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INCREASE STUDENT KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND CREATIVITY IN FOOD

WASTE MANAGEMENT BY USING "USED PALM OIL" TO YIELD GREEN SOAP”

SITI KHOLIJAH BT MOHD ABDULNAJARI ((P-PM0059/21)

NORAZLIZA BT ABD AZIZ (P-PM0069/21)
A YOGENDRAN A/L AMBROSE (S-PM0153/20)

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA (USM)

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Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the efficacy of food waste management through the use

of used cooking oil in the production of green soap in order to develop students' knowledge,

attitudes, and creativity. This study will involve 30 Form 5 students who will participate in

activities to create green soap from used palm oil. The effectiveness of activities to produce

green soap from cooking oil applied to students' knowledge, attitude, and inventiveness toward

food waste management will be evaluated using qualitative methodologies. For the interview

technique, we shall employ a questionnaire form as well as an interview. Questionnaires will be

distributed to students before and after they complete this project to enhance their knowledge,

attitude, and innovation in food waste management. We shall employ a questionnaire form as

well as an interview for the inquiry technique. Questionnaires will be distributed to students

before and after they complete this project to enhance their knowledge, attitude, and innovation

in food waste management. This project will integrate information and technology (ICT) by

presenting material using Google Meet and Microsoft Sway, and collecting data using Google

Forms. The Canva application will be used to create project posters and infographics. The

questionnaire has 40 questions, with Part A focusing on student demographics details, Part B on

students' attitude of food waste management, Part C on students' knowledge towards food waste

management and Part D on students’ creativity towards food waste management. The questions

in the interviews were semi-structured interviews. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

(SPSS) version 27 will be used to analyse the data.

Keywords: Food waste management, Attitude, Knowledge, Creativity,

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Introduction

Making soap from used cooking oil is more environmentally friendly because it does not leave

chemicals in ecosystems. The soap produced applies the category of Prevention and Reduction

through Waste Prevention and Cleaner Revenue in the Waste Management Sector and

Wastewater. The production of soap from used oils involves a process of saponification. Besides,

pupils can also use their creativity to produce different soaps aroma and shape."Green Soap"

(GSoap) is a soap produced using used cooking oil. The manufacture of this green soap requires

only used cooking oil, water, fragrance and used soap. It does not use harmful chemicals. The

idea of GSoap was based on current issues, preserving the environment and overcoming the

problem of global warming and climate change that occurs generally around the world, including

our country, Malaysia. Among the strategies to save the earth from global warming and climate

change is by recycling used cooking oil for the manufacture of GSoap, green soap. This can

prevent the disposal of used cooking oil into drainage systems, rivers, drains and soil. The

objective of this innovation project is to encourage the recycling of used cooking oil into soap for

external use. The rationale of this project is to encourage the use of material recycling, reduce the

disposal of used cooking oil and prevent drainage and drainage systems from clogging and

minimize disruption of aquatic ecosystems or water pollution. Thus, the success of the project

can be seen with the dissemination of knowledge and awareness owned by each community, the

production of GSoap using low cost, safe to use and the use of recycled used cooking oil and

used soap and the quantity of used oil dumped into the drainage system and soil can be reduced ,

as well as the commercialization of GSoap green technology soap as a soap that can be supplied

to school laboratories, cafeterias, colleges and schools as a product for hand washing. Used

cooking oil drained into rivers and drains will not only cause the drainage system to clog but
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over time, methane gas produced from the precipitation of cooking oil can have an effect 25

times hotter than the carbon dioxide released. This invites climate change and global warming.

Therefore, this innovation project seeks to implement the use of recycled materials and address

the issue of climate change and global warming in Malaysia. GSoap products can be developed

and shared with all communities and can help reduce the financial cost of managing drainage and

drainage systems as well as generate revenue through the recycling of materials such as used

cooking oil.

