Waterway Kayak Clean-up 

The Better World Team aims to provide volunteers with insight into the many Non-Profit Organisations (NGOs), Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and Independent groups that are doing good work for our community and environment. The Team strives to be able to allow volunteers to experience such programmes to garner interest so that they would continue to inspire others to take action for our community and environment.

As part of community outreach initiatives, the Better World Team from The Singapore Scout Association collaborated with Waterway Watch Society and organised a Waterway Kayak Clean-up.

The Waterway Watch Society is a special and independent volunteer organisation that specialises in more than 10 types of environment education programmes such as Kayak Waterway Clean-up, Coastal Clean-up and Marina Bike Learning Trail. They aim to bring people together to care for our waters and to inspire stewardship for our environment. 

The Waterway Kayak Clean-up, was held on the morning of 14th September 2019 (Saturday), involving 21 Scouts, Ventures, Rovers and Leaders from Maris Stella High School and Manjusri Secondary School.

While exploring and picking up litter in the Kallang Basin, the participants were introduced to the various litter hot-spots and how litter accumulates in the water. Within a short period of less than two hours kayaking through the basin, the participants collected a total of 14kg worth of litter.

Through this activity, participants were given the opportunity to enjoy our natural environment in the outdoors, to learn about the impact of litter on our wildlife and environment, and at the same time, do their part for the life underwater.

This Waterway Clean-up activity fulfils the purpose to educate and create awareness of the impact of single-use plastics as part of our effort towards the Climate Action #13 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Plastics, which forms a huge bulk of marine trash, affect the environment by emitting greenhouse gases such as Methane and Ethylene when they are exposed to sunlight or during the course of their degradation. Therefore a reduction of plastic use and its pollution will help in lessening the greenhouse gas emissions.