What is it?

Urban Gardening is a service, out of many, that UWC offers students to take part in. It is held in the 6th floor garden. Students learn how to garden and learn about the benefits of urban gardening, especially to the environment.

What has gardening given me?

Gardening has brought me a lot of knowledge as I feel I actually really understand more about plants. I know what kind of soil they need to how to harvest ginger or take cuttings of existing plants to create new plants. This service has also brought me slightly out of my comfort zone, as before I would hesitate to go into a garden and just start gardening as I would be afraid whether I was doing anything wrong, but now I have more confidence when it comes to gardening.

How do we help when it comes to sustainability?

Getting food to our plates is a long and very unsustainable process. Singapore is very dependent on other countries for food and since it is a multi-national country, it imports food from all over the world. This food travels by plane or ship which is very unsustainable and increases Singapore’s carbon footprint by a lot. Urban Gardens are gardens on top of buildings, so not only do they not take up much space, but the produce is also produced in Singapore, reducing any country’s carbon footprint dramatically.

What impact has this service made on me and others?

This service has made me more aware about the problem of where our food comes from and whether it is sustainable or not. It can help others make an impact as they can start buying more locally grown foods.

anticipated experience vs actual experience?

I didn’t anticipate to learn so much in this service, I only thought that we would just be doing basic gardening. Not only have I learnt a lot about plants, I have also learnt about sustainability when it comes to food.