Method To Produce the Green Soap (Gsoap)

Before beginning this activity, used cooking oil should be filtered to separate contaminants. The

following are the steps that must be taken:

1. In a tight container, combine used cooking oil and water in a 1: 1 ratio.

2. Place the container in the sun for two days and shake it as much as possible.

3. Allow the mixture to settle into two layers, with an oil layer floating on top of the

container and a hazy water layer.

Materials and Tools

i. 60 mL used cooking oil

ii. Soap base of your choice

iii. 50 mL distilled water

iv. Large Pyrex bowl

v. Safety goggles

vi. Masks
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vii. Hand mixer / electric stirrer / magnetic stirring plate)

viii. A variety of silicone moulds (if necessary)

ix. pH indicator

x. Spatula

xi. Pandan leaf

Procedure for Earning Soap

1. Measuring one pound of your soap base of choice.

2. Cut up the soap base into large pieces and put it in the Pyrex bowl to melt in the

microwave. Now that your soap base is melted, you can add your essential oils.

Typically, 30 drops of essential oil per pound of soap base should suffice. Combine

pieces of pandan leaves or a suitable fragrance to add fragrance to the soap and erase the

odour of the oil (which can also be replaced with petals of roses, rose water, vanilla

flavouring, or according to the creativity of the pupils).

3. Mix well. The required time is around 1/2 hour (you can use an electric stirrer if it is

found that the soap mixture does not thicken).

4. Then pour the soap into the silicone mould.

5. After one day, remove the soap from the mould and wrap it in wax paper. At the time, the

pH value of soap was 10–12.

6. Allow the soap bars to cure for 4-6 weeks to get a pH of 7-8.

7. The soap produced is only for external use, such as cleaning school shoes, floors, and so

on.
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Review of the Literature

Food Waste Management

All through supply chain, large amounts of food intended for human consumption are lost or

wasted each year. Food loss occurs frequently during the production or manufacturing stages,

whereas food waste occurs during the consumer or final stages. Food waste has the greatest

impact in developed countries at the customer level, whereas in underdeveloped and

developing countries, the majority of food wasted at the agricultural and manufacturing

levels. Environmental factors frequently affect food loss and wastage during the food

production and manufacturing stages, according to Schanes et al. Storage, transportation, and

managerial challenges are some of the other factors that affect food waste management.

Consumers are more concerned with food's aesthetic flaws, so spoiled food does not make it

to the consumer through the supply chain. It is important to remember that food waste in the

final consumer phase of the supply chain undermines the efforts made earlier in the chain to

improve efficiency.

Furthermore, community education identified as a key tool for reducing food waste. Rethink

Food Waste Through Economics and Data (ReFED) gathered data and expert input to assess

the cost-effectiveness and potential impacts of 27 solutions that could be used to combat food

waste in the United States (ReFED, 2016). Community education ranked as the second most

cost-effective solution to food waste (behind only food labelling standardisation) (ReFED,

2016). After centralised composting, educational programming cited as the solution with the

second highest potential for GHG reductions (ReFED, 2016). Despite the fact that the

ReFED report was intended to inform policy, it did not evaluate policy change as a specific
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potential solution. However, as evidenced by laws requiring grocers to donate food in

Europe, the implementation of fee-by-food-weight systems in Asia, and the implementation

of composting infrastructure in many cities around the world, policy change remains one of

the most effective methods for addressing food waste (Chrisafis, 2016; Chrobog, 2015;

Evans, 2011). Furthermore, educational programmes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere

have demonstrated significant success in addressing food waste behaviours (Quested, Ingle,

& Parry, 2013). For example, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the United Kingdom,

which funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), is unique in that it

combines significant funding and research efforts to engage eaters in food-waste diversion

skills. This programming is partly responsible for 1.1 million tonne (13 percent) reduction of

annual household food waste in the United Kingdom between 2007 and 2010. (Quested,

Marsh, Stunell, & Parry, 2013).

