Being charitable through volunteering or donating money is never old fashioned. 

However, the Tangerang Environment Agency has introduced new ways of being charitable, while at the same time educating people about the importance of sorting waste through sedekah sampah (waste alms) during the annual Cisadane Festival, which ended recently.

“Actually, we have been doing sedekah sampah for three years now to promote and encourage Tangerang residents to sort their waste, especially their inorganic waste such as plastic bottles, paper and metal. So it can be better managed and more easily recycled” said Bambang Bayu, an official from the agency.

At the festival, which ran from July 26 through Aug. 4, the agency opened a sedekah sampah stall which attracted many residents. On Thursday, women and children from elementary schools in Tangerang, assisted by their teachers, were seen coming to the stall with their collected and sorted waste.

Every 5 kilograms of plastic bottles or glass that they bring can either be traded for basic necessities such as rice, cooking oil, milk, or instant noodles, or exchanged for fertilizer and plant seeds.

“The inorganic waste collected from Cisadane Festival will be sorted and cleaned before being sold. The money obtained from waste selling will be donated to the Tangerang branch of the National Alms Agency (BazNas) to be distributed to people in need” said Bayu.

The residents who flocked to the stand appreciated the effort to raise people’s awareness about sorting waste and charity.

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