STORY PREVIEW

2023

From Gratitude to Action

Orchid Park Secondary School

Singapore

MENTOR

Kean Kean Chin

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

Littering in school. The most common litter seen besides tissue paper, are plastic bottles.

State the problem chosen to work and why.

It is a daily issue that can be solved if everyone does their part/act.

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

Everyone, especially the cleaners/custodians, who needs to clean up the school. Dirty classroom floors or environment. They need to provide a clean and comfortable environment for the students to study.

Step 2 IMAGINE

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

1) The student wanted to create a gift for the custodians to thank them for cleaning up the school. 2) The student wanted to create a treasure hunt to let students know more about custodians' work. 3) Do a recycling competition/campaign and write thank you notes for the school's custodians.

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

Third one. It is most effective and can solve the root of the problem.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

Class recycling competition (plastic bottle): Ensure all classes are issued a Bloobox for the 1-month long competition. The classes are to collect and recycle the disposable plastic bottles that ordinarily accumulate in the classroom daily. The Community OutReach Education (CORE) leaders from every class will take the Bloobox with the plastic bottles to the recycling collection point at the canteen on every Wednesday and Friday for the 1-month duration. The main committee CORE student leaders will record and keep track of the number of plastic bottles collected during this period. In every level, the class with the most number of recycled bottles recorded during the 1 month will win a prize. Morning speeches were given to generate advocacy and raise awareness of the efforts put in by our custodians (cleaners). Some contents of morning assembly talks: -the importance of showing gratitude to custodians -raising awareness of the importance of the custodians’ work -raising awareness of recycling plastic bottles to care for our environment. An appreciation board was created for students to write their thank you or appreciation notes for a month while the recycling competition was ongoing. The appreciation board was placed at the school foyer for all to see.

What was the result or impact of your project?

People are more aware of the usage of the Bloobox and the hard work behind the cleaners/custodians.

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

1000

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

The Bloobox encouraged the students in the class to maintain the habit of recycling their plastic bottles or cans which helped to reduce or improve the littering situation. The campaign or recycling competition drives the point of "Do not litter" and the message of Don't dirty the school, if not it would be harder for the cleaners/custodians to clean our classrooms.

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

The students took a while to warm up in collecting the plastic bottles. They have to make an effort to wash the plastic bottles after drinking and put them into the Bloobox in their classroom.

How long did it take to implement your solution?

15-30 Days

Which global goals does your story align with?

Climate Change

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

Recycled plastic can be used to create new bottles, we can help close the recycling loop and reduce the need to use new plastic. If even plastic bottles aren't turned into other bottles, they can be turned into t-shirts, sweaters, insulation for jackets and sleeping bags and much more.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

The leaders the speeches and bottle recycling competition to encourage recycling. And also the appreciation for cleaners