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Contents

Introduction------------------------------------------------------ 2

Why DFC?

Background Research--------------------------------------- 3-19

Referencing past efforts to promote recycling

Methodology---------------------------------------------------- 20-22

Preparation

Action Week

Impact and Reflections--------------------------------------- 23

People who were impacted by our campaign

Thoughts and reflections

Appendix and Acknowledgements--------------------- 4-31

Acknowledgements

Survey

Results

Analysis

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Why This DFC Journey? Introduction

Even though we had not chosen DFC at the beginning and had been

allocated to the challenge, we still found the Challenge very meaningful.

We believe it is the simple and yet, inspiring ideas that actually motivated

us to enjoy this project. We could do simple things and influence the people

around us about our worries and causes.

The objective of our project was to reduce the usage of plastic bags

and promote the usage of other types of bags. We felt very strongly that

plastic bags are grossly overused, this can especially be seen in

supermarkets, where they give the bags out freely. A weekly shopping trip

would easily get you 20 bags.

In our project, we used newspaper bags that are easy to make and

rather strong to replace plastic bags that are not environmentally friendly.

The newspaper bags were biodegradable and would not harm the

environment, thus it was a very suitable substitute for their harmful plastic

counterparts. We used the newspaper bags in our school bookshop, so

that we will be able to reach out to our peers and inform them about the

detrimental effects of plastic bags on Mother Earth. We did this for about a

week, and most people were supportive of using these bags instead of

plastic bags. We also set up a Facebook page as we feel that the internet

is a better platform to entice youngsters.

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Background Research

For the research section of the project, each of us actually searched for different sources on the internet. Each of these sources provided us with different information that we need for our project. Some provided us with statistics regarding the use of plastic bags while others stated the harmful effects of excessively using plastic bags.

From these sources, we found out that using plastic bags excessively has resulted in a huge accumulation of plastic wastes. This will not only affect wildlife, but will also affect human health. The millions of tons of plastic wastes in the world's oceans are breaking down and releasing toxins posing a threat to marine life and humans. Plastic wastes in landfills sink in harmful chemicals into groundwater. These chemicals are dangerously absorbed by humans and will cause serious health concerns such as altering hormones. Plastic debris is also ingested by hundreds of species, choking and starving them.

All of these consequences indicate that using plastic bags excessively is a very serious problem and should be resolved immediately since it is causing harm to both the environment and us. In order to solve the problem, firstly, we can reduce plastic waste by looking for products and packaging made from renewable resources. Other than this, we should also choose products that have the least amount of disposable parts like toothbrushes with replaceable brushes. Consuming less will decrease the waste of unnecessary plastics. Secondly, we can also recycle plastics. This will help to reduce the production of plastics and hence, the amount of plastic wastes. Thirdly, we can reuse preferably nontoxic containers and goods to make less waste. Lastly, we can also help to improve the situation by educating others about the suggestions listed above and why the excessive use of plastics is dangerous.

Out of all these solutions, we chose to educate the public about the harm caused by the excessive use of plastic bags and promote the use of eco-friendly paper bags because unlike the other solutions, it will affect a larger number of people, instead of just us.

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Articles on Plastic Bags and the use of bio-degradable bags

Plastic shopping bags, carrier bags or plastic grocery bags are a common type of shopping bag in several countries. These bags are sometimes called single-use bags, referring to carrying items from a store to a home. However, reuse for storage or trash (bin bags) is common. According to the UK's Environment Agency, 76% of carrier bags are reused. An estimated 90% of individuals reuse plastic bags, and 56% of individuals reuse all plastic shopping bags. Heavier duty plastic shopping bags are suitable for multiple uses as reusable shopping bags. Plastic shopping bags are made of polyethylene. This can be low-density, resin identification code 4, or most often high-density, resin identification code 2. Most plastic bags are derived from natural gas.

