective in teaching about sustainability, our objective is to develop an educational board game for RVRC student participants, to reinforce their knowledge of sustainability and provide everyday solutions to environmental problems. We adopted the board game ‘Terra’ and conducted 3 gaming sessions. Our methods comprised i) a game session; (ii) a pre-quiz and a post-quiz testing participants’ knowledge of sustainability; and iii) a follow-up survey asking for feedback and lifestyle changes supporting sustainability. Quiz results showed that  average pre- to post-quiz scores improved by 21.9%. Also, 88.9% of participants provided positive reviews of the game. 82.4% of participants reported living a more sustainable lifestyle afterward. Hence, the implementation of an educational board game proved effective in reinforcing students’ knowledge of sustainability.

 

AY1819G56- “ReFash – A Mobile Clothing Sustainability Application”

Kamalpreet Kaur D/O A S, Lee Max, Ooi Wen Yi, Sim Sheng Xue, Zhu Bingjie

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

The phenomenon termed “Fast Fashion” refers to the rapid rate at which clothing are produced by fashion companies, resulting in transient clothing trends that change every few months or even weeks. This encourages irresponsible clothing consumption habits which therefore results in severe environmental consequences. Our project investigated the extent of irresponsible clothing consumption habits amongst NUS students and their degree of awareness of sustainable clothing consumption practices. We conducted a survey on NUS students to investigate the degree of awareness on the topic of responsible clothing consumption habits and used the data collected to develop a mobile application that aims to bridge this knowledge gap. Our survey results have shown that NUS students not only practice irresponsible clothing consumption habits such as the impulsive buying and resultant disposal of excess clothing but has low awareness of how to change these unsustainable habits. This is shown quantitatively by the data collected. The mobile application developed therefore serves to take advantage of the tech-savvy and technology reliant nature of NUS students to increase the awareness and convenience of practicing sustainable clothing consumption habits. A focus group was then conducted to test the feasibility of the application by gathering feedback on how to improve user satisfaction and to better understand what would incentivize users to download and use the application. Feedback gathered was used to improve the functionality and appeal of the application.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Clothing, Mobile Application

AY1819G55- “Edible Cutlery”

Chehak Bhandari, Jessica Phua Shu Xin, Ming Yifan, Ng Siu Hian, Ye Yuxiang

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

The improper disposal of huge amounts of plastic waste has caused serious environmental issues around the world. Disposable plastic cutlery, one of the sources of plastic waste, has significant negative impacts on marine wildlife, because disposed plastic cutlery in the ocean is frequently ingested by marine animals, which can cause their death (Wilcox et al., 2016). Disposable cutlery is widely used because of its convenience and low cost, and consumers usually do not have another option apart from plastic cutlery when taking away food. Our project thus aims to promote edible cutlery as an alternative to plastic cutlery within Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) and test students’ receptivity to it. To achieve this, we came up with our own recipe for edible cutlery, and there were a total of three rounds of testing. In the first two tests, we examined the edible cutlery we made in terms of usability, taste, and quality, and we also invited our friends to try our cutlery. Based on the feedback we collected, we made our third batch with two flavours, Italian herbs and vanilla. We then brought the cutlery to students in the dining hall and conducted a post-survey to collect their feedback. The results of our post-survey shows that students were generally receptive towards our edible cutlery and more than half of them were willing to continue to use it. They also gave valuable suggestions on how to improve them. Looking forward, we could implement our project throughout NUS.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food waste, Food

AY1819G50- “Reduce the usage of plastic carriers with FabCups”

Goh Yen Ther, Low Xin Hui, Ng Jing Xue, Pong Jia Min Joan, Tan Jun Hao

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi

Excessive plastic usage especially by single-use plastics like plastic bags and plastic cups has led to excessive plastic waste around the world (World Economic Forum, 2016) and Singapore’s contribution is more significant today (Channel News Asia, 2018). With the increased incidence of ‘Bring Your Own’ campaigns, we hope to extend this to single use plastic carriers. We identified staff and student consumers of LiHo drinks in NUS as a target audience for the adoption of a BYO cup holder to replace the free plastic carriers issued by LiHo. We found that 58.3% of students (n=48) are not aware of sustainable alternatives to plastic carriers. But some 75% are willing to use reusable cup holders. With a small number of   reusable cup holders, we examined consumer receptivity to the adoption of this alternative.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Plastic carriers, Cup holders

AY1819G49- “Saving Waste with Containsil”

Liu Yutong, Mo Zongran, Quek Min Kiat Nickson, Zhong Zhiming, Goh Yen Ther

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi

Plastic waste is a major global problem. In Singapore, only 6% of 815,200 tonnes of plastic waste  was recycled in 2017 (NEA, 2017). Based on ZeroWasteSG’s (2016) estimate, some 30-70% of total plastic waste were single-use disposables, such as takeaway containers.Our project “Saving Waste with CONTAINSIL” aims to reduce material wastage by NUS consumers with single-use utensils with an alternative design. This will integrate fork/spoon into takeaway containers and be perforated ao as to be easily pushed out of container lids. 88% of 86 respondents indicated that they have takeaway meals between 1 to 5 times a week, and most indicated these were for rice dishes, which the design thus targetted. 90% also indicated they do take plastic utensils, reflecting a high demand.  Most (90%) also expressed interest in our idea. based on our calculations on the monthly use of containers within NUS canteens, this design could lead to a reduction of some 245 kg of plastic waste per month.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Plastic, Takeaway containers, Containers, Utensils

AY1819G48- “End Food Shaming”

Chen Hui Li, Koh Jin Qi, Sarah Koh En Hui, Yong Jin Hao Brandon, Liu Yutong

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi

In Singapore, food waste comprises of the highest portion of solid waste composition (Bai, 2000).  A component of food waste is “ugly food”, or food which is deemed unattractive and thus “not saleable” (de Hooge et al., 2018). For ugly food to be redirected from food waste, it must be accessible to potential consumers. Here, we seek to  persuade online grocers to sell ugly food to improve its accessibility and convenience. We first participated in an SGFoodRescue rescue event, to gain insights into the wasteful disposal of fruits and vegetables in Singapore. With high volume and affordability, we directed efforts at approaching major online grocers such as Redmart and NTUC. This did not elicit a response, while amongst small grocers, only UnPackt responded initially. We concluded that interest in the viability of ugly food consumption first requires a boost, so we compiled a video of undergraduate responses towards ugly food through blind taste tests and interviews. With this video, we will revisit the issue with online grocers, environmental activists and sustainability-centred social media accounts to boost consideration of the issue.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food Waste, Ugly food, Food

AY1819G45 – “Using games to increase students’ learning of sustainability”

Sim Wee Guan Raiant, Lin Zhen Lillian, Chan Tze Cheng Tricia, Abhyarthana Aroop Pradhan, Lai Wei Xian Clemence

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

Experiential learning is the process of learning through reflecting on doing. There is an alarming lack of awareness on environmental issues amongst youths in Singapore today, and education is key to curb the issue and spread awareness on the environmentalism movement.

In our project, we aim to enhance the most enjoyable learning activity used in GEQ1917 to increase students’ learning of sustainability. Current activities were solely used to garner interest in the topic. After surveying RVRC students and their experience using learning activities applied in GEQ1917, our findings showed that 48.5% of respondents enjoy games the most. Thereafter we created a transferable lesson plan with elements of gamification and improved upon the gaps in implementation of the preferred learning activity (Go-Fish Game).  We conducted trials on non-RVRC students selected from a mix of faculties. A focused group discussion was held after the lesson to assess their knowledge on the topic. The results showed a considerable improvement in the achievement of learning outcomes. Thus, we recommend incorporating more of such elements in any educational programs which have the purpose of enhancing student’s learning in sustainability.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Games

AY1819G35- “Increasing RVRC residents’ awareness of sustainable toilet paper”

Ching Jiaying Megan, Kong Zhen Hao Stanford, Wang Haocheng, Xu Wenhao, Zhou Zhefang