Knowledge

Food waste diversion also requires knowledge and skills specific to food management

(Graham-Rowe et al., 2014; Whitehair, Shanklin, & Brannon, 2013). Various food waste

diversion campaigns and interventions have focused on food management skills (Oliver,

2010; Pollan, 2008; Quested et al., 2013). Having specific food-related knowledge and skills,

presumably, lowers the actual and perceived costs of food preparation and waste

management. In fact, a consumer's perception of their ability to influence systems is crucial

in determining what action to take (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).

Moreover, according to Mustafa and Yusoff (2011), knowledge alone was not enough to

motivate an individual to change his behaviour, but a strong positive attitude was necessary
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to maintain a particular behaviour over time. Surprisingly, this contradicted the findings of

Adeolu and Enesi (2014), who claimed that any activity must start with adequate knowledge,

which would be the driving force for changing attitudes. In general, interesting findings

indicating the potential of waste management knowledge and attitude reported. However, the

majority of studies in the literature do not examine knowledge and attitudes toward food

waste management using hotelier samples at the same time (Adeolu & Enesi, 2014; Akbar et

al., 2015; Hakim & Bakr, 2014; Mustafa & Yusoff, 2011; Talonghari, 2010). As a result,

rather than studying knowledge and attitude separately, knowledge and attitude should be

studied together to better understand how food waste is managed.

Attitude

Food waste in the home is a phenomenon that varies depending on the people who live there,

particularly their age and habits. Food management educational campaigns conducted at the

end-consumer level, according to Aschemann-Witzel et al., 2019, can effectively contribute

to reducing food waste if they target the most relevant consumer segments and address issues

related to the root causes of throwing away food. The authors emphasise that it is more

important to identify the correct attitude of a given group of consumers in the area of food

management than it is to identify the incorrect behaviour of a given group of consumers.

Many factors influencing food wasting in households identified by Koivupuro et al., 2012,

including the size of the household, the gender of those responsible for grocery shopping, and

the frequency of purchasing discounted food products. However, some factors with no clear

correlation with food wasting were also identified, such as the age of the oldest person in the

household; area, form, and type of residence; educational level and type of work of adults in
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the family; and shopping, food preparation. Many factors, including socio-economic factors

(income and prices, increase in welfare and the share of expenditures on food), cultural,

psychological or behavioural (e.g., eating habits, food waste behaviour, shopping frequency,

attraction to special offers), and demographic determinants. According to Bilska et al., 2020,

and Stancu et al., 2016, as determining on the one hand food expenditures and on the other

hand food waste at the household level (e.g., age, number of people in households). WRAP

(Waste and Resources Action Program), 2008, is a registered charity in the United Kingdom.

Helps businesses, individuals, and communities achieve a circular economy by reducing

waste, developing sustainable products, and efficiently using resources. The Waste and

Resource Action Program) recognises that consumer attitudes toward food waste are

influenced by a number of factors.

Creativity

The ability to think creatively is a mental process that allows you to come up with new,

unique, and original ideas (Herdiawan, Langitasari, & Solfarina, 2019). Students' ability to

understand a problem and then provide solutions to the problem using a variety of strategies

known as creative thinking (Kristiani & Muchlis, 2017). Creating new things is what

creativity entails. Because everyone has an endless imagination and curiosity, the term

creative refers to learning as a process of developing student creativity. Experts define

creativity as a person's ability to create something new or a combination of existing and new

ideas (Yuliani, Mariati, Yulianti, & Herianto, 2017

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Method

Purpose

The goal of this study is to investigate if there is an increase in students' knowledge, attitude, and

inventiveness in food waste management by using used palm oil to make green soap.

Paradigm

Interpretivism, often known as social constructivism, is a paradigm or philosophical philosophy.

