People in typical residential areas of Greater Jakarta are used to having their trash collected several times a week. The trash pickup by the dump truck is commonly a component of the maintenance fee residents pay every month. Over the past two years, however, trash collections have become less frequent. One of the reasons for this is the difficulty for dump trucks to reach the dump site, because the queue has become longer.

Merry, a part-time bookkeeper who lives in Pamulang, South Tangerang, told The Jakarta Post that she was concerned about the situation at the dump site. While people in most parts of the city could simply pool their trash in a bin, have it collected regularly and continue living in a clean space, those who live near the dump site have to bear the “mountain” of trash getting higher every day with an unimaginable smell. Worse than the ugly view and smell, the waste is likely to emit hazardous gases as well as present danger, including sharp objects that could harm children or pets.

Apart from her concern for people living near the dump site, Merry feels uncomfortable with the rotten smell of days-old trash, especially food waste. Around mid-2017, the South Tangerang municipality distributed composter barrels for waste management in her neighborhood.

Residents could dump organic waste into the barrels and spray them with an eco-bio compound solution to decompose them. Liquid will run out through a tap at the bottom of the barrel and the decomposed material could be taken out and buried or used to grow plants.

Merry, however, found the composter barrel method too complicated. She ended up piling food waste from her house on some soil in big plant pots and spraying it with the eco-bio compound. Once the waste is decomposed, Merry takes it out and mixes it with soil in smaller pots, where she grows plants.

At first, Merry arranged the small pots on her roof terrace, where they occupied around 9 square meters. Her colony of potted plants has since expanded to her front and back yards and lawns beside her house.

“I find this activity addictive,” said Merry of growing potted plants.

Meanwhile, she has tried to minimize the use of plastic and other materials that are difficult to decompose. She utilizes reusable shopping bags and food containers to do groceries or buy takeaway food.

“We should look back to the past, when women carried shopping baskets to the market or used food containers to buy porridge from street vendors,” said Merry, adding that, now that people had become used to the practicality of single-use everything, she doubted it would be easy to return to the habits of the old days.

Merry, does not like reusable straws made of metal and bamboo. She uses plastic straws but washes them afterward and reuses them when she needs to. And when it comes to sanitary pads or baby diapers, Merry shared her insight that those items could actually decompose pretty easily, as long as they were cleaned, cut into small pieces and buried. But the practice would require quite a large patch of soil and effort. She recommends reusable sanitary pads and diapers.

Speaking of cutting into small pieces, that is also what needs to be done when handling waste from bigger fruits, such as watermelons or bananas.

“Cutting them into small pieces helps to decompose them faster,” said Merry.

She went on to say that managing home waste the way she does means having to be ready to put up with smells — although bearable — and the sight of worms or mice digging into the big pots.

“I find worms disgusting but just try not to look at them. And the mice will eventually go away.”

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