by BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) – At a lake in the West Java city of Bogor, children and teenagers paddle toward piles of floating trash, pick it up and store it in their kayaks, before passing it on to friends to sort it on the shore
The group of about 20 youths started as a team of one, ten years ago, when Giri Marhara decided to start cleaning the lake. He was only 16 years old at the time, and he already had the penchant for wanting to clean up his environment – from his classroom to his neighborhood.
Young people like Marhara have been at the forefront of environmental and climate change movements in recent years: there have often been initiatives such as school strikes for climate action, protests at the United Nations and worldwide climate talks, and cleanups local youth led. When it comes to litter picking, experts say it’s a stop-gap solution, and the larger problem of creating too much waste needs to be addressed. But the small-scale efforts in Indonesia have involved young people, which has attracted support and attention.
“For me, cleaning up is catharsis, cleaning up is refreshing,” said Marhara, who would often ask children playing nearby if they could help with the clean-ups. “I don’t want to miss the opportunity to educate kids that this is a positive thing, something you should probably try to make a habit too,” Marhara said, so he encouraged them to help.
They formed a group last year, called the Situ Gede Cleanliness Warrior, named after the lake. They paddle or kayak across the lake, pick up litter, and identify what can be recycled. A local kayaking group lends their boats to the Marhara initiative, and members take turns paddling across the lake or sorting trash along the shore into what can be recycled or reused and what needs to be disposed of.
Over the past 10 years, Marhara and his friends have collected more than 2,700 kilograms (5,900 pounds) of trash in and around Situ Gede lake through various initiatives.
But the country’s litter problem is far greater than what the group can take out of waterways.
Indonesia produced more than 35 million tons of waste last year, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. It is estimated that 35% of the country’s waste is unmanaged. Garbage is a common sight on roadsides, in waterways and in natural environments.
Waste is also responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Resources Institute. Much of that comes from food waste, which can emit methane, a planet-warming gas that is around 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term if left to decompose in landfill.
The litter problem has also raised health concerns: Plastic waste, for example, is broken down into small pieces called microplastics, which can enter the human body. Some studies suggest that it may affect the endocrine, nervous and immune systems, and may carry an increased risk of cancer.
“The implications are very serious and must be addressed,” said Abdul Ghofar, an urban and pollution specialist at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment. ” due to the cost of restoring environments.
There are alternatives to landfill or rubbish for some waste products: food waste can be composted, and other types of waste, such as certain types of plastic, can be reused or recycled. But environmentalists also say the world needs to produce less waste in the first place, as much of it ends up in landfills or the world’s oceans.
“We should be encouraged to find out where the pollution comes from and how to stop it,” said Ghofar. “The term among the environment is to close the tap, or to turn off the tap. This pollution will not end unless the source of the pollution is closed.”
But as waste taps remain running, youth-led cleanups can still have an impact, even if it’s just for small areas or communities. It is something Trisna Renganis has seen in her neighborhood in Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta.
The Ciliwung Depok Community group works with neighborhoods around Jakarta on conservation efforts such as cleaning rivers and riverbanks.
Renganis, who volunteers with the group, said there is a stigma attached to those who say the Ciliwung river has a trash problem, even though many residents throw garbage into the water and there is no good waste management system in the area.
But since the cleanup efforts, children from nearby areas have started visiting and playing with the river again, a rare sight in the big city, Renganis said. Seeing children back at the banks of Ciliwung reminds him of his childhood, he said.
“They feel comfortable and safe,” at the river, Renganis said, “I hope, on the other side of Ciliwung — the areas upstream or downstream — they can do the same.”
Renganis hopes that the momentum to clean up the river and address the region’s litter problem continues, so that future generations can enjoy the area as well.
Marhara believes that there will be a need for a culture change of the kind that will last even if waste production is curbed.
“I’m trying to oppose the behavior that causes trash to be out there in the environment,” he said, adding that the country has a “trash culture.”
“I think the only way to counter that culture is to develop a counterculture,” he said.
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