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

In 2010, toilet paper accounted for fifteen per cent of the world’s deforestation (Robbins, 2010) and yet, we observed that many people are still unaware of the extent of deforestation and pollution of water bodies that comes with it. In 2018, an average Singaporean used 7.5kg of toilet paper, and this number is set to increase (Statista, 2018). Our project aims to look at the perception and awareness of RVRC residents on sustainable toilet paper. At the same time, increase their knowledge on the environmental issues and alternatives of toilet paper through campaigns and a trial. Using Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) as our case study, our quantitative survey showed that there is indeed a lack of awareness on the environmental problem surrounding toilet paper. Additionally, respondents also scored low on the awareness of alternative toilet paper that are sustainable and currently available in the market. Our group launched awareness campaigns including a trial and informative and experiential posters across RVRC. Our post-campaign survey indicated an increase in awareness and interest in sustainable toilet paper among the target audience. The results of our project can help suppliers of sustainable toilet paper to refine their marketing campaigns towards university students in Singapore.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Paper Wastage, Paper Recycling

AY1819G33- “ReSue- Telegram Chatbot”

Ho Xin Ying Andrea, John Cuthbert Khoo Teng Fong, Jonah Huang Zi Chao, Mccoy Lim Wei, Teo Kai Pun

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

Paper wastage is a perennial issue in Singapore. 1,144,800 tonnes of paper and cardboard waste were generated in 2017, of which only 50% was recycled (National Environmental Agency [NEA], 2018). Despite Singapore’s efforts, the paper recycling rate has remained around 50% since 2005 (NEA, 2016), indicating a chronic problem with paper recycling. As the flagship university in Southeast Asia and a major consumer of paper, the National University of Singapore (NUS) offers a promising testbed for sustainability solutions addressing the paper wastage problem. Our project explores the circular economy approach in ameliorating paper wastage among students in NUS. Based on our analysis of the data gathered by AY16/17 G03-A, we conclude that there is potential demand for an online peer-to-peer marketplace where students can monetise their used notes and contribute to environmental sustainability at the same time. Capitalising on the popularity of the smartphone application Telegram, a chatbot was developed to serve as a decentralised peer-to-peer marketplace for students to buy and sell academic resources. In addition, a pilot test and an end-user survey were conducted to gauge students’ reception of our project. Through drawing upon the data we obtained, we understood that we must be cognizant of consumer preferences, product differentiation, and the idea that addressing the awareness-behaviour gap is crucial in promoting tangible improvements for campus sustainability. We hope that our project would be useful for further exploration in the implementation of efforts towards achieving campus sustainability.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Paper Wastage, Paper Recycling, Chatbot, Telegram

AY1819G31- “Project Strawy”

Beatrice Chan Tong, Lin Mei An, Nicholas Neo Shi Wei, Pamela Koh Rong Yi, Phillmont Muktar

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

Plastic straws affect more than 700 marine species and are estimated to be found in 90% of seabirds and sea turtles. The 2015 video of the sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose sobered many into the fact that plastics in our seas are taking a toll on our marine species. Closer to Singapore, the introduction of straw bans has been widely regarded as a step towards a world consuming lesser plastic. However, there are still cases such as the iReject campaign in NUS that was highly criticized upon its launch. This was surprising given that university students are supposed to be aware of the environmental impacts of plastic straws. From our survey targeted at NUS students and staffs, we found out that 69.7% of respondents are aware of the harms of plastic straws and yet continue to use them. Users still largely prefer the use of straws, and thus, our project seeks to create an environmentally friendly alternative: edible biscuit straws, which will be able to fulfill practical needs of consumers and their strong reliance while reducing its impacts on the environment as opposed to plastic straws. Our group created prototypes with the aim of achieving close functionality to plastic straws. Through various baking sessions, we tested the usability of different materials and how long they can last in liquids to better cater to the needs of the consumers. We managed to derive a recipe that makes straws of relatively good functionality. Results of workshops conducted also showed that the NUS community is generally receptive of and eager to try out edible straws.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Edible Straw, Biodegradable

AY1819G30- “Integrating Straws into Drinks”

Liew Li Heng, Nabilah Bte Bahrim, Tay Yu Hong, Yash Mishra, Yew Ji Hao

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

Packet drinks are often favored due to their long shelf life and ease of storage, but come with attached plastic straws which are separate from the carton. These straws are often accidentally discarded and form a substantial part of marine pollution. Given the environmental threat that plastic straws are known to pose, our project aims to find an engineering solution to this problem by integrating straws into the structure of packet drinks, thus eliminating the need for external straws. To achieve this, we examined current packet drink designs before forming a preliminary prototype for our solution. After finalizing the design through an engineering design approach using various materials, we formed an improved version of the prototype using materials from a deconstructed packet drink to verify that it was feasible when using the actual components of current packets. A survey was then conducted on the general public. The quantitative data we subsequently obtained indicated a few key findings; first, that 74% of respondents used packet drinks more than once a year, second, that over 70% of respondents deemed straws to be necessary when consuming packet drinks and third, that 89% of respondents preferred our design over the existing one if both were available for purchase. Qualitative data was also collected to understand what consumers deemed to be limitations and areas of improvement for our design. Having improved on our solution based on this data, we now intend to approach manufacturers for feedback regarding the feasibility of implementing our design.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption

AY1819G08- “Waste to Soap”

Gan Jia En, Kheng Yau Dong, Wang Heqiao, Tan Desheng

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

Cooking Oil is an essential ingredient that is commonly used in food production globally, which in turn leads to a substantial consumption of cooking oil around the world. For instance, in 2016, 25 kg of edible vegetable oil was consumed per capita in China (Research and Markets, 2018). Due to the significant consumption of cooking oil, a substantial amount of used cooking oil (UCO) will be produced. Thus, our project aims to explore the idea of recycling of UCO by using it to produce soaps. Using UCO from RVRC Dining Hall, we have produced cold-process bar soap and liquid soap in a soap workroom of a local company known as Sugar and Spice. Followed by this is an interview with the dining hall cleaners to enquire about the commonly found stains on the dining hall table. We gathered that the common stains are usually drinks and sauces. We then decided to test out the UCO soaps on different type of sauces instead of drinks as sauces are more oily and hence is more difficult to be cleaned. From our evaluation, it was observed that the liquid soap and bar soap were reasonably effective in cleaning the stains. In particular, the cleaning effect of the liquid soap was comparable to a commercial kitchen cleaner which served as the control. We recommend that further research should be done to investigate the feasibility of producing the UCO soaps in a larger scale to augment its benefits towards the environment.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food waste, Food

AY1819G07- “Coin it!”

Ashley Tan Xin Yi (Deng Xinyi), Lucian Wee Yang Xian, Cheow Yu Shan Cherilyn, Heng Jie Kai Joven, Kim Nahyun

Academic Advisor: Dr. Florence Ng

Receipt wastage in dining halls across NUS is a wastage of resources and is not in line with NUS stated goal of sustainability. Furthermore, the presence of BPA in receipts could pose health risks to students through dermal exposure (Konieczna, Rutkowska, & Rachoń, 2015; Arbor, 2018). Therefore, our project aims to reduce receipt usage. We first explored student awareness of the potential health risks and environmental impacts arising from the use of thermal paper receipts in dining halls. With residential college members as our survey group, we conducted a quantitative survey to investigate the level of student awareness. Our results showed that student awareness of the health and environmental impacts was high. Students were also open to the replacement of the current receipt system with a more environmentally friendly alternative. With these results in mind, our group proposed that the current receipt dispenser be replaced with a token dispenser. These tokens will replace the receipts as meal credits. They will be made of plastic and will be reused across semesters, ensuring their environmental impact is minimal (Cooper, 2012). The token dispenser will be programmed using an Arduino mini computer and will be fabricated using a 3D printer. We then conducted a trial testing the performance of our machine. With the feedback from the trial, we were able to further improve our design, increasing its feasibility. Thus, we recommend that NUS could consider replacing the current receipt system with the coin dispenser.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Receipt waste

AY1819G06 – “Waste not, want not, reducing food waste with kids”

Calvin Ng Khai Boon, Lee Wen Jie, Ong Ming Chung, Syed Muhammad Reza Bin Nagib, Tan Yong Bin

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

The issue of food waste in Singapore is prevalent and increasingly severe. This city-state generated 791,000 tonnes of food waste, equivalent to the weight of over 3,500 MRT trains (National Environment Agency [NEA], 2018). Outreach initiatives have been implemented to not only raise awareness of the environmental and societal impact of food waste but also to educate the public on responsible food consumption. However, currently, these initiatives have mainly targeted children in the primary school level and above but not pre-school children. Existing literature states that children aged 0 to 6 years old have the brain capacity to absorb information quickly. Hence, good habits are best introduced at a young age to ensure maximum time for their formation and retention. Thus, our project aims to educate children in pre-schools regarding the food waste issue and to inculcate responsible food consumption habits. We conducted a 2-hour food waste education workshop, split into two 1-hour sessions, targeted at pre-school children. To measure the effectiveness of the workshop, we conducted two surveys and Food Poster. Our pre-survey after the first workshop indicates that an average of 10 out of 12 students understood the lesson. Our post-survey after the second workshop indicates the same results hence indicating their memory retained the lesson. Our Food poster collected data of the students’ meal behaviour for 2 weeks. The students did not waste food in any of their meals. We also interviewed the teachers, who state that the children are now motivated to not waste food.

