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Making eco-friendly lifestyles fuss-free is one way to encourage more people to go green.

And some youths in Singapore have come up with ideas to make going green more convenient.

The OCBC Bank announced on May 31 the five winning projects, out of 11 submissions, that they will be funding through the #OCBCCares Environment Fund.

Among these winning projects, two ideas involve the use of vending machines.

Vending machines to promote "Bring Your Own" lifestyle

Team Bottles Out's idea aims to encourage more people to bring their own bottles.

The vending machines will dispense beverages directly into users' own bottles, instead of selling beverages such as green tea in disposable plastic bottles.

The team is made up of students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), and NUS.

The other team, called ReuseOnly, aims to make affordable reusable items like cutlery, containers and cups available at vending machines.

Those interested can buy these reusables at "affordable prices", or rent them at a fee that "is lower than market rate" at these vending machines.

The vending machines will also collect and clean the reusables that are meant for loan.

Team ReuseOnly comprises four students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Polytechnic.

Simulation game

The other three projects include developing a game simulation to educate players on local produce, and building platforms to promote resource-sharing and connect like-minded individuals.

Supporting projects that go beyond raising awareness

Koh Ching Ching, the Head of Group Brand and Communications at OCBC Bank, shared that the bank recognises the urgency to act on climate change.

The #OCBCCares Environment Fund thus serves to support individuals to pilot "sustainable and scalable" solutions, the press release stated.

Koh said:

“We are glad we can fill in the funding gap to support the implementation of solutions by the selected teams. It gives our youths the unique opportunity to test their solutions, assess tangible outcomes and possibly scale up their solutions to benefit Singapore’s Green Plan. I look forward to seeing positive results.”

More about #OCBCCares Environment Fund

The #OCBCCares Environment Fund has provided S$265,000 to fund 15 ground up projects between 2017 and 2019.

The projects range from the development of dehydrated washing detergents, food composting, waste management recycling of clothes, to rewilding a campsite at Sarimbun to promote biodiversity.

The bank has also supported the OCBC Arboretum and its Forest Discovery Centre at Singapore Botanic Gardens' Gallop Extension.

The arboretum conserves 200 species of dipterocarp trees and the research conducted there supports carbon storage projects and future forestation.

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Top image via OCBC