Biodegradable materials

Although not in use today, plastic shopping bags could be made from Polylactic acid (PLA) a biodegradable polymer derived from lactic acid. This is one form of vegetable-based bioplastic. Bags can also be made from degradable polyethylene film. Most degradable bags do not readily decompose in a sealed landfill and represent a possible contaminant to plastic recycling operations.

Environmental concerns

According to Vincent Cobb a seller of reusable bags, each year millions of discarded plastic shopping bags end up as litter in the environment when improperly disposed of. The same properties that have made plastic bags so commercially successful and ubiquitous—namely their low weight and resistance to degradation—have also contributed to their proliferation in the environment. Due to their durability, plastic bags can take up to 100 years to decompose.As they slowly decompose, plastic bags break into tiny pieces and leech toxic chemicals into soils, lakes, rivers, and oceans.

On land, plastic bags are one of the most prevalent types of litter in inhabited areas, becoming an eyesore to local residents. At their worst, plastic bags can clog drainage systems and contribute to flooding, as occurred in Bangladesh in 1988 and 1998.When plastic bags are washed out to sea, they pose a threat to animal life. In the decades since plastic bags first came into wide use, there has been a dramatic increase in the quantity of plastic bags found floating in oceans around the world. Once in the ocean, these bags can strangle wildlife or, if ingested, can choke or cause wildlife to starve to death. Some marine animals including sea turtles, and dolphins have been killed as a result of ingestion of plastic marine litter, including plastic bags.

Littering is often a bigger problem in developing countries, where trash collection infrastructure is less developed, than in developed nations, however once plastic bags are swept out to sea they can travel long distances in ocean currents.

Reuse and recycling

Heavy duty plastic shopping bags are suitable for reuse as reusable shopping bags. Lighter weight bags are often reused as bin bags (trash bags) or to pick up pet faeces. All types of plastic shopping bag can be recycled into new bags where effective collection schemes exist.

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Since internet rumours started to claim that the Environmental Protection Agency had reported only 1% of plastic bags were recycled, significant attention resulted in a 700% growth in the recycling industry as new capacity led to a 7% rate. This resulted in more than 800 million lbs of bags and other film being recycled in 2007 alone.

Bag legislation

Plastic bags are either restricted or completely banned in more than 25 percent of the world.

Belgium, Italy (total ban since January 1, 2011), Ireland and Hong Kong have legislation discouraging the use and encouraging the recycling of plastic bags by imposing a fixed or minimum levy for the supply of plastic bags or obliging retailers to recycle. In other jurisdictions, including three states and territories of Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa and Thailand, plastic bags are banned.

In the United States bans were imposed on local level, starting with San Francisco in 2007. In 2008, Westport, Connecticut banned plastic bags in grocery stores. In 2009, Edmond, Washington banned plastic bags at retail stores. In 2010, Los Angeles County, Brownsville, Texas, Bethel, Alaska approved similar bans. In the first few months of 2011, bans went into effect in North Carolina’s Outerbanks Region, banning all plastic bags at all retailers. Similar bans on municipality level were imposed in India, Mexico and UK.

The plastic bag levy introduced in Ireland in 2002, resulted in a reduction of over 90% in the issuing of plastic shopping bags, the total reduction in plastic bag use was less than that due to increased use of commercial trash bin-liners in place of the free shopping bags previously used by many consumers. Sales of bin-liners have increased by 400% according to one industry source. The "ban on free plastic bags" in China introduced in 2008 resulted in a reduction by two thirds. In the United States, the five-cent tax levied on plastic bags in Washington, DC in 2010 resulted in a decrease in consumption from 22.5 million to 3 million bags in the first month alone.

Many cities and states in the United States - including California, New York, Chicago, Delaware and Baltimore - have addressed bag litter and landfill by enacting new recycling laws.

Source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag

Personal reflection: This article tells us how plastic bags are formed and that they are non-

biodegradable. Even though there are biodegradable bags, they are not used. Plastic bags can

poison or suffocate marine animals as they are marine litters. Also, plastic bags will turn into

toxic wastes that will pollute soil and water after a long time. This article also shows that some

countries have imposed taxes and bans on plastic bags. In Singapore, this is not very common.