Keywords: Food, Responsible Consumption, Behavioural Change, Educational Workshop, Pre-schooler

 

AY1819G05 – “Cut the Cutlery”

Alvin Phua Wei Da, Arushi Gupta, Lim Yiming, Lim Zheng Xiang, Patwardhan Arica Jitendra

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Plastic waste in Singapore has been increasing in recent years, with disposable plastics being one of the main types of plastic waste (NEA 2019).2 One of the sources that accumulates plastic waste is the use of disposable cutlery when consuming delivered food. Despite their possession of reusable cutlery, most consumers lack the consciousness to decline disposable cutlery when ordering food. As such, our group aims to investigate how we may get NUS students to use reusable cutlery instead, adopting a three-pronged approach to do so. We collaborated with Al Amaans, one of the most popular supper stores among NUS students, and requested for them to verify if students on the line require disposable cutlery when receiving orders. The other two approaches include the development of  infographics which comprise social norm messages, and creating an additional step on supper order forms for students who opt to use disposable cutlery. Based on data gathered over the past three weeks, there has been a small but increasing proportion of students who reject disposable cutlery. These results offer an optimistic sign that the use of these prompts, reminders and messages may aid in encouraging such behavioural changes amongst NUS students.

Keywords: Responsible Consumption, Disposable Cutlery, Takeaway, Behavioural Change, Plastic Waste

 

AY1718G20.1 – “The Door Gift Conundrum”

Chew Yu Ning, Lynn, Lee Wei Bin, Liu Yingnan, Natalie Phang Suet Yee, Toh Yong Jian

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi
Industry Advisor: Earthys

Event Organisers provide door gifts as they think that event-goers want and expect it. However, observations of campus events point to disposal without use of many item types. In this project, we investigated the importance of door gifts in attracting event-goers and the possibility of reducing such resource investment and wastage. With an online survey, 169 event goers, aged 18-65, were evaluated for their views and preferences for door gifts. Event Organisers were interviewed to understand why they choose to provide door gifts and if they were willing to accept sustainable solutions. The results suggested door gifts are not a critical factor to event-goers in choosing to attend an event and Event Organisers were willing to consider sustainable solutions. With the trend of receiving door gifts, however, door gifts reduction, first through sustainable alternatives could be attempted gradually over time.

Keywords: Waste, Event waste, Door gifts, Habits survey, Responsible consumption

AY1718G16.1 – “A Price on Ugly”

Heng Zhang Min, Lee Si Xian, Rupanshi Chugh, Toh Huang En, Yeo Ying De

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

Whenever we go shopping for groceries, we place enormous amounts of emphasis on the appearance of food products, completely neglecting ugly fruits and vegetables, as though they are not nutritious. This behaviour is not only observed in consumers, but even food importers who reject food based on appearances. Our project examines the current state of ugly produce in Singapore and attempts to understand the general perceptions of wholesalers and consumers towards them. Through the use of surveys, observational studies and interviews, we aim to investigate the perceptions of Singaporean wholesalers and consumers towards ugly produce, as well as the possible effectiveness of pricing to influence consumers’ purchasing habits. From our study, we question the assumption that ugly fruits and vegetables are present in Singapore and emphasise that “ugly” is a highly subjective concept.

Keywords: Food waste, ugly food, cosmetic filtering, pasir panjang wholesales market, consumer perception

 

AY1718G15.3 – “Are RVRC students aware of greenwashing?”

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

AY1718G15.2 – “Are you looking for an eco-label?: Apathy and ignorance among consumers”

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

AY1718G15.1 – “Why are NUS students not buying sustainable palm oil food products?”

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

AY1718G13.3 – “Want Not, Waste Not”

Brandon Gwee Jin Ern, Kay Chan Yun Wen, Sulaiman Azim B Mohamad Daud, Yong Pei Si, Beatrice, Zhu Shiyao

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

Want Not, Waste Not is a project focused on establishing the causal relationship between aggressive marketing in supermarkets and food waste amongst Singaporeans aged 19 to 25 years old. Through researching extensive literature and our methodology, a positive association between products that are aggressively marketed, and products subsequently wasted by consumers is apparent. Our project aims to reduce the wastage of food by educating the consumers about aggressive marketing and its link to food waste in hopes that they don’t fall prey to these strategies. Through a simulation pilot study, we evaluated the effectiveness of our methods; gauging our respondent’s response to aggressive marketing techniques after implementing our education campaign.

Keywords: Food, grocery shop, aggressive marketing strategy, advertising stickers, responsible consumption

AY1718G09.3 – “Fridgeventory: App to Reduce Refrigerator Food Waste in Households”

Chew Xin Yi, Mancie Lim, Ng Rui Xin, Elen, Tan Wei Liang, Tan Yoke Boon

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye
Industry Advisor: Sodexo

Food waste is a growing concern in Singapore. In fact, food from households amounting to 200 million dollars is wasted annually. In addition, based on a survey by NEA, one of the top two reasons for household food waste is due to forgotten refrigerated food. Hence, we propose a phone app which comprises of five different features, which aim to specifically reduce refrigerator food waste in households. After conducting pilot tests using a prototype app, we gathered data on the perceived effectiveness and likelihood of usage of each individual feature through our survey. Furthermore, we conducted an interview with a senior representative from Cold Storage to gain insights about the food industry and to validate the feasibility of our app. With the favourable responses and feedback gathered, we have created a working and marketable Android app.

Keywords: Food, Responsible Consumption, Mobile application, Food Waste, Mobile Applications, Refrigerator

AY1718G09.2 – “Biogas Digester”

Edward Low Zhen Yu, Goh Kai Rong, Henry Lee Yit Loong, Lim Ting Hui, Tan Yong Jun

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye
Industry Advisor: Sodexo

Food waste has become a prevalent topic of sustainability, having caused high levels of economic and environmental damage. Food waste occurs when edible food is intentionally discarded by consumers after they fail to plan their meals properly and store food till it spoils or goes past the expiry date. The biogas digestion machine was widely used in other countries such as the United States, India and Israel, as part of their local sustainability programs the concept was hardly known nor utilized in Singapore. Hence, We provide a solution to the increasing amounts of food waste in Singapore, by building a low cost Biogas Digestion machine. This machine could be installed within households to recycle food waste into usable biogas that could be used for cooking.

Keywords: Food, Responsible Consumption, Prototypes, Food waste, Biogas

AY1718G09.1 – “Using a Chatbot to reduce plate waste”

Chen Jiahao, Chew Yu Cheng, Lee Yi De, Madeline Ng Qi Xuan, Ng U – Hui Gideon

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye
Industry Advisor: Sodexo

There is a significant economic and sustainable opportunity in reducing food waste by consumers. The aim of this project is to go beyond posters to make the consumer feel they are actively contributing to this reduction. Our group has created a Telegram Chatbot to encourage students to reduce food waste. This Chatbot helps to track data of each person such that they are able to view their personal and group statistics. It is hoped that by making participants more aware about the amount of food waste they generate, they will make a conscious effort to reduce their food waste. The food waste was manually measured, with avoidable food waste being separated from unavoidable, and the data was uploaded to a spreadsheet. Our group set a benchmark of 100g of daily food waste per participant and after 3 weeks of pilot testing, we hope that every participant will achieve this goal.

