Feature ¢ Janice Khoo serves in the Choir and Media & Comms Ministry at Kampong Kapor Methodist Church. / Photos courtesy of Amelia Hang
At Toh Yi,
composting is a
neighbourhood affair
H
ave you ever finished meal preparation and found yourself with a pile of fruit and vegetable peels that cannot be consumed? For many of us, this
kitchen waste goes straight into the bin. Amelia Hang, 36, who attends Cairnhill Methodist Church, found a way to turn this waste into something useful. She turned to
“It is about stewardship and looking after this world for
composting, which is a process in which plant and food
the generations beyond us,” says Amelia, whose children
waste is decomposed and recycled into nutrient-rich
Katelyn and Nathaniel are 8 and 6, respectively. “I tell my
matter that can be used to enrich soil.
children that what we do is about looking after what God has given us first, for the sake of them and their children.”
It all began when Amelia, a stay-at-home-mum and a part-time tutor, needed somewhere to bury partially
Rina shares another perspective, “It’s Creation Care.
decomposed kitchen waste, also called pre-compost,
Whatever God has given us has a good purpose. If we do
to complete the composting process using the bokashi
not make good use of it, such as through growing plants
method. This involves a two-step process in which food
and recycling, or in our case, composting, we are creating
waste is mixed with bran and first fermented in a sealed
a problem for the earth.” She adds, “I want people to see
bucket before it is buried in soil to complete the process
how we can take care of the world God has given us.”
for making compost. She chanced upon a YouTube video about composting and contacted the creator of the video,
Together, they decided to start a community composting
Rina Lai, who coincidentally lived in the same estate and
initiative with the goal of using the mature compost
was part of a group that had started a community garden
as nutrients for the community garden.
in the Toh Yi neighbourhood.
Community Compost group was formed in 2021 and
The Toh Yi
about 20 households from the estate contribute actively “I contacted Rina and asked to join the community garden
to it. This includes six children who join their parents in
where I could also contribute my pre-compost,” says Amelia.
this green community exercise.
Once she got the greenlight from Rina to bury her pre-compost in the community garden, Amelia took the first step towards
With funding support from the SG Eco Fund (a fund
composting vegetable and fruit scraps in her flat.
launched by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment to support the co-creation of solutions for
Rina, 50, who works as a Community Services Manager
a sustainable Singapore), Amelia and Rina purchased
at Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church, welcomed
composting bins into which they layer the components for
Amelia to the community garden.
making compost. “For one hour every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and every Tuesday evening from
The two ladies found that they were likeminded in their
7 p.m. to 8 p.m. residents drop off vegetable peels, coffee
views about waste reduction, inspired by a common
grounds, tea leaves and egg shells at our compost bins.
understanding that they were to be stewards of what God
Volunteers help to supervise the bringing in of this form
had entrusted them with.
of kitchen waste, which is also known as green waste.”
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METHODIST MESSAGE June 2022