However, in IKEA, customers have to pay 10cents for each plastic bag but this is definitely not

enough to cope with the huge amount of usage of plastic bags in Singapore.

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Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment? John Roach

for National Geographic News

September 2, 2003

The "paper or plastic" conundrum that vexed earnest shoppers throughout the 1980s and 90s is largely moot today. Most grocery store baggers don't bother to ask anymore. They drop the bananas in one plastic bag as they reach for another to hold the six-pack of soda. The pasta sauce and noodles will get one too, as will the dish soap.

Plastic bags are so cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, easy to carry and store that they have captured at least 80 percent of the grocery and convenience store market since they were introduced a quarter century ago, according to the Arlington, Virginia-based American Plastics Council.

As a result, the totes are everywhere. They sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They line bathroom trash bins. They carry clothes to the gym. They clutter landfills. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. They clog roadside drains. They drift on the high seas. They fill sea turtle bellies.

"The numbers are absolutely staggering," said Vincent Cobb, an entrepreneur in Chicago, Illinois, who recently launched the Web site http://Reusablebags.com to educate the public about what he terms the "true costs" associated with the spread of "free" bags. He sells reusable bags as a viable solution.

According to Cobb's calculations extrapolated from data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 on U.S. plastic bag, sack, and wrap consumption, somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, millions end up in the litter stream outside of landfills—estimates range from less than one to three percent of the bags.

Laurie Kusek, a spokeswoman for the American Plastics Council, said the industry works with its U.S. retail customers to encourage recycling of plastic bags, which are in high demand from companies such as Trex in Winchester, Virginia, for use in building materials.

"We also feel it is important to understand that plastic grocery bags are some of the most reused items around the house," she said. "Many, many bags are reused as book and lunch bags as kids head off to school, as trash can liners, and to pickup Fido's droppings off the lawn."

But like candy wrappers, chewing gum, cigarette butts, and thousands of other pieces of junk, millions of the plastic bags end up as litter. Once in the environment, it takes months to hundreds of years for plastic bags to breakdown. As they decompose, tiny toxic bits seep into soils, lakes, rivers, and the oceans, said Cobb.

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Plastic Fantastic

The Film and Bag Federation, a trade group within the Society of the Plastics Industry based in Washington, D.C., said the right choice between paper or plastic bags is clearly plastic.

Compared to paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags consume 40 percent less energy, generate 80 percent less solid waste, produce 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes, according to the federation.

Robert Bateman, president of Roplast Industries, a manufacturer of plastic bags—including reusable ones—in Oroville, California, said the economic advantage of plastic bags over paper bags has become too significant for store owners to ignore. It costs one cent for a standard plastic grocery sack, whereas a paper bag costs four cents, he said.

Source- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html

Personal reflection : Although this article focuses mainly on US, I think it can apply to

Singapore as well. Between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each

year. The last sentence is very crucial. It says that plastic bags appeals to consumers more

compared to paper bags as they are cheaper. Hence, this is one of the factors that leads to the

over-usage of plastic bags.

Why waste plastic bags? Choose reusable bags!

News Release No: 2/2006 Date of Release: 11 February 2006

The next time a cashier asks if you would like a plastic bag for your purchases, pause to think about whether you really need it.

Many of us readily accept more plastic bags than is necessary to bag our purchases. Many of these plastic bags end up in the trash - or worse, flying off as litter into a drain somewhere. Plastic bag litter is not only unsightly, it is also a potential breeding site for mosquitoes and creates other environmental problems.

To promote conservation and minimize wastage, a national campaign to discourage the excessive use of plastic bags has been launched. Instead of using plastic bags, we encourage people to bring their own bags - or use reusable bags when they shop.

Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags a year for bagging their purchases - or an average of 2,500 bags per family, per year. These 2.5 billion plastic bags translate collectively to 19,000 tonnes or 0.8 per cent of the total waste disposed of in Singapore annually.

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In many countries, used plastic bags are landfilled. This is not the case in Singapore where land is scarce. Used plastic bags are incinerated along with all other waste, and generate electricity in the process.

Although the disposal of used plastic bags is not an issue for Singapore, the liberal issue and unnecessary use of plastic bags should be discouraged.

'We are not suggesting to do away with plastic bags altogether, as they can be used to bag refuse and then be disposed of in our incineration plants.' said Lee Yuen Hee, Chief Executive Officer, National Environment Agency. 'But we want our people to use reusable bags as far as possible, and to take only as many plastic bags as they need, thereby cutting down on wastage.'

Mr. Yatin Premchand, Senior Manager, Singapore Environment Council added, 'our purpose is three-pronged: apart from discouraging wastefulness, we want to promote sustainability by moving away from the single-use and disposable mentality towards that of maximizing the utility of everything we use, and protecting the environment. In the urban context, plastic bags can end up as litter, and in the natural environment, plastics have a strong tendency to suffocate plant and marine life. Continuous education is key.'

To address this, NEA set up a working group comprising major supermarket chains, retailers, Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) and Singapore Environment Council (SEC). Participating retailers include Carrefour, Cheers, Cold Storage, Fairprice Xpress, Foodland, Giant, Guardian, IKEA, Liberty Market, Market Place, NTUC FairPrice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong, Shop N Save, and 7-Eleven.

These retailers will make reusable bags available for sale at low prices. All the participating retailers will make these reusable bags available at the launch of the campaign (except for NTUC Fairprice stores, which have limited reusable bags as their new shipment of these bags will arrive only in Mar 06). Participating retailers will display publicity materials such as standees, wobblers and posters to raise public awareness. They have trained their cashiers to ask shoppers if they need a plastic bag where appropriate. To give the campaign a further boost, the retailers are also introducing incentives to encourage shoppers to use less plastic bags.

Executive director of SRA, Ms Lau Wei Chuen, said, 'this campaign is a partnership between retailers and consumers. It is an opportunity for retailers to give back to the environment by providing greener alternatives and {helping consumers live a sustainable lifestyle. In many overseas retail markets, traders are increasingly offering reusable shopping bags to customers. We and our members feel happy and privileged to be able to do our part.'

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, will grace the launch of the campaign this Saturday (11 February) at Parkway Parade Shopping Centre.

Parkway Parade Shopping Centre was chosen because they had put in place environmental initiatives on their own and have a goal of being an environmentally friendly shopping mall. They were planning to launch their own reusable bags when they heard about this campaign.

'We are all consumers in one way or another, and as consumers, we have tremendous power collectively to make a difference through our decisions - in this case, by choosing to cut waste

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by refusing plastic bags that we don't need and using reusable bags instead,' said Victor Tan, Fund Manager, Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Pte Ltd. Parkway Parade is managed by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Pte Ltd and they will be giving out reusable bags on the day.

At the campaign launch, besides getting all the above participating / supporting retailers, and individual retailers within Parkway Parade Shopping Centre to get shoppers to say yes to reusable bags instead of plastic bags, a mini exhibition with games, quizzes and lucky draw will be held to educate shoppers on the issue. Shoppers will be encouraged to pledge their commitment to this cause and the results of a series of competitions for schools on the theme of plastic bag reduction (jingles, photojournalism and pen your quip contests) will also be displayed / played.

Source: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/news_detail_2006.aspx?news_sid=20081014108559433641

IMPORTANT STATISTICS : Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags a year for bagging

their purchases - or an average of 2,500 bags per family, per year. These 2.5 billion plastic bags

translate collectively to 19,000 tonnes or 0.8 per cent of the total waste disposed of in Singapore

annually.

