NUS Ridge View Residential College's Intertidal Walk and Clean in support of SG Clean Day
Having sustainability as a pillar of focus, NUS Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) regularly engages in outdoor learning to promote sustainability to its students.
In its most recent initiative, and as an extension of its regular coastal clean-up efforts, the residential college organised a RV Intertidal Walk and Clean in support of the Public Hygiene Council's SG Clean Day on 13 May 2023, which aimed to break the Singapore Book of Records with the largest turn-up for litter picking in a single day.
A total of 19 NUS staff, students, and family joined in the efforts to clean up Changi Beach and collected a whopping 52.5kg of marine trash within 40 minutes.
During the event, participants had the opportunity to engage in environmental stewardship and witness the extent of marine trash found along Singapore’s coastlines. Given that the public cleaners had cleaned up the beach earlier that morning, the amount of marine trash collected by the participants demonstrated the persistent problem of marine trash and the need for continued efforts to tackle it.
After the clean-up, participants embarked on a guided intertidal walk to learn about marine ecology and intertidal habitats. They were introduced to over 20 different marine creatures and plants, including pink sea cucumber, leaf porter crab, sand dollar, and snapping shrimp. Being able to observe at close range marine creatures they have never seen before made learning about sustainability personal and enriching for the participants. It reinforced the importance of sustainability and environmental stewardship to mitigate the negative impacts that marine trash has on our natural environment and biodiversity.
All in, a record 4,383 volunteers showed up across Singapore in support of SG Clean Day, breaking the previous record for largest clean-up. While honoured to be part of this memorable event, RVRC will continue to push on with its sustainability education efforts, which include its regular coastal and mangrove clean-up programmes, such as RV Kayak and Clean, as well as doing its part to tackle the marine pollution issue.
What participants say
“Embarking on my first intertidal walk, I was utterly enthralled by the chance to closely observe a myriad of marine life, an experience which deepened my appreciation for nature. Furthermore, actively participating in trash clearing made me realise the crucial importance of practising responsible environmental stewardship and underscored for me the collective endeavour required to maintain the cleanliness of our environment.”
Joshua Lim, Year 1, Faculty of Arts and Social Science
“It was overall a fun and interesting experience learning more about sea creatures that I did not know much about before. I'm also glad we got to help clear a bit of the litter on the beach but I understand there's quite a lot of litter left on beaches around the world.”
Rywene Ang, Year 1, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies
“The trash pollution problem may seem daunting and too large to address, but many helping hands will multiply the impact of such clean-ups. Learning about sustainability through such first-hand experiences brought much joy and satisfaction to us as well!”
Dr Eunice Ng, Lecturer and Resident Fellow, Ridge View Residential College
This article is contributed by Dr Eunice Ng, Lecturer and Resident Fellow at Ridge View Residential College.