Clearing sewer choke, plastic upcycling among activities featured in Go Green SG 2024
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SINGAPORE – Rags, hardened grease, sanitary pads, condoms and wet wipes – these are some common culprits that cause sewer choke, resulting in odours and overflows.
Though the natural instinct is to get as far away as possible, PUB’s first response team attends to the blockage as soon as it can upon receiving reports from the public.
Using metal rods that can be fitted to extend up to 100m, the team can reach into the sewer and hook onto obstructions with a spiral auger to clear the sewer.
In July, the public will be able to watch the team carry out a mock clearance of a sewer at PUB’s Waterhub. This is followed by a guided tour of the nearby Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant, where participants can learn how raw sewage is turned into clean, drinkable water.
PUB engineers will also demonstrate how a remote-controlled closed-circuit television robot is used to inspect sewers for defects and blockages.
PUB senior assistant engineer Saiful Anwar (left) overseeing a demonstration of sewer choke clearance by contractor Mani Mozhiyan during a media preview at PUB’s Waterhub.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
These are among the slew of activities that will be part of Go Green SG, an annual movement led by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) to rally citizens, organisations and the community to make Singapore a green, liveable and climate-resilient nation.
Other activities include a visit to JTC Corporation’s SolarLand, Singapore’s largest ground-mounted solar farm, at Changi Business Park. Participants can also make scrubs and hair masks, and turn discarded chillies into pest spray.
The 2024 edition of Go Green SG will run from June 12 to July 14, partially overlapping with the school holidays to allow families to participate in the activities during and outside the school term.
The initiative, which was launched in 2023, saw more than 70,000 people take part in over 300 activities, with programmes and experiences organised by more than 160 partners, according to MSE.
With 2024 designated the Year of Public Hygiene by MSE, Go Green SG will feature more activities related to public cleanliness, the environment and sustainability.
These include a beach clean-up and an educational talk on clean energy technologies organised by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore as well as plastic upcycling workshops by social enterprise Semula.
Semula converts plastic waste into useful products such as art installations and furniture, and diverts waste from incinerators and landfills.
As part of Go Green SG, Semula will run a series of workshops where participants can create coasters out of plastic flakes from milk bottle caps and shampoo bottles.
Semula will hold workshops where participants can make coasters out of plastic flakes from milk bottle caps and shampoo bottles.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Mr Jeryl Yep, 32, co-founder and product innovation lead at Semula, said the company has worked with home-grown carpentry firm Roger&Sons to create stools out of milk bottles and abandoned logs from local sawmills for a cafe.
Some of these stools are currently used in the workspace at Semula.
Through the Go Green SG workshops, he said he hopes that participants can realise that their “little efforts” in recycling can make a big impact.
“It’s not something that is a waste of time, but it can result in diverting waste away from the landfill and come up with products that they can use at home,” he said.
“We believe that a tiny step taken today to do right by our environment, when multiplied by a million and more times, can be a powerful force for change.”
Mr Yep said that when Semula was started, the team was not sure how much they could contribute to the making of a more sustainable Singapore.
To date, the company has been able to divert 3.6 tonnes of high-density polyethylene plastic waste, such as milk and shampoo bottles, from incinerators and landfills.
IT engineer Eugene Liang plans to take his five-year-old son Emmett to several Go Green SG activities.
These include nature tours organised by the National Parks Board and Gardens by the Bay, as well as Semula’s coaster-making workshop.
“I don’t think my son is old enough to understand what sustainability is, but it would be interesting for him to look at certain museums or the Gardens by the Bay Ecosystems tour,” he said.
Mr Liang, 41, said that family-friendly, hands-on experiences such as upcycling workshops not only appeal to him, but also help to introduce his son to the idea of sustainability at an early age.
Go Green SG 2024 will be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on June 12.
Members of the public can go to the Go Green SG website on www.gogreen.gov.sg
Additional reporting by Madeleine Wong
