Novel ideas and approaches will be the focus of an event this weekend, as 55 community groups have joined forces to promote ways to overcome Jakarta’s mounting waste problems.
The event, to be hosted by the Bank Mandiri Museum in West Jakarta, is part of a campaign to encourage residents to minimize waste.
“Zero waste means nothing is wasted,” said Shanty Syahril, the coordinator of the event being organized by Kumpul-kumpul.
Kumpul-kumpul or Kumkum, meaning to gather, is an assembly of different interest groups including bloggers, hobbyists and environmental communities, who collaborate and share knowledge on a variety of topics.
Among the groups are Bike2Work and KRL Mania.
Shanty said the event, which will feature a bazaar, movie screenings and discussions, will campaign for zero waste out of concern for Jakarta’s rubbish problem, as well as the fact that many so-called green events ended up creating massive amounts of rubbish themselves.
Visitors are advised to bring their own eating utensils, water bottles and foldable bags, since stalls will not provide styrofoam containers or plastic bags.
“Around 20 stalls will sell food and environmentally friendly merchandise,” Shanty said.
Kumkum will also advise visitors to come using a carpool or public transportation (such as the Transjakarta busway) to reduce vehicle emissions.
The event has received support from the museum, which regularly provides a free space for two to three events per month.
“We welcome communities to hold events of cultural and educational value, in accordance with the museum’s spirit,” Bank Mandiri Museum head Hirman Setiawan said.
The educational value of the event was commendable, especially in the light if Jakartans’ littering habits, where most residents know better but are too lazy to reduce their waste or dispose of it properly, he said.
Styrofoam and plastic bags, for example, are ubiquitous in Jakarta where most vendors use them as quick and easy packaging solutions, only to be disposed of just as quickly by customers who often throw them into gutters, rivers, streets and vacant lots, Hirman added.
As a result, Jakarta has a massive rubbish problem, not limited to styrofoam and plastic bags. The city’s once clear rivers have been replaced with murky brown open sewers emitting a noxious stench from rotting rubbish heaped onto their banks.
Although the zero waste movement will not automatically change many years of littering habits, it will promote awareness of the need to form new habits, starting with a small group of people who will hopefully retain the habits beyond the event and for the rest of their lives, Shanty said.
“The true mission of this event is to inspire,” she said. (gzl)
Post Date : 14 April 2010
|
