To gain a better understanding and knowledge on the procedures of farm operations in Singapore, Earthlink NTU’s Gardening portfolio had organized a physical farm tour to provide students with first-hand experience in the operations of commercial rooftop farms in Singapore on 7 Dec 2022.
With a deeper level of appreciation achieved, they can step up their agricultural efforts towards its 30 x 30 goal, which is to meet 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030. Greenhood emerged as one of the winners of Singapore’s first tender for urban farming on HDB carpark rooftops. During the tour, participants developed a deeper insight into Greenhood’s rooftop precision farming, cutting-edge AI controllers for automated crop management, and patent-pending Mobile Aeroponic Channel (MAC) system utilised to maximise the production of salad greens. Participants had also learnt about the essential conditions required in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), and received the opportunity to hear about the ongoing research by Greenhood to establish the most productive vegetable variety. As the tour comes to a close, participants were surprised by receiving the chance to taste fresh kale produced by Greenhood, and participate in a short quiz, wherein 3 lucky participants walked away with mini-hydroponic cups of basil!
Moreover, numerous participants were highly interested in the commercial and community aspects of Greenhood’s operations, with many questions on their business model, outreach and technicality. In particular, questions were raised on Greenhood’s start-up journey and future plans for expansion, which were answered by Greenhood’s knowledgeable founder, Mr Gaurav Saraf. Therefore, as observed from the Q&A sessions, it had proved to be not only engaging but effective in evoking inspiration and participants’ inquisitive nature regarding Greenhood’s future endeavours.
Past Events
Summary of Green for Good 2022 – Part 3
In this last week of Green For Good, Sustainable Living Week. This week, we question how our modern lifestyle has impacted our environment and the way we live, hoping to inspire you to act before it is too late. The main highlights from 21st to 26th March 2022 include a slate of activities that will get you learning about different environmental issues with the chance to partake in hands-on activities, while actually making a difference for the environment. We have events targeted at plastic recycling guided by The Plastic Project (TPP), Bring Your Own Container (BYOC) and Earth Hour in collaboration with West Coast CC.
Summary of Green for Good 2022 – Part 2
The second week of Green For Good (GFG) 2022!, also known as NTU Biodiversity Week which is centred around Biodiversity & Conservation. Join us as we dive into a week of nature appreciation and wildlife protection! Green For Good 2022’s NTU Biodiversity Week has a series of exciting workshops, games and even a research symposium!
Spearheaded by Earthlink NTU, teh second week of GFG brings together seven other school clubs and over ten passionate external nature groups such as NParks, Nature Society (Singapore), ACRES, and many more. This year’s event theme is “Pulau NTU”, which highlights our campus’ rich biodiversity through a series of exciting activities. From exhibitions to workshops, virtual challenges to nature walks, the slate of activities during NTU Biodiversity Week are thus meant to spark anyone’s interest in biodiversity & conservation!
Summary of Green For Good 2022 – Part 1
To commemorate Earthlink NTU’s flagship environmental festival, Green For Good (GFG) 2022! Centering three pillars—Food Sustainability, Biodiversity & Conservation, and Sustainable Living— a series of articles will be released over the next few days, highlighting the major events from these three pillars!
In the first week of “Green for Good”, our theme is Food Sustainability where we aim to raise awareness on these three different areas: sustainable diets, food waste, and food security. To help cultivate the appropriate green habits on an individual level, fun and enjoyable activities such as the “Farm to Table Cooking Challenge” and “Growing Greens Workshop” are hands-on which aim to encourage participants to learn on the go! In the first activity, the main purpose is to delve deeper into food source consciousness to understand the seriousness of food wastage, while second activity emphasises on nurturing green fingers with self-sufficiency as the value attained.
International Migrants Day
To celebrate International Migrants Day on 18 December, the Gardening portfolio worked with charity organisation Sama Sama to set up a gardening booth as part of the festival at Kranji Recreation Centre. At our booth, the migrant workers used cleaned plastic bottles to make self-watering planters, with Neon Pothos cuttings. Afterwhich, they decorated their planters with paint and kuti-kuti and took them back to their dormitories.
