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Kampungs join pioneering program to make Jakarta waste-free
A community initiative is "recruiting" kampungs in an waste management program that arms "pioneers" with recycling know-how to reduce household waste.
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Two women deposit their household waste with Solihin, who runs the Majelis Taklim Waste Bank in Koja District, North Jakarta, in this Oct. 13, 2019 file photo. Kampungs in the capital are starting to join a citywide movement to reduce household waste amid the global environmental crisis. (JP/Nina Loasana)
In a city with an ingrained littering habit, urging people to bring their own shopping bags or basket for shopping will raise brows.
But the residents of Kampung Muka in Ancol, North Jakarta, are familiar with such calls, which have motivated them to spread the habit. One such resident is Maonah, 47.
Speaking at a sharing session on Saturday at the unfinished community unit (RW) 04 office, Maonah said that she always brought her own basket with her when shopping for vegetables and other daily necessities from street vendors.
“At first, my neighbors thought the practice odd. But as time passed, they started to see it positively,” she told The Jakarta Post on Sept. 15.
Maonah added that she also saved money, since it helped her to stop buying packaged products.
“When I caught a cold, I made a cup of tea with [fresh] ginger instead of buying packaged medicine,” she said.
Another Kampung Muka resident, Asih Karsih, 57, told the Post that she had started to recycle plastic bottles by making ecobricks – reusable building blocks made from plastic bottles stuffed with used plastic bags.
