How Stridy is making strides for the environment

Written by: Nabilah Binte Mohammed Ismail

Outside the fully sold-out National Stadium, a group sat together and sang along to the echoes of Coldplay songs.

But unlike most present, they were not fans who didn’t get tickets. They are volunteers of a non-profit environmental organisation, Stridy, and are there to clean up litter left behind by concert-goers.

Right before the band performed their final song of the night, grabbers and trash bags were distributed. The group of 13 volunteers fanned out around the stadium, picking up cigarette butts, beer cans and paper water bottles.

About seven trash bags were filled, totalling about 12kg.

Led by Yasser Amin, 27, and Vanessa Tan, 31, Stridy regularly organises clean-ups at beaches and parks. The clean up at the Coldplay concert was a new initiative Stridy is trying.

Yasser said it felt like a perfect match because of the band’s stance on sustainability. Since there will be high foot fall, Yasser was also mindful of the litter that would be left behind.

“Usually when we organise clean ups, we try and do it during the weekends when people have time to join. We also do it in neighbourhoods so people living in the area will join,” Yasser shares.

“Doing cleanups with concerts is something new that we’re trying, and it turns out quite well-received - we get to sit down and listen to Coldplay, and then do a clean up after.”

Beyond clean ups, Stridy also runs an mobile app that empowers individuals to monitor their clean-up efforts.

Users can record the time spent, distance travelled and the volume of litter collected at designated locations. This functionality not only facilitates local clean-up initiatives but also showcases global efforts against littering, fostering a sense of collective action.

Stridy aims to have their volunteers walk away with new knowledge about the litter problem in Singapore. PHOTO CREDIT: Stridy

Yasser and Vanessa became a part of Stridy’s core team after organising beach clean-ups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, Yasser participated in the East Coast Beach Plan initiative organised by former Chief Stridy Officer (CSO), Samantha Thian. Inspired by the experience, he later assumed a leadership role for East Coast Beach Plan, on top of initiating his own weekly beach clean-up sessions.

Similarly, Vanessa, who had been conducting clean-up sessions with her friends, crossed paths with Yasser and Samantha during one of the events at East Coast.

Other than organising clean-ups, Stridy also helps to support self-initiated clean-ups with tools such as grabbers and trash bags. PHOTO CREDIT: Stridy

Over time, Yasser and Vanessa saw value in Stridy’s cause, whether in uniting like-minded environmentalists or welcoming new participants into their community-driven initiatives. It led them to join Stridy as ambassadors, guided by Samantha.

They eventually assumed leadership roles within the organisation. Yasser took over the CSO role from Samatha in December 2022, while Vanessa became the operations and marketing lead in February last year.

A beach clean-up can collect at least 20kg or more worth of litter. PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook/Stridy

Samantha had started Stridy’s Singapore arm in 2021 after being approached by Stridy founder Marcel Smits to expand the app’s reach here. The same year, Samantha led the Stridy team to secure a grant by participating in the National Youth Council's (NYC) Youth Action Challenge (YAC), which focused on promoting sustainable living.

The grant was used to upscale the team and amplify awareness of Stridy’s goal to foster community engagement and inject enjoyment into clean-up activities.

Youth Action Challenge is a platform for youth to provide solutions to tackle the issues we are concerned about. PHOTO CREDIT: National Youth Council

Samantha said she passed on the role of CSO to Yasser as she felt he would bring new leadership and perspectives to Stridy.

“I felt that it would be a great step up for him and I think he's flourishing really well and I'm very happy to see the progress Stridy has taken so far,” said Samantha, who now runs Seastainable, a non-governmental organisation that supports marine conservation.

In 2023, Stridy initiated 88 clean ups for volunteers and had over 1,900 self-organised clean ups recorded in Singapore on the app. They also conducted 25 engagements with schools and corporations, spreading awareness and educating on environmental issues and sustainable habits.

Vanessa shared that some volunteers participated in the concert clean up multiple times. She felt that Stridy’s fun and welcoming energy attracted volunteers to return and build friendships with one another, thereby fulfilling a key organisation goal.

“We wanna do more outreach, because we want them to feel that epiphany of ‘oh, there's actually so much trash in Singapore’... That's something that we always talk about.”

“So with more outreach there will be more people having those epiphanies. And then more people will feel like, ‘hey, maybe we can really do and make a difference in our community’,” said Vanessa.

Yasser added that such events are powerful tools to allow people to contribute positively and connect with each other. And by simplifying the process, more individuals can play a part in keeping their surroundings clean.

“When you remove barriers to entry, then people will realise that actually, it's not that hard. I can do something. I can play a part,” he says.

Yasser educates the volunteers on why cigarette butts are harmful not only to nature, but also to our urban environments. PHOTO CREDIT: Stridy

It’s not just the volunteers that make up the community. Yasser honours the cleaners who clean up on a daily basis. He recognised the gap between the cleaner’s daily workload and his one-hour clean-ups. So Yasser is committed to helping by taking ownership of his litter and encouraging others to do so too.

Yasser says it can start as simply as getting to know your environment. He uses the Malay proverb, “tak kenal maka tak cinta” which translates to “you can’t love what you don’t know.”

He stresses that as we become more familiar with our surroundings, we develop an appreciation for them. This connection naturally leads to a desire to care for and address any evident issues.

Stridy values the community aspect of their clean-ups. PHOTO CREDIT: Stridy

Vanessa shares similar sentiments where we have to bridge that disconnect between us and the space we live in.

“With more exposure to nature with more exposure to the outdoors, then you realise that, this is where I have fun, and that's where I should take ownership of my trash as well.”

On top of the continued worldwide use of their app, they also hope to expand their physical initiatives to the rest of Southeast Asia with a focus to encourage users to initiate their own clean-ups.

“We realise it’s more powerful to empower these communities and make them feel like “I can do something,” which is why we want to focus more on communities and getting residents to start their own initiatives,” Yasser said.

Those interested in joining Stridy’s cause, can do so by signing up for their next clean up at the Taylor Swift concerts via eventbrite.