We gathered at Kranji MRT at 2.45pm, and reached Kranji RC at around 3pm. Once there, we immediately set up our booth: transporting items from the storeroom, laying out the materials like plastic bottles and paints, and filling up our water jugs.
As the migrant workers filed in, some coming from buses, some coming on bicycles, a mix of exhilaration and nervousness began to seep in. Yes, we knew we had done our best in obtaining the materials (eg. We collected and cleaned 100 plastic bottles in three days!!), but what if there was something essential we had overlooked? Or, were the number of plastic bottles enough, the soil enough, the potted plants enough (we only had two)?
“I guess we might need to close shop early, if we run out,” Afraa (our Gardening Director) said grimly.
But the real challenge, we realised, was attracting people to our booth. Wisia and Miwen began creating a pretty planter, hoping that in the process, passers-by could be attracted. Then they paraded the compound carrying the rainbow planters, inviting anyone who looked interested to come see our gardening booth. Terese also invited over anyone who cast us a cursory glance. And the crowd grew, the crowd itself attracting a larger crowd! Looking at the scene unfolding before us, a sense of accomplishment, pride and relief filled our hearts.
By bringing back this vibrant, easy-to-grow wonder-in-a-bottle, we hope that the long-term care of this plant would help our new friends find a new outlet for relaxation.
No doubt, this experience was an enriching one for all. Some migrant workers even imparted their gardening know-hows and tips to us, which we are grateful for.
Altogether, this was a thoroughly meaningful experience, and we are excited for more to come.
Booth by Gardening portfolio
Written by: Rachel Siew and Terese
Earthlink’s Projects Clinches Awards in Student Leaders’ Night 2021
“I’m really proud that the NTU BioBlitz turned out to be such a huge success, especially because it’s an example of how everyday people like you or me can contribute to conservation causes through the power of citizen science.” -Alexis Goh
The Student Leaders’ Night is an annual affair organised by the Student Affairs Office to recognise the contributions of student organisations towards the school and the welfare of fellow students. In the 6th installation of the Student Leaders’ Night, two of Earthlink’s initiatives were shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Mr and Mrs Kwok Chin Yan Award for Student Initiative’. This annual award honours student initiatives which have made significant contributions towards enhancement of student life, the improvement of the campus environment or the betterment of the larger community in the preceding year. The initiative that clinched the award was NTU BioBlitz 2021.
Green For Good 2021 (previously known as GreenFest) was a two-week long outreach event organised by Earthlink’s Campus Outreach portfolio, to raise awareness of environmental issues and spur collective and individual action among the NTU community. This involved engaging staff and students alike through activities such as a Fashion Treasure Workshop and a Bring-Your-Own-Container (BYOC) campaign, to name a few.
On the other hand, NTU BioBlitz was NTU’s first biodiversity-monitoring programme held in NTU. In March 2021, Earthlink’s Nature Guiding portfolio conducted 23 surveys to record the fauna found on campus. This was carried out with the aim of improving human-wildlife interactions as well as to improve NTU’s policies regarding campus wildlife.
Alexis Goh, Chairperson of NTU BioDiversity Day, voiced her thoughts regarding what the award meant for the team. “I’m really proud that the NTU BioBlitz turned out to be such a huge success, especially because it’s an example of how everyday people like you or me can contribute to conservation causes through the power of citizen science.” says the environmental science undergraduate.
“This can then open up the room for more collaboration opportunities, and allow Earthlink members to be more involved in the local conservation scene” – Tay Li Si
As the fellow co-director of Earthlink’s Nature Guiding portfolio, Li Si Tay hopes that moving forward, this initiative would be a stepping stone in increasing awareness of biodiversity throughout the whole NTU community. “I hope that our efforts under the Nature Guiding committee and the upcoming NTU Biodiversity Week committee can put Earthlink NTU on the radar of the other nature groups and organisations in Singapore. This can then open up the room for more collaboration opportunities, and allow Earthlink members to be more involved in the local conservation scene.”, says Li Si regarding his aspirations for the biodiversity and conservation movement.
