Giant octopus points the way

Ivy Ong-Wood

How do you get kids to become involved in reducing plastic waste? Why, you ask their peers to come up with ideas, of course. With The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency as lead sponsor and curatorial partners Milk Design and Stickyline, PMQ Seed has organized the Creative Summer Festival.

Themed "Kids in Action," the festival is being held at PMQ Courtyard and Marketplace from now until August 18. This year, PMQ Seed invited designers from various sectors to participate in this initiative.

Match Chen, founder of the sustainable design studio KaCaMa Design Lab, Zoe Siu, a knot and craft designer, and Gaau1 up Design Studio became design mentors to more than 300 Primary Four to Six Research Ambassadors at prefestival workshops.

The Ambassadors brainstormed and created an array of plastic reduction games and workshops, all centered around key themes of plastic waste reduction such as "Reduce," "Reuse" and "Recycle."

"It is most important to start from the source to reduce plastic. We hope that the creative ideas advocated by children can begin with changes in daily behaviors, transforming small actions into changes for the Earth," said Lee Chi-wing, founder of Milk Design Limited, and Soilworm Lai, cofounder of Stickyline.

One unmissable highlight is the giant octopus art installation by Kevin Cheung.

In recent years, marine biologists have discovered that one of the smartest invertebrates in the ocean - the octopus - has begun using human-generated trash to construct its home. Inspired by this fact, Cheung used over 200 plastic laundry bags as the design medium. By fusing them with an iron and blowing air through a fan, he transformed them into a lifelike octopus. His hope is that visitors draw some insight from this art installation and rethink the perceptions of "waste."

Forty school-based teams, who participated in the Kids in Action workshop, have also set up game booths at various points inside the PMQ compound.

Among the games are:

Plastic Reduction Warrior by SKH Wei Lun Primary School. Based on how far the small discs travel, Kid Ambassadors will provide participants with a corresponding number of capture tools to send all the plastic "monsters" off to recycling.

The Big Say No to Plastic Crusade by PLK Grandmont Primary School. Participants will drive upcycled mini-cars through a series of obstacles. Through this journey, Kid Ambassadors hope to remind people of the importance of plastic reduction and introduce various everyday plastic reduction habits.

Little Plastic Recycling Cart by Ma On Shan Methodist Primary School. The Earth is being invaded by plastic aliens. Participants push recycling cars to collect scattered plastic wastes but have to avoid plastic aliens.

Eco-Friendly Rolling Mini-Game by Cho Yiu Catholic Primary School. Participants work in pairs to transfer the plastic wastes on the props to the corresponding numbered holes, learning to differentiate the seven types of plastics in the process.

Decorate Your Recycling Bag by Pentecostal Gin Mao Sheng Primary School. Through the basic principles of craft weaving, Kid Ambassadors will teach participants how to give new life to plastic bags, transforming them into practical objects once more.

Rescue Ocean Brother, also by Pentecostal Gin Mao Sheng Primary School. Participants use rods to fish out ocean plastic wastes, then determine which ones can be recycled, to rescue Ocean Brother.

There will be pop-up events and design thinking experience classes catering to parents and Primary One to Six students across different floors of PMQ throughout the festival period.

Visitors will also have a chance to win a plantable mystery seed card or Gaau1 spinning top by completing various missions.

ivy.ong@singtaonewscorp.com