It is disheartening that domestic recycling rates have remained low, with only 21 per cent of waste produced by the domestic sector being recycled in 2017 (Teenagers skipping school on Friday over climate crisis, March 11).

One way to encourage recycling is to offer monetary benefits to reward efforts.

In this respect, Singapore can take a leaf out of Indonesia's book and implement "waste banks", or "bank sampah" as they are called in Indonesia.

At waste banks, citizens can open accounts as they would at a regular commercial bank. They can then make deposits with their non-organic waste, which is weighed and given a cash value to be stored in their accounts. The waste banks then sell the deposited material to merchants for reusing and recycling.

Perhaps providing incentives will stimulate change, and get more Singaporeans to care about the environment.

Dewi Sabrina Husnan, 17

Secondary 4 student