To Change Mindset Toward Handling Waste Things; Empowering Communities

Personal opinion of Moehammad Amar Ma’ruf, Charge d’Affaires a.i of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Tripoli

It is a kind of gift for community to have  a talent and creative person that can make our life more promising. Today where the population growth are quite faster than the existing resources, the peoples should create more opportunities than just wait and see.

Indonesia as one of the most populated countries ( no.4 after China, India and the USA) is believed to find many challenges in  giving services of their peoples. And it is sure if there is no commitment also from their peoples to work hand in hand to anticipate this issue, it will be more difficult to be achieved.

One big issue that the goverment of Indonesia has to deal is how to handle Domestic Waste. According to the Ministry of Environment report every day waste production around 7600 tonnage in the capital and 60 % from that number come from domestic waste. In the national level waste production around 67.8 million tonnage per year. We could not imagine if the mindset of  the peoples still be backward looking toward their culture to produce waste.

To anticipate worse situation in the future, since decades Indonesia Governmet together with local organization and individuals make awareness program and empowering program. These program intend to  help peoples change their mindset toward handling waste. It is logic if now among communities appear some prominent association or organizations or even individual who are classified as inspirators or motivators that support empowering program in the community.

Some of them show their passion and care to educate peoples with their sincere to help themselves to avoid the threat that created by themselves  due to their ignorance  to their environment. They must realize that their ignorance toward the environment will degrade not only their own quality of life but also the quality of the next generation and oher living creature.

It is quite interesting to observe local communities in Indonesia with their uniquness begin to manage their own domestic waste. This development deserve to be studied and  to be exchanged with other capabilities of another communities in other countries. This interaction will help to flourish best practices exchanges among world communities to support their own national development agenda.

In principe, our world communities have the same threat as the diversification of derivates products are coming from the conventional energy, namely plastic. This material is difficult to be destroyed by microba in land. The unbalance management and policy to use this material will make surface of  earth will be accumulated by plastic and will make the world  struggle  in World War III to fight againts  waste and pollution. This term is well known since the threat of plastic waste has striken the water/sea which harm and even kill the creature living at and on seas.

There is no choice that we have to fight  the above description of war from waste threat with our ideas and behaviours. In other ways, we give appreciation for them who work for creating good quality of environment and give sanction and punishment to them who destruct environment.

In that regard, all component of society must be encouraged to empower themselves, their families, communities and their nation. In the same time, we have to remind to each others to be active part in doing this.

It is a good news  for those who have dedicated to curb this issue. Now they are not alone. They are being dependent partner of other organizations to achieve noble objective in order to be  a winner in the  on going world war III ( war against Waste threat).

The empowering program of the communities is becoming one of  the keys to change the mindset to protect  the environment as consequences of their own pattern of life. This program needs support and must be done by using bottom up and inclusive approaches. One of popular movement is  establishment of Waste Banks with the 3R approaches (Reduce, Reuse, Recycling) toward waste. In the individual level, member of communities is expected to be creative in order to more participative.

This situation  will give significant contribution to the social and economic benefits. As being described that with this approach, it will make individual in the family will active and more discipline in selecting waste. Each kind of waste has a economic value and it will give more value added if that invidual has a talent to reuse and recycle it.

Beside the establishment of Waste Bank, the format of  individual participation may  be in the format of creating recycling products from plastic or paper waste become economic and interesting handycraft.

In that  regards, the Indonesian best practices can also be found. For examples, the recycling products that being made among of them are by the Bob Lampion, Rynde Craft, Pulo Kambing Waste Bank, Tri Lestari Waste Bank etc. Those activists are being facilitated by the Jakarta Special Provincial Government. Those individuals/organizations are quite sustainable in educating and empowering local society in certain region in  Indonesia.

To make these awareness becoming global, it is good and recommended to open communication  between the same stakeholders.  The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Tripoli is happy to brigde and facilitate in distributing these best practices for our communities. Let us hand in hand to be a winner in the World War III (war againts Polluting Waste).

Tripoli, September 2020

(AK/R1/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)