Keywords: Waste management, Responsible Consumption, Chatbot, Apps, Food waste

AY1718G03.1 – “Marketing Sustainability to Millennials: A Case Study of Food Waste in Dining Halls”

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

AY1718G01.1 – “Marketing sustainability to millennials”

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

 

AY1617G21C – “Reducing straw usage in NUS: A case study of consumer and retailer response in RVRC dining outlets”

Foo Rui Hao James (FoE), Goh Zoey (FoS), Kuan Jie Hui Eugene (FASS), Lin Chenxi (FoE), Pang Jia Hao (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei

Straws are given out with virtually every drink you purchase. Plastic straws are among the top 10 marine debris. More than 6 million straws were removed from coastal cleanups (Montgomery, 2014). Straws are made of petroleum plastics. The plastic straw production process contributes to global warming as well as fossil fuel depletion. Straws which are disposed end up in landfills and dumps which have a great impact on the environment. Straws that end up in the oceans pose a great threat to marine life who consume them by accident (Scher, 2016). This staggering amount of straws polluting the environment prompted us to find out the feasibility of reducing straw usage in RVRC dining outlets. To better understand our high straw usage, we plan to investigate the reasons students choose to use straws. This will help us decide on the best approach to tackling this problem. We intend to draft a survey to gauge the awareness among the RVRC students of straw usage. Based on the results, we would craft our strategies to most effectively discourage the usage of straws, starting with retailers where RVRC food vouchers can be used. Our group has narrowed down to target Royal Bistro as our industry partner due to their willingness to work with us on this project to become a more sustainable dining outlet.

Keywords: Waste Management, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption

AY1617G21A – “Cash For Trash”

Eunice Tay (FASS), Nguyen Thanh Son (CEG), Ramdin Robin (FoE), Somesh Dev S/O Mohan (FoS), Tan Ke Yu (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Wong Kah Wei
Industry Advisor: Mr. Hor Chor Kiat (UCI, NUS)

Universities provide students resources ranging from transportation to the use of paper. Paper is used in all aspects of academic learning, ranging from books to lectures notes and assignments. According to a study conducted at the Minnesota State University, approximately 2.4 billion pages of paper were used in an academic year. A third of the papers were discarded instantly, while the remaining were neglected. Apart from filling up landfills, paper also contributes to the release of Greenhouse Gases such as methane. Methane traps heat 21 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. In Singapore, 1.2 million of paper waste is generated of which only, 51% of it is recycled. With this worrying trend of paper waste, we decided to focus our project on recycled paper generated by RVRC students. The scope of narrowing our project to this local level is to manage the constraints of limited manpower and to collect data efficiently. Our project aims to incentivize the recycling of paper by showing how much money could be generated from recycled paper which is sold. The money collected from the sale could be used to sustain this endeavour. To test out our idea, we decided to use RVRC as a platform for research and data collection.We intend to create our own recycling points to improve the locations and frequency of bins. We will collect the recycled papers disposed by RVRC students to estimate how much paper could be collected regularly. We will quantify how much paper is disposed in bins through a weighing system. We propose to be the middleman between recycling companies and RVRC students. Additionally, surveys will be conducted prior and after the test run to gauge and obtain feedback on this initiative. With data analysis, we hope to draw insights to develop a conceptual plan to show how paper sold to recycling paper companies is an option to incentivize people to recycle paper.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Waste paper

AY1617G20B – “Will meal suggestions increase healthy eating in NUS?”

Jeremy Tan Yang Jing (FASS), Lim Jiahui (FoE), Ow Kai Rong, Wesley (FoE), Tang Yong Jen (FoS), Xu Jing Yin (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Industry Advisor: Mr Tay Kang Rui (OCA, NUS)

During a school year, NUS students eat a majority of their meals in NUS canteens. Currently, NUS promotes healthier eating by requiring canteen stalls to provide calorie information for each of their dishes. However, calories are just one part of health equation; a diet needs an array of nutrients in order to be considered healthy. While the Singapore Health Promotion Board has healthier choice labels and healthy plate options to help people make better diet choices, it remains difficult for people to make healthy decisions when eating out. Our group hopes to bridge the gap between the available information and the food decisions NUS students make, by narrowing down the options to a suggested weekly menu of healthy dishes. This project will provide a healthy meal plan based on the food dishes at the YIH canteen. We intend to use the Health Promotion Board nutritional guidelines as a baseline definition for a healthy diet. Following which, we will survey a sample of NUS students to assess their eating habits in terms of how often they eat out, and their main considerations for food choices in order to improve our meal plan. Then we will use consolidate the nutritional information from the Health Promotion Board and other sources, to construct meal choices that people could use for a week. After which, we will do a pilot study on how NUS students might respond to such a meal plan, and the extent that such a meal plan promote healthier meal choices among students. At the end of our study, we would conclude our findings and come up with possible extensions of this project.

Keywords: Healthy food, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Singapore Health Promotion Board, canteen

AY1617G19A – “Would you trade your textile trash for treasure?”

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

AY1617G17C – “Converge and Convert”

Chan Yu Wai, Wilson (Business School), Lau Kin On (FoS), Liu Hang (SoC), Ng Wei Sin (FoE), Tse Qing Le Benjamin (FoE), Yee Cheng Xi (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Despite years of government-led efforts to promote recycling, the recycling rates in Singapore remain low. In recent studies, it has been found that one method of achieving higher recycling rates was to get people to come together to recycle, and make recycling a community-based activity. In light of this, our group decided to test if such a social event, Converge and Convert, could increase the recycling rates in Ridge View Residential College. We carry out our experiments on residents of Block A and B. Our event will be held at lounge A on Wednesdays on weeks 7 to 9, from 10pm to 11pm. During this event, Block A and B residents would bring their recyclables to the lounge. Our group would weigh and record the recyclables by their categories of plastics, paper and metals. To encourage participants to come for the event and to help nurture the recycling culture, the event will include mini games as well as an unknown prize to entice the residents. At the end of the events, comparisons would be made of the quantity of recyclables in the recycling bins at Block B, before and after the social events, to determine the project’s success.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, social events, recycling incentives

AY1617G17B – “Straw Wars”

Deborah Jasmine (FoS), Foo Chui Ching (FASS), Lee Xin Ying Esther (FASS), Liu Hao Ren (FoE), Melanie Ng Suli (CEG)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

Our Project “Straw Wars” aims to reduce plastic straw usage by providing alternatives to straws. Plastic straws are often regarded as disposal and insignificant. However, because they have a short lifespan of about 20 minutes, are widely used and non-biodegradable, plastic straws is actually one of the most common plastic waste and the top marine trash on Singapore’s coasts. While our preliminary survey on straw usage found that 66.9% of the respondents used straws because of convenience and not of necessity, it is likely difficult to alter people’s habits to not using straws. Thus, although it is hard to recycle straws, their demand would likely stay. Our group aim to replace straws with biodegradable ones. In our preliminary survey, our proposal of edible straws were well received by 70% of the participant. We will exploring two types of edible straws, one will be based on Gelatin or Agar Agar and the second will be flour based. We aim to distribute the straw prototypes and recommend our edible straws to users during the upcoming RVRC events. From there, we will be able to gather their responses and check their receptiveness towards our edible straws.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, edible straw, bio-degradable

AY1617G17A – “The Zero Waste Challenge”

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.

AY1617G16B – “NU$ell: How can we reduce the wastage from transient hostel residents?”

Ashwin Kumaar Raviraj (FoE), Gundlapalli Prithvi (FoS), Karthikeyan Kavitha (FoE), Peter Bruce Gale (FoS), Sarah Cheong Cheng Wen (FoS), Toh Wei Li (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

The start of every new semester at National University of Singapore (NUS) sees new student residents moving into campus. This is typically accompanied by the discarding of previous residents’ belongings such as lamps, wi-fi routers, cooking utensils, irons and clothes. A large percentage of these discarded items are typically in good and re-usable condition, but are still consigned as waste. This trend is largely driven by a culture of convenience. Our project aims to take a simple step towards achieving a zero-waste society by reducing this source of preventable waste through a pilot test on Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) residents. The study categorises residents into three groups – local, international and exchange students. We believe that this classification effectively reflects their varied consumption and resulting waste habits. For example, exchange students typically purchase more new items than the other resident groups because they do not bring all items of daily necessity from their homes overseas. We will first conduct a survey and collect data from relevant campus agencies and the three RVRC student resident groups to identify the source and quantify the magnitude of waste. We will then review the impact of existing measures and suggest modifications and additional initiatives. Our main initiative is a system for reusing or renting commonly-needed items (such as hangers, stand fans, desk lights, room decoration, etc). Promotion of re-use of these items could be done through a bazaar at RVR Annexe or through an app. We will also explore the option of selling items to second-hand dealers or donating them to charities. To maximise effectiveness, our solutions would have to be convenient for the target student audience, thereby leveraging on their inherent culture of convenience.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Recycling, Reusing

AY1617G16A – “Reusable Bags: Good Monster or Bad Monster?”