1 million plastic bags change hands each day

Publicity blitz involving supermarkets soon to make people use plastic bags less as they are choking the environment

By Sharmilpal Kaur

MORE than one million plastic shopping bags are given out here each day. One researcher estimates that people here use as many as 40 billion bags in a year.

While most of the bags are burnt in incinerators, many end up in rivers and swamps, choking marine life and strangling mangroves.

During a coastal clean-up of the Kranji mangroves last year, the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) found that plastic made up the bulk of the trash collected, forming as much as 65 per cent of it. Almost a quarter of this comprised bags and wrapping.

SEC executive director Penelope Phoon said: 'Many plastic bags end up on the coastline, causing serious damage to marine life.'

This is one of the reasons why the council is gearing up to launch a publicity blitz in June to make people use plastic bags less. It hopes to get supermarkets involved in the campaign.

Some of the proposals for its 'Bag It' drive include introducing biodegradable bags and selling reusable cloth and jute bags for between $3 and $5 at supermarkets.

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If the project takes off, customers may be able to reclaim the cost of these bags if they return them after using them, like they do with shopping carts.

The council is willing to go one step further by sourcing for manufacturers of the jute and cloth bags, to make it easier for the supermarkets to make the switch.

Singapore's biggest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, gives out a total of 160 million bags each year.

Cold Storage spends about $2 million each year on the 70 million plastic bags it puts its customers' goods in.

Several grocery shops said that many customers automatically ask for extra bags.

Plastic bags are usually used by households to dispose of their refuse, such as food waste, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry (ENV) told The Straits Times.

She added: 'Plastic shopping bags are made of polyethylene and can be incinerated safely at our plants, which are equipped with pollution-control equipment.'

To combat the problem of excessive plastic bags, Ireland began levying a tax on these containers last month.

Asked if the ministry would consider imposing a similar levy, the ENV spokesman said that the ministry is not against the use of plastic bags.

But she added that ENV would 'support any move by the retail sector to charge for plastic bags, as this would reduce excessive usage'.

NTUC FairPrice has no plans at the moment to charge for the bags. A Cold Storage spokesman added: 'We have conducted surveys, and the results indicate clearly that customers will not pay for the shopping bags.'

Source: http://www.ecologyasia.com/news-archives/2002/apr-

02/straitstimes.asia1.com.sg_singapore_story_0,1870,111939,00.html

PERSONAL REFLECTION: “Singapore's biggest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, gives out a total of 160 million bags each year.Cold Storage spends about $2 million each year on the 70 million plastic bags it puts its customers' goods in.

Several grocery shops said that many customers automatically ask for extra bags.” Often when we go to supermarkets, we actually ask for an extra bag for goods like seafood or bulky goods. This article shows how Singaporeans refuse to pay for shopping bags. Thus, plastic bags would be the most convenient product for the consumers.

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Industry helps defeat Va. plastic-bag tax bill

Zinie Chen Sampson, Associated Press, On Wednesday 2 February 2011, 2:44 SGT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia legislators have defeated a proposal aimed at curbing pollution and waste by imposing fees on the use of plastic bags, but bill sponsors are vowing to bring the issue up again next year.

A measure that would have required stores to charge customers a 5-cent tax on paper bags and disposable plastic bags died last week in a House of Delegates subcommittee after strong opposition from the retail and chemical manufacturers' lobbies.

"It might be dead this year, but I'll be back like a virus," said Del. Joe Morrissey, D-Highland Springs and a sponsor of one of the bills, which was combined with another measure. "I think it's something that really couldn't be more nonpartisan."

Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Arlington, said his legislation was an effort to encourage people to change their behavior to cut down on waste and benefit the environment. Shoppers who preferred disposable plastic bags could have opted to pay a nickel per bag.

"The consumers would have a choice and if they chose to use the throwaway bags, they'd pay a very small fee. So this is certainly a choice," Ebbin said.

Retailers would have retained a penny of each bag fee, or two cents if the stores offer customer bag-credit programs. The revenues raised by the fee would have gone to the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund.

