Throwing Soup at Van Gogh Paintings Doesn’t Save the Planet. Being a Student in Asia Might.
Welcome to Suits & Tides, the sustainability newsletter with more knowledge than microplastics in the ocean! In this episode, we’re sharing the wonderful story of students in Asia who inspires us and creates real impact.
There’s a strange irony to the way we talk about climate action. The headlines are full of stunts - paintings defaced, streets blocked, soup flying in protest. But while the world watches these moments unfold on social media, something far more meaningful is happening quietly in the classrooms of Southeast Asia.
In places like Singapore, West Java, Bangkok, Batam and Bintan, students are not just learning about sustainability, they’re truly living it. In the context of plastic pollution, they’re cleaning coastlines, understanding waste systems, building circular solutions, and visiting materials recovery facilities to understand how plastic is truly dealt with. These young people, some still in primary school, are showing us what environmental leadership really looks like - not just virtue signalling, but actually doing something about it.
The Jakarta Post recently reported that 22 Asian universities have claimed spots in the global top 50 of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for 2025 - doubling from the previous year. These rankings measure how institutions are performing against the United Nations SDGs, and Asia is setting the pace for what sustainability leadership looks like.
Universities like Kyungpook National University in South Korea and Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia are influencing policy, transforming infrastructure, and redefining how campuses engage with real-world environmental challenges. Most importantly, this movement is being driven by student involvement, innovation, and ground-level partnerships.
At Seven Clean Seas, we’ve had a front-row seat to this.
From our collaborations with National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to hands-on projects with international schools across the region, we’ve seen how education and action are becoming inseparable.
Our beach cleanups and plastic education workshops in Singapore aren't just volunteer days - they’re experiential learning labs. Students come with questions about the ocean plastic crisis, and they leave with muddy shoes, full notebooks, and ideas that challenge us.
When we invite university groups to our project sites and Material Recovery Facilities in Batam or Bintan in Indonesia, they’re not just touring, they’re engaging in real-world problem-solving. They witness what it takes to intercept, sort, clean, and repurpose waste. They ask about local waste infrastructure, informal labor, circularity markets, and carbon implications. This isn’t sustainability as a theory - it’s a super engaging experience where students understand what sustainability actually means - on the ground.
And it starts even younger.
Just last week, we received a handwritten letter from a class at the Intercultural School in Bogor, West Java. Their teacher sent it on behalf of her students who had learned about our work. The note was filled with curiosity, wonder, and gratitude:
When we received this letter, at that moment, we were reminded that the real impact of our work isn’t only measured in kilograms removed or plastic credits issued. It’s in this exact spark of wonder that we ignite in students who still like to draw stars in between paragraphs!
It’s in the way a child begins to see the ocean not as a distant concept, but as something worth truly fighting for.
Asia is building its own silver lining.
In a region often discriminated against and labeled as a “source” of air pollution and marine plastic pollution (often sponsored by Western countries), we’re proud to be part of the counter-narrative - a story of innovation, education, and resilience.
At Seven Clean Seas, we don’t just build and operate plastic recovery & treatment projects. We don’t just work with companies around the world to help them measure & reduce their plastic footprint. We build understanding. We create space for learning. And we stand alongside the rising generation that is not waiting for solutions - they’re building them.
And, we don’t limit ourselves to educational institutions, we follow a game-theory backed approach to implement community-education programs: read about it.
To the universities, schools, teachers, and students leading the way: we see you, we salute you, and we’re honored to work beside you.
Whether you’re a school or university or any kind of organisation in Asia or beyond - let’s at least have that first conversation. Let’s understand if we can work together to build real change. Reach out to us.
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Hospitality Leader | 3x Founder | Aspiring Podcast Host | Keynote Speaker on Leadership & Sustainability |🥇 startup winner of 2023 AWE Women in Tech Summit (U.S. Department of State)
1moI love this! keep doing the great work you are doing team SevenCleanSeas! 🥰