The interpretivist worldview leads to qualitative inquiry methods where researcher and

participant communicate together, co-creating a new reality. This philosophy is relatively

contemporary, but its roots are in Plato's and Socrates' philosophy, which claimed that the truth,

even if only dimly veiled by human approximations of it, can only be achieved via diligent

reflection and discussion with others. Simply said, we can only interpret, not measure, the truth.

We can only know what we can learn from intelligent conversations with other seekers. Humans,

in other words, construct their realities and truths by conversing about them.

Research Design

The qualitative method will be use in this research. According to Jasmi (2012), qualitative

research generates data that is distinct from quantitative research. Interviews, observations, and

document analysis are examples of qualitative data. In this study, we will collect data using

interviews and questionnaires, and we will analyse the data using the Statistical Package for the

Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.

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Participants

A total of 30 Form 5 students participated in the study. Students will make green soap as part of

the Form 5 Science syllabus's Chapter 5, Carbon Compounds.

Population and Sample

The study population consisted of 30 Form 5 students from a secondary school. In this study, a

random sample was used since it represents the target population and eliminates sampling bias.

Investigative Techniques

Questionnaires and interviews will be used to collect data for this research. The questionnaires

contain 40 questions (10 questions for each part) and close-ended questions using a Likert scale,

whereas the interview questions are semi-structured, which means the researcher has the right to

ask a number of formal questions constructed before the interview, but the interviewer is also

given the freedom to ask questions and delve deeper into the respondents' answers that have been

given. In this study, the independent variable is a green soap project using "used palm oil,"

whereas the dependent variable is students' knowledge, attitude, and inventiveness in food waste

management.

Instrumentation

The questionnaire used in this study includes four sections: (a) Demographic Details, (b) Attitude

towards Waste Management, (c) Knowledge towards Waste Management and (d) Creativity

towards Waste Management. Students will answer and complete these 40 questions in 15-20

minutes.
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Data Collections

Google Forms will be used to collect data. Students will complete a questionnaire before and

after the activity of making green soap from used cooking oil (pre and post test). Following a

Google Meet to explain the process of making soap from used cooking oil, students will

participate in soap-making activities with their science teachers. After completing the task,

students will be given a link to a Google Form where they will fill out a questionnaire. After

students complete the soap creation activity, a Google meet will be held to interview them and

analyse their reactions to the activity.

Data Analysis Plan

The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.

The normality test was conducted to analyses whether the data distribution was normal or not.

The alpha for testing the null hypothesis is set at a level of significance of.05 (95% confidence

level). Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected if the alpha value is.05.

Ethical Consideration (Human Subject Protections)

Ethical considerations in this research are a set of principles that guide the design and practise of

research where these principles include voluntary participation, confidentiality and potential

hazards

Bias

The research method we executed uses a Qualitative approach and the we avoid making our own

assumptions as well as making justifications about what was recorded during the interview with
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the students and to avoid the occurrence of sampling bias, we have established procedures and

set the time of administration and data collection using Google Forms.

Assumptions

First, the assumptions made in this study are methodological assumptions: Using a qualitative

design and in-depth, face-to-face interviews with open-ended questions allows researchers to

obtain deep and rich understandings of how innovation in Gsoap is produced. Second, an

assumption in survey research is that the questionnaire is reliable. A questionnaire is considered

reliable if it gives the same response in repetitive testing and assumes that all students answer the

questionnaire and interview honestly, with a typical population and normal distribution in the

population.

Limitations

Due to time constraints, this study was limited to Form 5 students in a secondary school in

Kedah. This study focuses on looking at the effectiveness of food waste management methods

using used cooking oil to produce green soap on the student’s knowledge, attitude, and

creativity. The number of samples is limited to 30 students, so that this study cannot be

generalized to all Form 5 students in all secondary schools in Malaysia. If given sufficient time

and cost, this study will be improved by examining students' achievement in high-level thinking

skills after this green soap project is carried out. In addition, a larger and more random sample

will be conducted at several schools in several states.

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Appendix

Green soap using used palm oil