Morrissey said people of all political persuasions are becoming increasingly concerned about plastic-bag litter.

"People are going to get behind this," he said. "It's sad we're not a leader in this."

Made of petrochemical derivatives, plastic bags take decades to decompose. Many end up outside landfills, carried into the air and littering roads and waterways, getting stuck in trees and choking or strangling animals that swallow or get tangled up in the bags.

Plastic-bag manufacturers represented by the American Chemistry Council strongly oppose bag taxes and bans, saying they're unworkable and kill jobs, and actively lobby against such measures nationwide. They say they favor voluntary recycling -- but Morrissey and others note that there aren't many facilities that are able to recycle most types of plastic bags.

South Africa, Ireland, Denmark and other nations and several U.S. cities have adopted plastic-bag taxes or other restrictions. Several California communities are among those currently considering whether to adopt similar measures. U.S. retailers have also voluntarily encouraged shoppers to use their own bags by offering a small credit per bag, typically a nickel.

Washington, D.C., enacted its 5-cent disposable-bag tax in January 2010. City officials estimate that before the fee, residents used about 270 million bags a year at grocery and convenience

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stores. The most recent figures showed that residents were on track to reduce usage to about 55 million bags, or about 80 percent fewer bags. Retailers, meanwhile, have told city officials they've cut down drastically on the number of bags they were buying.

The tax brought in a total of $1.9 million for cleanup of the Anacostia River in the first 10 months of 2010.

Erik Assadourian, a senior fellow at sustainability think tank Worldwatch, said that governments and businesses have the opportunity to shape consumer behavior to benefit the environment and citizens' health. Addressing consumption issues comes down to readjusting cultural norms, including the industry-driven idea that disposable bags represent a consumer choice that shouldn't be taken away.

"There's a belief that can be tapped -- that we shouldn't have to pay for a bag. It's our entitlement," Assadourian said. "The lobbying combined with small grass-roots groups to push for the industry's agenda has been effective in working to stop the movement of these bans."

If it's more difficult for shoppers to get plastic bags, they start rationalizing they don't need them anymore, Assadourian said. What begins as trying to save a nickel, over time, turns into doing something because they care for the environment, he said.

Source : http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Industry-helps-defeat-Va-apf-

2723975093.html?x=0

PERSONAL REFLECTION : This is one of the methods to lower the usage of plastic bags.

We have to consider factors like consumer’s opinion, plastic bags manufacturers.

McDonald's Muntinlupa to ditch plastic bags

MANILA, Philippines - All McDonald's outlets in Muntinlupa will be serving food and drinks only in paper packaging.

The fast food chain said it has decided to ditch plastic bags and styrofoam in its Muntinlupa branches to comply with a city ordinance that bans the use of said products in commercial establishments within the city.

McDonald's was referring to the Muntinlupa City government's Ordinance 10-1010-109, which was enacted mainly to avoid future drainage problems.

"Upon implementation of this City Ordinance, McDonald's had issued paper packaging to all its Muntinlupa stores," the fast food chain said in a statement released Wednesday.

On top of these, McDonald's said it will recall all styrofoam and plastic materials inside their stores.

Last year, retail companies Ayala Malls, Ever Malls, Hi-Top Supermarket, Isetann Malls, Makro, Robinson's Supermart, Savemore, SM Hypermart and SM Supermarkets have pledged to charge customers whenever they use plastic bags while grocery shopping every Wednesday.

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Plastic bag makers have expressed concern that they may experience a dip in sales this year because of campaigns that urge shoppers to stop using the said products, BusinessWorld earlier reported.

They stressed that plastic products can still be used without harming the environment.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/03/23/11/mcdonalds-muntinlupa-ditch-plastic-bags

This is a plastic bag that we came

across when shopping in Urban

Write.

This is also one of the methods to

save the environment by

producing oxo-biodegradable

bags.

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Methodology

Work Allocation:

Making of newspaper bags: Ryan Chan, Wu Hao Hsuan.