Elizabeth Chew Ting Xin (FASS), Hanny Putri Pranata (FoS), Hoong Yao Yang (FoS), Kwa Zhi Ying (FoE), Liu Quyang (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye

Reusable bags, such as non-woven polypropylene bags and cotton bags, have been viewed as an environmentally friendlier alternative to single-use plastic bags as they can be made from recycled materials and are relatively durable. However, there is a lack of public awareness on the significantly larger carbon footprint left behind by each reusable bag as compared to that of each single-use plastic bag. In 2011, the UK Environmental Agency conducted a study on the environmental impact of various supermarket carrier bags and concluded that non-woven polypropylene bags and cotton bags need to be reused at least 11 and 131 times respectively to compensate for the higher carbon emission of each bag. In the National University of Singapore (NUS), reusable bags are often employed by student committees and organisations as a means to distribute freebies and pamphlets during school events such as the annual NUS Open Day. As a result of the high volume of such events on campus, students tend to receive and hoard a significant number of reusable bags with most of them remaining relatively unused. Therefore, we aim to maximise the use of each reusable bag owned by NUS students, because we see the need for all NUS students to set an example and take ownership of their own carbon footprint. Our group implemented a system in NUS where preowned reusable bags are collected, sanitized and then placed around the campus for reuse. We piloted this idea with the installation of ‘Feed Me’ reusable bag collection boxes in RVRC. This was followed by ‘Take Me’ reusable bag distribution boxes around the commercial areas of NUS, such as outside the NUS Co-Op. The results of our pilot will help to gauge if our idea can be implemented on a larger scale around other educational institutions in Singapore.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Resusable Bags, Plastic waste

AY1617G15C – “Visual Elasticity of Demand”

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

AY1617G15A – “ClothesLine: Extending a lifeline to clothes”

Chiam Sheng Yeow (FoE), Huang Shaoqi Kenneth (FoS), Leong Ze Xi (FASS), Lim Yi Qian (FoE), Shane Ee Wei Lee (FASS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Mr. Aloysius Sng (Refash)

Textile waste poses a significant environmental problem in affluent countries. In Singapore, more than 150, 000 tonnes of textile waste was discarded with only 8 percent recycled. This project explores the growing unsustainability of the textile industry due to increasing textile waste and the reasons behind this, such as growing consumption and poor disposal habits. We chose NUS students as our target group because NUS students fit the profile of the largest consumer group (young adults) and hence contribute the most towards clothes wastage. Also, the reason why we’re holding this in NUS is because many students participate in existing initiatives like the Green Wardrobe and Green Bazaar. A preliminary survey on 230 NUS students during the Chinese New Year break concluded that our solution to target disposal habits should include monetary incentives and promote convenience in order to be effective. Hence, our proposed solution to reduce textile wastage is to bring the concept of thrift shops to NUS, which involves a combination of convenience and incentive to recycle. We hope that through this experience, more young adults will be more open purchasing used clothing and hence lessening the environmental impact of textile waste.

Keywords: Waste Management, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Fast Fashion, Incentives

AY1617G14C – “Recycle it Right!”

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

AY1617G14A – “Would availability of clotheslines reduce dryer usage in RVRC?”

Goh Yi Hui, Clarisse (FASS), Jonathan Yeo Chang Yong (FoS), Leong Kok Liang Dylan (FoS), Marabeth Kwah Xin Yi (FoS), Tiana Singgih (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

In Singapore, the use of electrical dryers for drying clothes is a waste of energy considering the hot local climate. Our preliminary survey showed that many residents of Ridge View Residential College use electric dryers for drying clothes. This could in part be due to the lack of adequate communal areas for the residents to dry their laundry. Our idea revolves around the substitution of electrical dryers with the conventional clotheslines. This solution provides a practical way to dry clothes indoors as it is space efficient as compared to regular clothing racks. Being retractable, the clothesline will not obstruct the residents. The clothesline will also save $1 per dryer use for students. We also want to find out whether the availability of clothesline could cause a change in students’ mindset with regards to the use of dryers. We will be conducting a pilot test with tension rods in place of a retractable line to assess the feasibility of our idea for a college-wide adoption. In short, through our project, we aim to uncover new insights on dryer usage habits and to reduce the reliance on dryers.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Energy and Climate, electric dryer, laundry clotheslines

AY1617G13C – “Saving the Spark: Identifying the cause of energy wastage”

Celia Leo (FASS), Ho Chih Young (FoE), Ng Jing Hui Darrell (FoE), Parkhi Agarwal (FASS), Yeong Jing Wei (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

Energy consumption, while vital to our modern day living, is a source of many environmental problems such as the burning of fossil fuels, which in turn produces vast amounts of carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change. Statistics indicate that several developed countries face the problem of unsustainable energy consumption, but the cause remains unclear in spite of ample publicity, education and established measures to curb energy waste. At an individual consumer level, it is posited that the crux of this issue lies in behavioural psychology, particularly in the field of habit formation. Our project aims to identify the key reasons behind unsustainable electrical consumption behaviour at Ridge View Residential College (RVRC). We will be conducting this through a randomly selected pool of respondents. The first step in the project is to survey the sample resident population on their current electrical use and their justification for their habits. The second step is to study their daily usage habits in-depth, in the form of logbooks to better pinpoint the exact challenges participants face in practicing responsible energy usage and mitigate inaccuracy of answers in the survey stage of the experiment. Finally, from the data collected, solutions fitting the current dynamics of the target population to combat irresponsible energy usage can then be crafted with greater effectiveness.

Keywords: Energy, Energy wastage, Responsible Consumption, Consumer habits

AY1617G13B – “Convenience, Recycling, Contamination (CRC)”

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

AY1617G12B – “Palm Oil makes the air spoil”

Chuan Sze Min, Ayn (FASS), Hong Chuan Yin (FoS), Lim Jun Lin (FoE), Nguyen Thi Hoang Anh (SDE), Teng Lin Chiat (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Ms. Zhang Wen (PM.Haze)

Palm oil is pervasive in our daily lives: from the food we consume to the toiletries we use for personal hygiene. As palm oil can be used for various purposes, the demand for palm oil will definitely increase. A report by United Nations Environment Programme acknowledges that oil palm plantations are now the main reason for rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2013, Singapore experienced the worst haze outbreak as the Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) hit 400 due to smog blown over from forest fires in Indonesia. Since then, people are more concerned about haze. Purchasing a product that contains palm oil will be akin to supporting companies which allow uncontrolled deforestation. Our group would like to raise awareness among NUS students about this pressing haze issue. This is done through engaging dialogue sessions, workshops and educational visuals. With these, we hope that more will buy products with Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) label or products that do not contain any palm oil.

Keywords: Food, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Palm Oil, Sustainable consumption

AY1617G12A – “Disconnect to Connect”

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

AY1617G11C – “No Plastic Bag, ok?”

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

AY1617G10B – “Pizza Box to Paper Plates: Do awareness campaigns really reduce cardboard wastage?”

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

AY1617G10A – “Food Waste Segregation: Is it a feasible option for common pantries at RVRC?”

Felicia Farm Li Wen (FoE), Gillian Lim Hui Min (FASS), Lai Shi Wei, Valerie (FoE), Lian Jia En, Frances (FASS), Melissa Anne Lim Yu Ting (FoS), William Tin Wai Leung (SDE)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

The current, unfavorable method of disposing food waste is incineration at landfills. This results in severe environmental impacts, such as the emission of greenhouse gases, which in turn contribute to global warming. Such impacts can be reduced by recycling food waste. However, in order to recycle food waste efficiently, it has to be separated from general waste such as tissues or disposable cutlery. Our project will investigate this idea by piloting waste segregation at common pantries in Ridge View Residential College (RVRC). Over a period of 2 weeks, we will document the success of waste segregation by placing bins for the separation of food waste and general waste. We will begin this effort with an awareness campaign at RVRC using posters to inform residents in the first week. In the second week, we will remove the posters to observe if residents continue to separate food waste without being reminded. On the whole, our project aims to see if we can cultivate a culture of segregating food waste in RVRC.

Keywords: Waste Management, Food waste, Responsible Consumption, Food waste segregation

AY1617G09A – “Project Plant it Yourself!”

