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Green Xmas: Holiday celebrated with eco-friendly trees
The church decided to organize the activity since plastic pollution was an important issue.
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Two boys are decorating a Christmas tree made out of recycled waste at East Java Christian Church (GKJW) in Kedungkandang, Malang. (JP/Aman Rochman)
S
ome people decided to celebrate Christmas with environmentally-friendly themed celebrations as they chose to put up Christmas trees made out of recycled waste.
The East Java Christian Church (GKJW) in Kedungkandang, Malang, for instance, organized a competition for its congregants to make Christmas trees out of recycled products.
“There are five Christmas trees made out of used plastic bottles and a trash bag during this year’s Christmas celebration,” said GKJW church leader Rev. Kukuh Imam Kristiawan on Tuesday.
“We decided to use environmental issues as this year’s celebration theme. We have five congregation groups and each group made a Christmas tree out of recycled products,” he added.
Kukuh explained that the Christmas spirit included making peace with and befriending the environment and those who lived in it, including animals.
The church decided to organize the activity since plastic pollution was an important issue. The recycling activity, he went on to say, was expected to increase the congregants’ awareness in protecting the environment.
“We prepared our trees for a week, starting from gathering the materials to cutting plastic bags, since our tree used plastic bags as its main material,” he said.
Since the competition’s rules limited each group’s expenses to Rp 200,000 (US$ 14.35), Kukuh’s group obtained its material by collecting used plastic bags from traditional markets, households and retail stores.
One of the congregation members, Palupi Suciawati, said winning was not important in this competition.
“Winning comes last. What’s more important is that we strengthen bonds between each congregant and raise our environmental awareness,” Palupi said.
The GKJW also tried to reduce plastic waste by not providing beverages in plastic packaging, as well as forbidding the use of plastic bottles and cups in the church.
“Most of the times our congregants bring their own bottles,” Kukuh said.
The West Manggarai regency administration in East Nusa Tenggara, a Christian-majority province, also adopted a green Christmas celebration as they set up a giant Christmas tree made out of used plastic bottles in Labuan Bajo.
The tree is set to be the largest Christmas tree to date in the popular tourist destination.
West Manggarai Regent Agustinus Ch. Dula said that he appreciated the support for the Christmas tree construction.
“This Christmas tree is very unique since it is made out of tens of thousands of used plastic bottles,” said Agustinus. (dpk)