Background Research: Yang Yu Chuan, Wu Hao Hsuan

Contacting Popular Bookstore: Wu Hao Hsuan

Actual Action (Giving out newspaper bags, campaign): Ryan Chan, Wu

Hao Hsuan, Yang Yu Chuan, Zhou Tian Yu

Documentation/ Photos: Yang Yu Chuan

Facebook group: Ryan Chan

Timeline:

April-June: Background Research, Design of Newspaper Bags

July- Making of newspaper bags in bulk, setting up Facebook group,

contacting Popular

August- Carrying out of Action week, documentation, photos

Resource Management:

As our campaign aims to replace plastic bags with newspaper bags, we

need a lot of newspaper. We asked our classmates to bring all unwanted

newspapers to school and we collected them the next day.

We also needed approval from authority in order to carry out our project.

Hence, we contacted Ms Erica Tan and gained her support for our cause.

Making use of our lunch breaks, we managed to find time to carry out our

project in the bookstore. This is more efficient as a lot of student will tend to

visit the store to shop for school needs during their lunch breaks.

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Who were Involved:

Firstly, our project is a humanities-based environmental campaign.

Therefore, our project needs to start with common people, especially young

students who hold the Earth’s future. “We do not own the Earth, we merely

borrowed them from our future generations.” The results of reusing

materials will only be significant if a large number of people do it. However,

no matter how big a project is, it will have to start with a small number a

people. It’s a small step we take towards using materials. Therefore, we

gained the support of the Popular Bookshop Staff and Manager, and we

gave out newspaper to students, who are our main target.

Survey, Interviews, Observations:

We conducted a survey during our Action week of 7 days and we observed

certain trends. 63% of students who used our newspaper bags stated that

they will definitely use newspaper bags if they get the chance to. (In Future)

However, 67% stated that the quality of our newspaper bags did not meet

their expectations. This is because the bags are not water-proof and not

durable. We will continue to work on this in future as we experiment with

new materials. Also, 73% of our target students do not recycle proactively.

As the impacts of global warming are not that significantly as of now, these

youngsters do not see the urgency. All the more, our project should be

used as a tool to trigger the sense of urgency to reuse and recycle. More

details of the survey can be found in the appendix.

Action Week:

Our action week consisted of different components:

1) Giving out newspaper bags to customers of RI popular bookstore.

2) Campaigning/Explaining to the students about our newspaper bags

and the environmental benefits.

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3) Photography with customers who use our bags.

4) Setting up of Facebook page, to attract youngsters who use the

internet often.

When a customer proceeded to the cashier, we would address ourselves and introduce

to them our newspaper bags and our cause. Then they can choose to use or not to use

(if they only purchased a very small item). After they had made the payment, we would

proceed to inform them of our Facebook group to stay in touch with the project.

Impact:

Although the number of people we impacted did not exceed beyond 3-digits, we

influenced quite a number of people within a short time-span of 7 days.

Approximately 140+ people either used our newspaper bags or acknowledged our

Facebook page.

Some feedback was: “It is for a good cause but I feel that there is room for improvement”

“It is inspiring to see young adults actually doing hands-on work to save the Earth”

“ I hope the newspaper bags can be further improved so that they can be used by more

organizations”.

We feel that most youngsters do not recycle actively. However, if there are new and

innovative ideas to motivate them, they are very willing to try out new recycling ideas.

Customers who used

our newspaper bags.

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Reflection

Our project can be considered a success. We managed to meet our objective, which was to show our school, RI, the disadvantages of using plastic bags and benefits of recycling them. We also gave out newspaper bags, which are more environmentally friendly, to RI students who purchased stuff at our school’s Popular bookshop instead of the usual plastic bags. The motive of this is to let them adapt to the idea of using newspaper bags instead of plastic bags.