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

 

AY1617G08C – “Think Twice About Rice”

Koh Yu Jie (FoS), Le Trung Hieu (SoC), Lieu Wei Zhi Ivan (FoS), Sinchita Sathish (FASS), Teo Jin Ming (SoC)

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

With growing affluence, food waste is increasingly an issue in Singapore. Food waste can be classified into post-consumed and pre-consumed. Our group choose to tackle the issue at the pre-consumed food stage, because this will ultimately reduce the post-consumed waste. Based on our observations at various canteens and from previous group’s results, we realise that rice is the most commonly wasted dish due to a mismatch between the portion of rice served and the individuals’ appetite level. This problem can be solved by better matching the individual’s need with the amount of rice served by the vendor. We intend to implement a rice level chart where customers can specify to vendors the rice quantity that they want, thereby reducing the level of food waste. Our inspiration comes from the sugar level chart implemented by Gong-Cha, where customers have the autonomy to decide the sugar level they want. Our target stall is the mixed vegetable rice stall at Business/Computing canteen We intend work with the stall vendor to implement the more/less rice ordering system over a week, and thereafter, survey the students’ responses to verify the viability of our idea. We hope that our idea can encourage you to think twice about rice when you are eating out.

Keywords: Waste Management, food waste, rice, Cultural and Lifetstyle Trends, canteen

AY1617G08A – “Deter-gent: Know Your Laundry!”

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

AY1617G07C – “One Camp, One Tree”

Aw Kailer Jonah (FoS), Caleb Lai Yiren (FASS), Cheyenne Rebecca Chew Mun Yuen (FASS), Gabriel Lye Jun Hui (FoE), Marcus Koh Wai Leong (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi

Our project ‘One Camp, One Tree’ addresses unnecessary paper wastage in the usage of hard copy indemnity forms. This is done by replacing the current hard copy forms with a secured online portal. By implementing this schoolwide, the project aims to save 30,000 sheets of paper. Hard copy indemnity forms serve to indemnify the institution from any injuries incurred by the participants during school activities. The online portal serves the same function and brings about additional benefits such as easier access and greater convenience for participants. Furthermore, it simplifies the data collection and collation process for the organisers. We have implemented a pilot test in Ridge View Residential College for the Coastal Cleanup event. The pilot test had a sample size of 120. After the pilot test, we collected qualitative data on the effectiveness and feasibility from the organising staff, as compared to previous sessions where the event was indemnified through the use of hard copy forms. It had garnered positive feedback from the organising team and they have adopted this procedure for subsequent RVRC events. We crafted a suitable administrative framework for organisations within NUS to adopt that would allow them to more easily use digital means for indemnity purposes instead of traditional hard copy. We then intend to promote the usage of this online platform in different faculties and residential colleges, and eventually implement it schoolwide.

Keywords: Waste Management, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Paper waste, e-forms

 

AY1617G07B – “A Meat Reduced Diet – Changing perceptions one patty at a time”

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

AY1617G07A – “Reducing distance to bins promotes recycling in RVRC undergraduates”

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

AY1617G06C – “Reducing Water Consumption from Showering by Changing Habits in RVRC”

Bendagiri Matam Keerthi Chandra (SoC), Harith Hakim B Hesheam (FoE), Ho Xin Ying (FASS), Sharmaine Toh Pei Xuan (SDE), Toh Ding Chao (FoE)

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Mr. Kenny Lee Jun Wei (OED, NUS)

Showering takes up about 29% of a household’s total water consumption, yet, a minute less in the shower can save nine litres of water. By changing one’s showering habits, significant amounts of water can be saved. Several initiatives by NUS that reduce water wastage include the use of water-efficient fittings and the installation of thimbles in taps. Events such as the InterHall Environmental Awards competitions were held to cultivate sustainable practices amongst hall residents. However, such efforts do not directly impact an individual’s water consumption habits. Our group aims to affect a change in individual shower time. Water meters that provides real time information to users have been utilized in households worldwide, whereby water consumption was reduced by up to 15%; as of 2014, people in England and Wales. We will be testing the effectiveness of water meters in a residential college setting by installing water meters in eight shower cubicles of RVRC. The dynamic feedback provided would decrease users’ showering time, therefore increasing water savings. Through this project, we hope to raise awareness of each individual’s water footprint in the shower and reduce their showering time over the long run.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Water, Showering time, Habits survey

AY1617G06A – “Drop Your Soap”

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

AY1617G05B – “Can incentives and better placement of recycling bins improve recycling rates in NUS residences?”

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

AY1617G05A – “Consumer sentiment for Zero-Waste supermarkets in Singapore”

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

AY1617G03A – “NoteAbility: Reusing notes instead of throwing them away”

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

AY1617G02C – “Project Match-Make”

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

AY1617G01A – “Insert Card Pls: Investigating electricity wastage in RVRC shared spaces”

Isaac Tan Yun Hwee (FoS), Kwek Ee Siang (FoE), Lee Wei Jie (FASS), Li Haotian (FoS)

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

Our group conducted a survey on the energy consumption patterns in the student lounges at Ridge View Residential College (RVRC). The results, which polled 78 RVRC residents, showed that more than 75% of the respondents had observed lights, fans and air-conditioning left switched on when no one was using the shared spaces. Additionally, around 50% of the respondents admitted forgetting to switch off these appliances before leaving the lounge themselves. Using these results, our team demonstrated that the net electricity wastage could amount to as much as S$11000 every month. To verify our survey results and the resulting electricity waste estimation, we conducted further investigation with a two-week observational study on the student electricity consumption patterns in the Conference Room, Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 at resource@rv. This fieldwork was done anonymously and was targeted at frequent users of these shared spaces, i.e. residents who use these facilities more than once during the observation period. To follow up, these students were sent a personalized survey to investigate if their perception of their own consumption pattern was, in fact, consistent with their documented actions. These results were collectively analyzed to identify student electricity waste patterns in shared spaces, investigate possible reasons for lack of individual and collective responsibility and recommend effective improvements to the Office of Housing Services at RVRC for future implementation. Key among these recommendations is pilot testing of a matric card reader to activate electricity use, placing individual ownership of electricity consumption in shared spaces.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Energy, User Behaviour

AY1516G37 – “The sustainability participation – the effect of positive psychology and goal-based slogans”

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

AY1516G36 – “Barriers to a meat-reduced diet: what is the NUS undergraduate mindset?”

Marcus Lim Wen Jun (FASS/ARS1), Phua Jun Da Edric (FASS/ARS1), Tan Shi Ying (Biz/BAC1, ARS1), Tan Siow Han (SoC/COM1), Wong Shu Hui, Jacqueline (FASS/ARS1)

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

As part of our efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of meat consumption, as well as the economic issues that is related to it, our group has researched extensively on the underlying reasons that discourages people from reducing their meat intake. We will be examining the impact of meat production and consumption, as well as the pattern of meat consumption among students from NUS (National University of Singapore) that has been collected through primary research. We have also collated interview data from the veterans in the Vegetarian Society Singapore. Using both sources of data, as well as secondary data sources, we formed hypotheses regarding the mindset of students in reducing meat intake. Following which, we conducted a focus group social experiment where we gathered the feedback of participants towards the alternatives of meat, such as plant-based protein sources, and also provided suggestions to help others reduce their meat intake.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food, Diet choice, meat consumption

AY1516G35 –“Is sustainable packaging at fast food restaurants in NUS achievable? A study of consumer response at Subway YIH”

Hui Han Xi (FASS/ARS1), Jacqueline Tjen (SDE/ARK1), Looi Jia Wen (FoS/SCI1), Toh Kai Yang (FoE/CVE1), Zhuang Lei (SoC/COM1)

Academic Advisor: N. Sivasothi | Student Fellow: Zhou Kai

Excessive food packaging practices generate large amounts of waste, with plastic packaging being detrimental to the environment and paper packaging not being entirely sustainable either. This project seeks to investigate the effectiveness of introducing alternatives and providing reminders to consumers towards achieving a reduction in food packaging usage. Lunch boxes were provided for a period of two weeks to a sample group of 20 students who were later surveyed for its usefulness. A Subway outlet in NUS was also contacted about putting up posters to raise awareness and dissuade customers from taking plastic bags. Results from introducing alternatives to consumers have been encouraging, while results from the engagement with Subway are pending. Should results be positive, the project could be implemented on a larger scale, and potentially help NUS take a step towards becoming a more sustainable community.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Packaging, Plastic waste

AY1516G34 – “Print paper in NUS: an analysis of undergraduate consumption patterns”

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

AY1516G32 – “Will a water savings app reduce water consumption in Ridge View Residential College? A study of consumer response.”

