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ith piling waste and environment issues, the negative impacts of plastic are clear. But avoiding it altogether is a challenge as the polymer-made material comes in many forms, from the smallest objects such as food packaging and cutlery up to furniture and other household goods.

A challenge, yes, but not impossible, some urbanites say. There is a growing trend in Greater Jakarta of people trying their best to reduce plastic consumption by switching to more eco-friendly products whose waste is not as polluting as plastic.

Riska Widyaningsih started around a decade ago by taking a reusable bag every time she went shopping, and now she has fully embraced a greener lifestyle. She always carries a tumbler for water and personal stainless straw and cutlery in her bag.

Her eco-friendly lifestyle also extends to her choice of personal hygiene products. She has stopped using disposable menstrual pads and switched to a menstrual cup, gone from plastic toothbrush to bamboo toothbrush and cotton cosmetic pads to cloth pads. She has also been using local brands with organic materials for her skincare and cosmetics products.

The private employee also regularly purchases a local brand of soap products which encourages customers to send back the empty bottles to be reused.

“Some of my friends wonder why I put so much thought and effort into just using soap,” Riska told The Jakarta Post recently.

Riska has been a loyal customer of several online stores that sell products supporting the green movement. Although she has to dig deeper into her pocket, as the products are more expensive than regular products, it is a sacrifice she is willing to take.

According to online store Cleanomic, a bamboo toothbrush costs Rp 25,000 (US$1.70), around Rp 10,000 more expensive than the regular plastic toothbrush sold in minimarkets. A reusable cosmetic or face cotton pad costs Rp 7,500, while a pack of 50 single-use pads is only around Rp 15,000.

A menstrual pad made from cloth costs Rp 55,000, while the same amount of money could purchase dozens of disposable menstrual pads. Riska personally has switched from disposable menstrual pads to a menstrual cup — a flexible funnel-shaped cup made of rubber or silicone. The price? It can cost up to Rp 400,000
per cup.

“But that was only the beginning. After owning and using them, I could in fact cut expenses from buying the regular disposable products. Plus, I feel less guilty because now I produce less waste,” she added.

Now that she is married and a mother of a 1-year-old daughter, Riska said she had more reasons to maintain her endeavor for more sustainable living with less plastic.

“It’s all about mindfulness. Whether everything that we do in life brings good or bad to the world we live in. For me personally, I don’t want Kirana to grow up not being able to see the green forest and the blue sea,” she said.

According to data from the Jakarta Environment Agency, out of the 8,000 tons of waste produced by Jakarta residents every single day, some 2,000 tons are plastic waste. The agency’s head, Isnawa Adji, said the only way out was for people to stop using single-use plastic products.

“Plastic is a non-biodegradable material and people have to realize that. It threatens the environment,” he said.

Other than Cleanomic, there are many other websites and social media accounts that are not only selling eco-friendly products but also sharing information and holding events to engage with their readers or followers. These include Sustaination, whose Instagram account is @sustaination, Zerowaste.id (@zerowaste.id_official) and Lyfe With Less (@lyfewithless).

Sustaination founder Dwi Sasetyaningtyas founded the business in 2018 following her journey in eco-living which dates back to 2014. Her green lifestyle began when she was diving in the waters near Pramuka Island in Thousand Islands regency. She was overwhelmed by the amount of trash she found under water. A year later, she pursued a master’s degree in sustainable energy technology, during which she learned that the actions of humans would determine the fate of the earth and the environment for future generations.

“I believe we don’t need perfection to save the planet. We just have to start trying and keep going,” she added.