One of the many strengths of our group is that we possess strong determination and tenacity. We displayed the “I can” attitude clearly and persevered despite our shaky start, when we were still recovering from the shock of being assigned to DFC instead of The Future is Wild, which was what we wanted to research on and the reluctance to work on DFC. We soon adapted to it and came up with this idea of recycling plastic bags.

We can improve on our project by improving on the design of the newspaper bags. We surveyed the students which used the newspaper bags, and some of them felt that there were no handles, thus making it difficult to hold the newspaper bag, especially if it is very heavy. Others felt that the newspaper bags were not strong enough and is torn easily if the contents are heavy. Thus from the feedback, we can improve on our newspaper bags by adding more layers to it and adding newspaper handles.We learned many things from this project. Firstly, we learnt more about the different limited resources on Earth, such as crude oil, which is used to make plastic products such as plastics bags. We were also informed of the disadvantages to us humans once this resource runs out. Secondly, we learnt of the ways to recycle these limited resources, such as replacing plastic bags with newspaper bags. These 2 aspects allow us to present a strong argument for humans to recycle plastic bags.

In conclusion, this project was a very meaningful one for us. It helps us to find our strengths and weaknesses, so that we can continue our good points and improve on our bad points. It also helps us to learn more about the Earth and especially its resources, and teaches us how to recycle them.

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Acknowledgements:

Our teacher mentor: Mrs Ramesh

Mrs Cheryl Yap for giving us support and motivation

Ms Erica Tan (Manager of Popular) for allowing us distribute our bags.

Popular staffs for helping us introduce our product to customers.

Family and friends who supported us and gave us feedback.

Everyone else who have helped us in one way or another.

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Appendix (Survey)

DFC Say No To Plastic Bags Survey

Please answer the following questions truthfully.

Q1) Would you use newspaper bags instead of plastic bags? Yes/No

Q2) Do you recycle proactively? Yes/No

Q3) Do you think that the quality of the newspaper bags are good? Yes/No

(If Yes, skip Q4)

Q4) Please specify the areas in which the newspaper bags need

improvement on.

___________________________________________________________

Q5) What is your opinion of using plastic bags/newspaper bags?

____________________________________________________________

Q6) Will you ask for plastic bags even if you are purchasing small items

such as pens?

____________________________________________________________

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Appendix (Results)

Question 1: Would you use newspaper bags instead of plastic bags?

This shows that many of our respondents are willing to use newspaper bags instead of plastic

bags if they are available, which also shows that most of them do not normally use

environmentally friendly bags because they are not available for free at most shops. Hence, if

we were to expand our project, we will know that most students will be supportive of our

newspaper bags, increasing feasibility. Of this project

Q1, YES, 19, 63%

Q1, NO, 11, 37%

YES

NO

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Question 2: Do you recycle proactively?

Most of our respondents do not recycle proactively, yet most of them claimed that they will use

our newspaper bags. This shows that our campaign had been successful in influencing the

community in the sense that we have been able to change the majority of their mindsets and

their views on recycling.

Q2, YES, 8, 27%

Q2, NO, 22, 73%

YES

NO

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Question 3: Do you think that the quality of the newspaper bags is good?

Customers have given us valuable advice on how to improve our bags:

Make a handle.

Make them waterproof

Make them more durable

Make more bags of different sizes

Q3, YES, 10, 33%

Q3, NO, 20, 67% YES

NO

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Q5) What is your opinion of using plastic bags/newspaper bags?

This question was to find out whether our campaign was successful and what their

thoughts toward our cause are.

Some common answers include:

1) Good motivation and effort

2) Needs to find more alternative materials

3) Hands may be dirty after touching newspaper bags.

4) Good environmentally friendly effort

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Q6) Will you ask for plastic bags even if you are purchasing small items

such as pens?

This question narrows down our range of bag sizes. According to this pie chart, the vast majority

of students do not need a plastic bag for small items. Hence, we can be more efficient by cutting

down on the amount of small newspaper bags made.

Q6, YES, 3, 10%

Q6, NO, 27, 90%

YES

NO

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