NUS alumni use plastic and glass waste to make floating garden of edible plants
SINGAPORE — Mr Ibnur Rashad had been figuring out how to build a chinampa — also known as a "floating island", a Mexican farming technique that allows plants to grow in shallow waters — when an encounter with a woman carrying recycled water bottles gave him his eureka moment.
The woman had asked him if there was a recycling bin around as she wanted to recycle the bottles.
“That’s when I thought: Aha! Why not just make these islands float with recycled water bottles?” said Mr Ibnur, the founder of Ground-Up Innovation Labs for Development — a consultancy that helps companies find sustainable solutions.
From recycled water bottles, the initiative has been expanded to include the use of discarded beauty product containers.
Mr Ibnur, 36, and his five-member National University of Singapore alumni-student team on this initiative recently received a S$40,000 grant from the Zero Waste Testbed Initiative, which is aimed at supporting youths in the co-creation of innovative solutions towards zero waste and the circular economy.
