We are students who are passionate about the environment and sustainability. We have noticed that the school has always been rather wasteful in its use of one-use disposables and improperly disposed recyclables.

The mandatory purchase of fruits along with every meal is a laudable move to promote a healthier balanced diet among students, but the accumulation of plastic waste used to package these fruits is an increasing concern. As much as we care about the wellbeing of our fellow students, we must not neglect the wellbeing of our planet.

Our institution’s student body consists of approximately 2,400 people. This figure does not include teachers, non-teaching staff and visitors. This means that about 2,400 to 3,000 plastic wrappings are accumulated and discarded per day. Per week: 12,000 to 15,000. Per month: 48,000 to 60,000. In a year? A whopping 480,000 to 600,000 plastic wrappings would have been discarded from our school alone. The figures are appalling and staggering.

With recent developments in the global environmental situation including global warming and our country’s only landfill set to reach its limit in 2030, we cannot contribute to the accumulation of waste that will exacerbate these environmental problems.

Although we are aware that the introduction of fruits into our canteen stalls is a mandatory guideline set by the Ministry, we believe that we can promote a healthier diet in our schools without causing a trade-off with the preservation of our home. Plastic bags from fruits alone already cause such an appalling amount of non biodegradable plastic waste, but this is in addition to the various other sources of waste in our school - plastic bottles, sandwich containers, Manna cutlery and plastic straws - just to name a few.

Here are a few suggestions that the school can consider implementing to make our institution a more environmentally friendly one:

1. Canteen stalls can offer whole fruits such as apples and bananas that do not require plastic packaging. Sliced and bundled fruits like watermelon and grapes can also be placed directly on the plate of food instead of requiring additional packaging.
2. Sliced fruits can be served in reusable cups, or small plates. Although they cause the need to purchase additional kitchen ware, we believe that it is certainly worth the long term investment.
3. For the drinks stall, we should not even offer plastic straws, which are entirely unnecessary. There should be no fear in drinking straight from the lip of the cup as the school upholds cleanliness standards for all its cutlery! Students and teachers who do insist on using straws should be directed to purchase reusable metal or glass straws which can be cleaned easily.
4. There should be no plastic containers offered for take-away items to incentivize students and teachers to bring along their own reusable food containers. The additional cost for these disposable containers are not enough to discourage the use of these wasteful items. Styrofoam boxes and banana leaf wrappings, for instance, are some examples of containers that cannot be recycled and are often used in our school canteen. Should one-use containers be offered, vendors ought to look into compostable and biodegradable products. Greenwashed items are not truly environmentally friendly. Instead, natural alternatives are available and should be considered.
5. Recycling bins can be put up more around school to encourage recycling and make it more convenient for everyone. More often than not, students bring their food out of the canteen, causing them to throw away their recyclables into the trashcan without recycling it properly.

Although we are aware that some of our suggestions involve an increase in expenditure and cost, we strongly believe that it will be effective and worth it in ensuring the health of our environment. These actions will promote a culture of being eco-friendly in our institution, and will have a lasting impact in the long run. We have ardent faith that Raffles has the potential to be an institution that is environmentally friendly, and that produces students that develop environmentally conscious mindsets which will serve them well into the future.

We are not One Earth club members, or part of the Student Council. We are merely ordinary students of this institution who love our Earth, and who cannot turn a blind eye to this unnecessary wastage of precious materials which will only serve to pollute our precious environment. We must not turn a blind eye. We trust that the school will feel the same, and will be interested in working with us in making our school a more eco-friendly one.

Sign this petition if you want to Help Raffles Love Our Earth.