Alumni VDMS Malang

Reported by Rizky Amelia, VDMS Alumna from Lambung Mangkurat University (UNLAM), Banjarmasin

Trash is obviously everywhere around us. Wherever people live, there must be trash. As we make the trash, we the ones who should be responsible. There are many things people can do with trash. What most people do is putting the trash on the dustbin. This act helps actually. But there should be more ways.

One of the simple ways is reducing. It helps to lower the amount of trash. A kind of trash which is found easily is plastic bags. Plastic bag is the trash that we find around us. Every time we buy things in the supermarket, market, stores, etc., they wrap those things in plastic bags. No wonder we might have got more plastic bags in our houses or boarding houses. Some people might just take it for granted by throwing the plastic bags they have into the dustbin. It sounds simple. Hence, actually this is of course one problem that people are not really aware. The more people get plastic bags, the more they throw into the dustbin, and the more crises our environmental condition would be.

Based on the consideration that we are busy working, doing assignment, and other things, as well as the consideration of the surrounding by living near the market and boarding houses where plastic bags are very common to be seen, a simple yet beneficial environmental activity is taken into account. We call this activity: “Barter your plastic bags”. It will be done by cooperating with a green ambassador from South Kalimantan in 2014 who is also living in Malang now.

The procedures of this activity are first, participants collect plastic bags from people in boarding houses and houses and barter certain amount of the plastic bags with a cloth bag. Then, the participants fold the plastic bags. Finally, they give the plastic bags to the sellers and give rewards to buyers who have used cloth bags.

We have thought that what we need now is an act. So why bothers not to do social and environmental care activity because of working or doing other activities while actually this activity is easy to be executed? Moreover, people around us need a model and it begins from us. These activity objectives are reducing the plastic bags surround, inspiring people who live in the boarding houses, houses, and sellers as well as buyers in the market, initiating further events in Malang. The time and place of implementation activity are on Saturdays morning, at 06.30 am – finished while for the current place is at houses and boarding houses around Jl. Terusan Surabaya and Pasar Jombang (Jombang Market), Malang.

The picture of a pilot activity of this barter your plastic bag activity

Cycles:

Visiting houses and boarding houses

Challenging some people to barter their plastic bags with the available cloth bag

Encouraged them that along with us to reduce the use of plastic bags

Folded the plastic bags

Gave the plastic bags to the sellers at the market with a note that these plastic bags are from people who participate in the environmental care and we invite the sellers to join participating by helping us reduce buying and using more plastic bags.

For the readers, we really need your suggestions for the betterment of this activity