All in all, the exceptional work of Earthlink and it’s portfolios would not have been possible without the support of the members, the partners as well as the various participants of the activities and initiatives. Moving forward, these awards serve as a supplementary platform to pave the way for the creation and execution of more projects and campaigns aligned with Earthlink’s mission to advocate for environmentally sustainable lifestyles and to increase the NTU community’s awareness on environmental issues.
Appreciation Night 2021
As the semester drew to a close, all the committees of Earthlink gathered in May, for an Appreciation Night event organised by Welfare portfolio. This was a night to celebrate the achievements of the past Academic Year as well as recognise individuals for their contributions to Earthlink.
The Awards given out at the event were:
– Long Service Award (three and four years)
– Innovation Award
– Dedication Award
– Earthlinker of the Year
Sub-Committee Bonding Night 2020
In October, the Camp and Welfare portfolio drew 37 sub-committee and management committee members together through Earthlink’s Sub-Committee Appreciation Night, themed “SPACE”.
Prior to the event, participants were split into groups (with acrostic names signifying friendship: Soulmate, Pal, Amigo, Camaraderie and E Hoa) and met their teammates briefly via WhatsApp.
All teams competed in a simulated space mission to travel from the sun to the earth. To start off, each team played icebreakers among themselves. Thereafter, teams competed against each other in games such as Scrabble, Show and Tell, and a Kahoot quiz on recycling and Earth’s atmosphere.
This virtual event allowed new memories to be forged and friendships formed.
Earth Hour 2021
Earth Hour is an annual event and global movement where individuals, communities, and organisations are encouraged to switch off their electrical lights for one hour. Since 2014, Earthlink has taken an active role in organising Earth Hour events for the South West Communities of Singapore.
For this year’s event, Earth Hour 2021 was held in partnership with the West Coast Youth Network from West Coast Community Club. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Earthlink livestreamed the entire event on Facebook. Nonetheless, such restrictions did not deter External Liaison; the virtual space flourished with lively, memorable activities that left the audience rapt.
Themed videos featured residents of West Coast sharing their personal practices, habits and visions centred on three topics—Carbon-lite living, Recycling, and Gardening. The videos also showcase students making pledges to save the environment, hawker stall owners sharing their packaging tips, and residents showcasing their wonderful
upcycled craftwork—these are very heartwarming and educational at the same time.
Another highlight of the day was the interactive games segment, which a participant remarked as “especially attractive”. Through live polls, viewers made life choices that ranged from the personal to business to the government level. Videos of people making these choices were also streamed.
Next, the event had a lively panel discussion, which was moderated by our External Liaison Director Khushi Chhetija and West Coast Youth Network Murali. The topic was on Singapore’s food resilience, and present at the panel was Minister for Transport, Mr. S. Iswaran as well as representatives from Citiponics, Growthwell Group and Shiok Meats.
In addition to the dance performances by the various NTU groups, a resident, Victoria, also performed a dance signifying climate action. Rich in symbolism of environmental catastrophe and the urgency of climate action, the dances left the audience inspired to take stronger steps to preserve all that we have left on earth.
Insect Feed Tour 2021
In January, Community Engagement organised an Insect Feed Tour to biotechnology company Insect Feed Technologies, where participants learnt about food composting aided by black soldier flies. Prior to the event, the portfolio conducted a briefing to share about food waste as well as how black soldier flies and micro-organisms accelerate decomposition.
In groups of five to eight, participants underwent a guided tour by the hosts of Insect Feed Technologies. The tour featured different stations, such as Hatching (where new insect larvae breed and hatch); Larvae feed (where food waste is fed to the larvae) and Food Processing Plant (grinder where flies are converted into food mix).
By feeding on pre-consumer food waste, black soldier fly larvae transform into a protein-dense animal feed that can replace unsustainable traditional animal feed. As an added bonus, frass is produced as a by-product of the process, which is chockful of nutrients that makes it the perfect organic fertiliser for crops. Some advantages of black soldier flies include how they have a high growth rate and adaptable to different environments.
Many participants were inspired by the passionate and knowledgeable staff members of Insect Feed Technologies. The guided tour and collective sharing from participants made the experience, an educational and memorable one.