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Turn used cooking oil into alms? Why not!
A social house collects used cooking oil from residents and sells it to a biodiesel manufacturer. The proceeds are used for alms.
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A woman hands over a jerry can of used cooking oil to a man who comes to pick it up. A social house collects used cooking oil from residents and sells it to a biodiesel manufacturer. The proceeds are used for alms. (Warta Kota/Feryanto Hadi)
J
elantah (used cooking oil) can be a hassle to dispose of. It is often thrown out alongside common trash and wastewater but clogs pipe and sewer systems.
Kenya Mandireng Harsi, 36, runs a small business at her home in Semanan, West Jakarta. As she uses cooking oil to make rissoles, she usually uses 2 liters of oil a month.
Kenya said she usually just disposed of the used cooking oil in nearby gutters or trash bins but was beginning to feel that it was a shame to just throw it away.
Instead of just disposing of it, she donated the used cooking oil through Kutub Social House Foundation, which has regularly been picking up her used cooking oil in the past year.
Kutub Social House Foundation offers to pick up Jakartans’ used cooking oil to be sold to biodiesel manufacturers and the earnings are distributed as alms.
“This is a solution for used cooking oil. Instead of just becoming trash, it becomes alms for those in need,” Kenya said.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old housewife Mahfudhotin realized it would be detrimental to throw out her used cooking oil as it would contaminate the environment.