Edmund Goh Ting Hwee (FoE/CHE1, ARS1), Jocelyn Tan Wei Ting (FASS/ARS1), Tan Wee Min Benjamin (SDE/PFM1), Wang Haode (FoE/CVE1), Wong Zhan Wen, Melvin (FoE/BIE1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Sean Poon

40% of the water needed in Singapore is imported from Malaysia. With Linggiu Reservoir dropping to historic low levels, water sustainability is a major concern for our country. In NUS, RVR (Ridge View Residences) is one of the areas with highest WEI (Water Efficiency Index). Our project focuses on reducing water consumption in RVRC by changing behaviour and habits of students through an app that facilitates laundry sharing and reporting of problems for residents. Through surveys and research, we established the existence of the ineffectiveness of the report system and water usage doing laundry. By pitching our ideas to Living Lab, OFM and RVRC community, we came up with a design of the app and functions with cost benefits analysis to all shareholders. With the design aimed to promote usage of the app that will reduce water consumption, we are confident that it will be adopted in the future and allow us a step closer to achieving water sustainability.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Water, Laundry, App design, Water Wastage

AY1516G31 – “A systems approach to reducing food waste in NUS dining halls: modeling the dining hall ecosystem of CAPT/RC4”

Jonathan William Ambrose (FoE/BIE1), Jorgin Tan Qi Wen (FoE/CVE1), Li Yi Min (FoS/SCI1), Loh Kieng Min (FASS/ARS1), Tan Yi Ting (FASS/ARS1)

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

The cost of food has been increasing annually and food wastage translates to higher costs for food suppliers and consumers. This project focuses on the causes of food wastage in dining halls, using the dining hall shared by the CAPT and RC4 in NUS as a case study. Qualitatively, the dining hall manager, caterers and students were interviewed to find out how the dining hall operates, the source of food wastage and difficulties in decreasing food wastage. Quantitatively, food wastage for dinner services were tabulated over a period of a week and compared to existing projections from the caterer. The results indicate that there are large fluctuations in take up rates for the various stalls and there is a difficulty in projecting the take up rates for each stall. Hence, a system to project the number of diners is key to alleviate this problem of food waste in dining halls.

Keywords: Waste Management, Responsible Consumption, food waste, RC dining hall, behaviour survey

AY1516G30 – “Why aren’t reuseable tumblers popular at coffee joints? An analysis of consumer and management attitudes”

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

AY1516G29 –“Can ordering rituals reduce rice wastage in NUS canteens? Consumer response at Techno Edge”

Chermaine Cham Sue Hwee (FASS/ARS1), Koh Shue Lian, Erinna (FASS/ARS1), Priscilla Her Wan Yi (SDE/PFM1), Tan Shan Leong (FoE/MPE1), Tay Zhi Cong Johnathan (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: N. Sivasothi | Student Fellow: Nicholas Tan

We commenced our project by wanting to alleviate the food waste problem in Singapore. Singaporeans waste the equivalent of two rice bowls of food every day in a world where 1 in 9 people suffer from hunger. As such, our group aims to find out if popularising ordering options and monetary incentive would help to reduce rice wastage in our NUS canteen. We conducted multiple surveys and ground research to gather qualitative and quantitative results. In Semester 1, we found out that monetary incentive would encourage people to order less rice. (We assumed that when people to order less rice, less rice wastage would be incurred.) This semester, we pasted posters to raise awareness about food waste and the discount for the less rice option. Our study revealed an 18% increase in people ordering less rice largely due to an increase in awareness, which shows the viability of our hypothesis.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Food waste, Campaigns, Incentives

AY1516G28 –“Will effective feedback on electrical usage reduce electricity use in Ridge View Residential College?”

Tan Yong Wei Melanzzo (FoS/PMC1), Tong Tsz Hin (SoC/BZA1), Yam Zan-Yang (MDP/CEG1), Yap Jing Yi, Vivian (FASS/ARS1)

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

$200,000. That is how much NUS is wasting per year on lighting in common spaces. In this project, we explored how NUS could save electricity by investigating the effect of providing feedback on electricity consumption to residents. 3 posters with different design approaches were presented to 50 residents over a period of 2 weeks (13 – 26 March 2016), and investigated with a survey to determine their effectiveness. The results indicate eye-catching posters with real-time statistics on electrical usage are most effective. In conclusion, the way energy feedback is communicated can significantly impact the receptiveness of the recipients in prompting energy-saving behaviour.

Keywords: Energy, Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Education, Posters, Behaviour Change

AY1516G27 –“Bin It! Nurturing a plastic bottle recycling culture in Ridge View Residential College”

Deanna Lum Yun Ying (FoS/PMC1), Irvin Lim Wei Quan (SoC/COM1), Kimberley Amanda Kao (FASS/ARS1), Nyan Lin Cho (MDP/CEG1), Wee Xin Hao (FoS/PMC1)

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

Plastics are primarily produced from petrochemicals derived from oil and gas, and recycling plastics would help reduce the strain on Earth’s natural resources. Recycling can also be seen as a waste management strategy, reducing the strain on our landfills and prevents possible contamination of soils and water bodies. In 2014, the rate of recycling plastics in Singapore stands at 9%. Starting in RVRC, by increasing the number of recycling bins, we will make it more convenient for people to recycle by taking the bins to them and at the same time, start to cultivate the habit of recycling plastic bottles.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Recycling, Plastic Waste

AY1516G26 – “Convenience and consequences: triggers to promote e-waste recycling by NUS students”

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

AY1516G25 –“A spirulina diet in Singapore: is this microalgae a feasible meat substitute?”

Gao Yufang (FASS/ARS1), Lee Russell (FASS/ARS1), Lim Han Siong (FoS/SCI1), Lim Zheng Liang (FoS/SCI1), Teng Li Ting (FASS/ARS1)

Academic Advisor: Adekunle Adeyeye | Student Fellow: Sin Kah Fai

With more than 90% of Singapore’s food needs being supplemented by exports, it is an undoubtable fact that self-sustainability is a big problem for our country and its food security. Limited land contributes greatly to our inability to manufacture our own food due to the spatial and ecological requirements of farming. The purpose of this project is to investigate the intricacies behind Singapore’s disability and methods by which we can alleviate the situation. In particular, we seek to examine the feasibilities of vegetarian alternatives to meat as a means to reduce the spatial and ecological impacts of meat farming. We are also aware of the entrenched consumer preference for food and have thus, decided on ways we can do to make the food more appealing to costumers. We hope that by doing so, we can take a small leap of faith in changing the consumer food preference in Singapore.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food security, Urban farming, Sustainable Diet, Vegetarianism

AY1516G22 –“Healthy eating habits n NUS students: awareness and realities of the undergraduate diet”

Lee Si Xuan (FASS/ARS1, BBA1), Li Ronghui (FoS/SCI1), Ng Wei Lin (FoE/CHE1), Wang Yanan (FoE/MLE1)

Academic Advisor: Adekunle Adeyeye | Student Fellow: Kerk Jun Gang

The University years are a crucial habit-forming phase for students since it is the first time they stay away from a home setting and make their own food choices. Our group seeks to find out whether university students are eating healthily as they constitute the future workforce and are important in sustaining the nation’s development. We investigated the various factors that influenced their dietary habits to devise effective solutions. Of the 112 responses we received from 150 students across different disciplines, 94.3% are aware of healthy eating but there are still 44% skipping breakfast everyday and 12.7% eat fast food several times a week due to a preference for its convenience. Most importantly, 76.4% are unaware of any ongoing healthy eating campaigns in NUS. These findings imply the need to increase awareness and the availability of healthy food options, with incentives to promote healthy eating among university students.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Health, Sustainable Diets, Campaigns

AY1516G20 –““Karang Guni”, a mobile app catalyst to promote technology reuse and recycling”

Cheang Jo Rick (FASS/ARS1), Koh Rui Lin (FoS/SCI1), Soh Jun Xiong (FoE/MPE1), Tay Ming Liang (MDP/CEG1), Xu Sihan (FoE/CHE1)

Academic Advisor: Adekunle Adeyeye | Student Fellow: Huang Jianyi

Singaporeans are huge consumers of technology where majority of the people desire and own the latest gadgets. Hence, devices quickly become obsolete and more e waste will be generated. The objective is to prolong the lifespan of these electronic gadgets as opposed to recycling them. A survey was conducted within Ridge View Residential College and the results indicate the lack of awareness and available channels to reuse their electronic devices. There is a common consensus to resell their items if a third party can help facilitate the process. Our solution: a mobile app. “Karang Guni” provides a convenient way to bridge sellers, 2nd hand dealers and recyclers together. All the sellers need to do is to enter their contact details and condition of their gadget. This quick and simple method enables potential pickup services to collect the items from them. Hence, we hope to increase the initiatives for reusing and recycling.

 Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Electronic waste, Mobile applications

AY1516G18 – “Clothes and the NUS undergrad: will awareness promote reductions and recycling?”

Emeline Ines Loke Si Lin (FASS/ARS1), Goh Chung Sern (FoE/EEE2), Goh Jia Yi, Shermaine (FoS/SCI1), Joelyn Lim Cheng Mui (FASS/ARS1), Praveer Tewari (SoC/COM1)

Academic Advisor: N. Sivasothi | Student Fellow: Zhou Kai

Clothing wastage is a rising issue in Singapore. This is due to the fast changing fashion trends and low prices of clothes, which makes them easily obtainable. With more clothes being purchased, it leads to a domino effect of more being disposed. According to Technical Textile Markets, the rise in production in the fashion industry, has nearly doubled the demand for man-made fibers, especially polyester, in the last 15 years (citation). To add on, the recycling rate of textiles is very low at 11% (citation). Often, people are oblivious to such wastage.  Thus, we have decided to step in to increase the awareness of such wastage, in hope to reduce them. Our target audiences are the undergraduates and fresh graduates of National University of Singapore (NUS). To solve this problem, we came out with a two-pronged approach. The first being promoting the reduction of buying new clothes. The second would be to encourage the students to recycle the old clothes.  The success of our project would be evaluated based on increasing the number of recycled clothes.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management. Fast Fashion

AY1516G17 – “Will an awareness campaign reduce shower water consumption by undergrads in Ridge View Residential College?”

Dacia Kee (SDE/RST1), Goh Yan Lee (SDE/RST1), Lee Youzheng (FoE/CHE1), Livia Chan Mun Ting (FoS/SCI1), Soh Sharyuen (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: N. Sivasothi | Student Fellow: Zhou Kai

It is important to conserve water is a resource-scarce country like Singapore. Statistics show that showering consumes one of the largest volumes of water daily. We investigated the effectiveness of campaigning in changing personal beliefs and attitudes of RVRC students by measuring shower volume consumption pre and post-campaign. A datalogger was installed in one toilet to record the amount of water used for showering. Posters with water conservation messages were put up, email and whatsapp reminders sent out to remind residents to reduce shower water consumption. Data concerning the amount of water consumed was also put up. Then, we collated data pre and post-campaign. Post-campaign results were encouraging as the volume of water used in showers have decreased steadily (1582.6L/day in week 1 to 372L/day in week 2).  However, during our campaign week, results were affected due to the installation of water pressure reducing devices by PUB. In conclusion, campaigning is indeed effective in reducing shower volumes in the long run.

 Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Water Conservation, Education, Shower habits

AY1516G16 – “Can Singapore create a closed loop system for recycling and using waste glass in the construction industry?”

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

AY1516G13 – “Can awareness promote a demand for sustainable aquaculture in Singapore?”

Ang Wei Xuan (FASS/ARS1), Benjamin Leow Wei Onn (FASS/ARS1), Deborah Teo Hwee Ching (FoS/SCI1), Kashish Sunil Sawalani (FoE/BIE1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari & Sergio Jofre | Student Fellow: Nicholas Tan

Due to increased fish consumption, practices of aquaculture have to be altered sustainably to feed this demand. We aim to investigate the likelihood of adopting sustainable practices of aquaculture and responses of consumers and fish merchants on shifting coastal fish farming to more sustainable means.Research was conducted on current approaches to aquaculture and concluded that change was needed on a national level. To ascertain consumer awareness we conducted surveys to deduce whether average Singaporeans would be open to supporting sustainable methods given that a premium or change in diet may be needed. We surveyed a total of 152 individuals across NUS and public. Results indicated that >70% of people surveyed (18-50) were unaware of current unsustainable practices and are keen to adopt sustainable means. We can conclude that it is likely for Singaporeans to embrace sustainable means of aquaculture, thus we should push towards generating awareness among Singaporeans.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Natural Environment and Ecosystem, Sustainable Diet, Aquaculture, Sustainable diet

AY1516G12 –“Food Bank Singapore – an examination of the efficiency, effectiveness and bottlenecks of a food distribution system”

Cai Wendi (FoS/SCI1), Daryl Poh Yang Qi (FoE/CHE1), Don Jeremiah Hanford Pereira (FASS/ARS1), Fong Yu Shi (FoE/MPE1), Ng Hiang Teck (SDE/ARK1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Sean Poon

In 2011, Singapore had 0.68 million tonnes of food waste, and only 10% was recycled. To put this into perspective, this means on average, each person in Singapore produced roughly 130kg of food waste in a year. In addition, the recycling rate for food waste has dropped from 16% in 2010 to 10% in 2011. We have over 90% of food waste still discarded. Initially we proposed a food redirection strategy that would collect potentially wasted food before being thrown away, and redirect it into different channels. Unfortunately, the pilot did not take off as we encountered numerous issues. Thus, we decided to investigate already existing food re-distribution channels provided by Food Bank Singapore and Food From The Heart to collect qualitative data on these existing system’s efficiency and effectiveness as well as evaluate its bottlenecks.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Food Waste, Food Distribution

AY1516G11 – “The undergraduate closet: clothes swapping a resource of unused clothes to promote sustainability”

Ho Rui Hern Jonathan (FoS/SCI1), Ho Shu Xuan (FASS/ARS1), Lee Wan Yong (FASS/ARS1), Pang Hao Cher (SDE/ARK1), Tan Jin Da (FoS/SCI1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Sean Poon

From our research, there were around 158,600 tonnes of textile waste generated in Singapore in 2014, of which only 11% are recycled. Our project investigates the recycling habits of RVRC students and actions on their unwanted clothes. Our pre-drive survey has obtained 50 student responses and showed that there are about 20-40% of students who wear less than 40% of their clothings. Also, 92% and 45% of respondents respectively are willing to donate and exchange unwanted clothes. Through this project, we focus on raising awareness of the importance of recycling unwanted clothes in RVRC. We conducted a clothes swapping drive on 18 February 2016 and 30-40 people turned up for the event. From the survey, we learnt that there is awareness present on reusing or recycling of clothes. However, we found that this does not necessarily translate to action. This may be due to the lack of incentives present.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Reusing, Clothing waste, recycling

AY1516G10 – “Can a healthy lifestyle be promoted for the elderly living amongst peers?”

Gabriella Ong Kai Teng (FoE/BIE1), Lim Pei Yi, Rachel (FASS/ARS1), Lum Chun Fai (FoE/CHE1), Nishanth S P (FoE/MPE1), Tan Qian Long Joshua (FoE/BIE1)

Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Sean Poon

Our project aims to address the sustainability of elderly care in Singapore. Current statistics show more Singaporeans retiring and a shrinking number of Singaporeans entering the workforce (due to our low birth rates). Our Old Age Support Ratio (OASR) is projected to fall to 2.1 in 2030, which is an indication of the ratio of able-bodied Singaporeans per dependent elderly. Not only will this problem lead to slower economic growth, it will also put a greater strain on the nations finances, with more welfare privileges given out to the elderly and less working adults paying income taxes. We seek to target the elderly who are living in areas with high elderly density. Our group will be focusing on active ageing and how it will promote healthy life expectancy. By doing so, the elderly become more independent and less reliant on other, which will in turn improve the sustainability of eldercare.

Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Healthy lifestyle, Elderly

AY1516G07 – “Can the goody bag culture in NUS be replaced with effective, sustainable alternatives?”

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

AY1516G06 –“Can an online tool assist primary caregivers of autistic individuals?”

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

AY1516G02 –“Eliminating single-use plastic bags in NUS – a study of consumer & retailer response in UTown”

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

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