BEVAN POH Class: 3/6
Good morning Mdm Shanti, Mr Derick, teachers and fellow Riversidians. My name is Bevan and I am the chairperson of our school’s Environment Club. I am here today to raise awareness about the honestly terrifying waste issues here in our country and hopefully get all of you to join me on the path to a greener and more sustainable future.
Waste management is a serious issue, not just here but all over the world. We are slowly turning our oceans into plastic, polluting the air we breathe in and killing off hundreds of species every year all because of our selfish actions. Yet, many of us are barely even aware of the current state of our world. In 2017, Singapore alone generated 7.7 million tonnes of waste. That is enough to completely fill up 15,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools! At the current rate we are going, Semakau Landfill, which is Singapore’s only landfill, will be full by 2035, less than two decades and well within many of our lifetimes. We have a relatively small population when compared to the 7 billion people living all around the world and yet we are already producing unmanageable amounts of waste. Just imagine the amount of waste that is produced globally! We are running out of time and cannot afford to wait. For the sake of all our futures, join me in this Zero Waste Campaign.
The 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – are commonly referred to as the hierarchy of waste management, and for good reason. They are simple, practical and easy to implement into our hectic lives, yet they can have a tremendous impact on the fight against waste. Much of the things we consider waste are not actually waste. That plastic bottle you tossed away without a second thought could have been recycled, that empty cardboard box that you threw away could have been repurposed and the leftover food on your plate that you dumped into the tray return station could have been avoided. As long as all of you here are willing to go green and practise the 3Rs, maybe the battle for a cleaner future will be a battle we can win.
Now, some of you might be wondering, “What in the world are we supposed to do?”, and to that I say “It is simple”. The next time you have a meal, be it takeout or homemade, try getting smaller portions. Many of us, quite literally, bite off more than we can chew and end up wasting a significant amount of food. By taking only what you can eat, you will be reducing your waste production. Moreover, all of you can try exercising your creativity. Instead of immediately throwing away unwanted products, try thinking of new and creative ways to use them. My family recently bought a new desk, and instead of tossing the cardboard box that the desk came in, we repurposed it into a bookcase to store all my textbooks. Lastly, all of us should actively try to recycle. The government has provided us with easy access to recycling bins, many of which can be found around our homes and even in our school, and we should fully take advantage of them. You could perhaps set up a simple disposal system at home or in your class which separates recyclables form non-recyclables, making the job of recycling hassle-free and at the same time cultivating it into a daily habit.
At the end of the day, protecting the environment is our responsibility. Going green is free. By choosing to go green, we have nothing to lose, yet everything to gain. Join me in the fight against pollution. Join me on the path to a green and sustainable future. Join me in taking a step in the right direction. Start going green today.
Writers by the River 