While single-use plastics afforded consumers the benefit of convenience, they have a devastating environmental impact. Ciao Cutlery, Bye! was a student-led three-month campaign initiated to reduce the use of disposable cutlery throughout Nanyang Technological University (NTU) by inculcating the habit of using reusable cutlery sets.

At the time of initiation, the team has also just returned from their overseas exchange programme and experienced how pro-active overseas students were with championing for causes they feel passionate about. The team was motivated to make an active contribution through NTU, and the University had just set out its five-year growth plan that included a strong focus on environmental consciousness. NTU president Subra Suresh also announced the ban on plastic bags at campus events, retail shops and food outlets. This ground-up campaign was thus inspired to complement NTU’s environmental efforts.

The team has created campaign images around the NTU campus like the one below. Have you seen them around?

The Highlights

Campaign was publicised widely on campus.

The campaign team distributed over 2,000 complimentary cutlery sets across three school events – ECHO, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information (WKWSCI) Christmas and 2019 Freshmen Orientation. The team also ran an educational program with Koufu @ South Spine and North Spine Food Court. During the programme, pamphlets, wall posters and table stickers were distributed to remind students and faculty members to use reusable cutlery. The campaign also maintained an online presence with content collaborations with 43 student influencers.

In addition, the campaign was reached out to more people through coverage from NTU campus newspaper Nanyang Chronicle, online magazine WKWSCI Alumni Magazine, and the social media platforms of over 43 student influencers and NTU societies.

The Memories

Students queuing up for the cutlery distribution on NTU campus.
Students and faculty members posing with their free reusable cutlery.
A student receiving her first set of reusable cutlery.
Team members explaining the rationale behind the campaign to visitors.

Reflection #1 – The Challenges

Difficulty establishing legitimacy.

The first challenge was establishing legitimacy with the different stakeholders such as school residential halls and canteen operators within NTU as the campaign was not attached to any school organisation. For school residential halls and canteen operators, the team went down to seek permission to attach the collaterals to each store and dining table. The campaign team also received help from the F&B vendors, who were extremely supportive of the campaign in hopes to minimise the need to purchase and distribute disposable cutlery to students.

Many approvals from different departments required.

There were more obstacles with reaching out to the operators of Koufu @ South Spine and North Spine Food Court, due to the many levels of clearance and teams the campaign had to reach out to. With the help of many campaign partners, including NTU’s sustainability initiative ECHO Task Force, the team was able to get in touch with the right point of contact. This allowed the team to eventually attach the campaign collaterals in the two largest dining spaces in NTU.

Unable to convince F&B operators to cease distribution of disposable cutlery.

The team had trouble convincing F&B operators to cease the distribution of disposable cutlery for a trial period to gauge the response. They were unable to achieve this personal goal as it involved many levels of clearance and decision making. While efforts were made to scale down the idea by reaching out to Co-Op Café @ The Hive, the management team had many concerns and were unable to work with the campaign in this aspect.

Reflection #2 – The Takeaways

Building a community is important.

One of the most important things that the team have learnt through the course of this project is the strength of community efforts. The campaign opted for a unique approach for this campaign where the team approached student influencers and NTU societies to help us spread awareness for the campaign. This approach proved to be highly effective as it quickly helped to spread the word in NTU about the importance of switching to reusable cutlery sets. This effort also led to more people gaining interest in the campaign and wanting to step forward to contribute in their own way.

Strong support is important for a campaign to be successful.

Another takeaway is the positive response from students and F&B operators towards the campaign. The team was heartened to be able to make a difference in NTU’s environmental sustainability programmes and received many words of appreciation from individuals of all backgrounds. Many students were supportive of the campaign goal and acknowledged the lack of motivation to adopt more sustainable dining habits. With the distribution of reusable cutlery, along with tips on social media, many students started to incorporate the use of reusable cutlery into their dining routines.

On the side of F&B operators, the team was initially worried that vendors would be reluctant to cease the distribution of disposable cutlery. However, from the ground level, the majority of vendors were supportive of the campaign and actively referred students to the collaterals placed beside their stores.