At our exciting 13th Pasar Malam Twilight Market it was also the launch of the Sustainability Club’s Waste Warriors that guided people into putting their rubbish into the right bin. I know something like just standing next to three traffic-light coloured bins and telling people what goes into which bin sounds boring or nothing much, but it actually makes a great impact.
There’s been statistics that just by having people standing at the bins directing others, a bin that could’ve been 62% full of rubbish that doesn’t belong there improves to around only 15% of wrong rubbish. At one of the meetings we had on Monday after school someone from WriteSolutions (they’re the people who manage and supply our 3-bins) came in and educated us on what goes into which bin. On that day I found out some new things as well as learning what does into which bin, I also learnt how to check the numbers on the container for which bin it goes into. I realised as well that if something like an paper plate had a bit of sauce on it, it would probably be fine to put it into the recycling bin right? Well that actually contaminates the recycling bin and we’d then have to chuck the whole bin into the landfill.
On the day of Pasar Malam, it was awesome to educate people on which rubbish goes into where because I found most people had the desire to help they just weren’t quite sure or were confused and for us to be able to help them with that it’s pretty amazing. I also noticed that people seemed to not know that wood such as their satay sticks could go into the compost bin, and their biodegradable cups for example could also go into the compost bin because even though biodegradable cups look like plastic they’re actually made from plants. We took 30 mins per session for when we volunteered to work as a Waste Warrior, and within that time I got to talk to people, help people and do a bit of bin diving (we had gloves of course) if we accidentally made a mistake. I thought I would be quite nervous when I talked to people but with the two other people that I volunteered with (Jack and Taryn), the friendly people who were happy to let us teach them and a welcoming smile it was a great time.
For those of you who would like to know what goes into each bin (I recommend you read it!) here’s a poster to learn from.