The Dream for Change from the City of Trash

KOMPAS/KURNIA YUNITA RAHAYU

Environmentalist Sony Teguh Trilaksono, 57, tends his garden in Jatimakmur, Pondok Gede, Bekasi city, West Java, on Wednesday (20/02/2019). His house is a pilot for environmental empowerment by applying the zero-waste concept.

The efforts of people living in Bekasi city to reduce the volume of waste dumped in landfills may still be small. However, the consistency in maintaining the activities brings new hope.

The consistency in sorting the waste is shown Sony Teguh Trilaksono, 57. The man, who lives in Jatimakmur, Pondokgede, Bekasi city,West Java, has applied a zero waste concept in his house for years. "Since 2005, I have never disposed of garbage even though I still pay garbage fees every month," Sony said, jokingly on Wednesday

In a 1000-square-meter house occupied by himself, his wife and three children, there are two trash cans: one for organic waste and another one for inorganic waste. "If it is full, I take the inorganic waste to the nearest waste bank," he said.

The organic waste is processed into compost by utilizing more than 90 biopore infiltration holes around the house. The organic waste is put into a hole of about 10 centimeters in diameter and 1.2 meters deep. He also provides five bins and a concrete tub measuring around 2 meters by 2 meters to store and ferment organic waste that has not been put into the biopore hole. Understandably, the yard of the house, which is nearly 300 sq m, is also home to various fruit trees, flowers and medicinal plants.

In addition, there is no water that is not absorbed. A 20-m-long ditch in the front of the house is equipped with 18 biopore holes to facilitate water being absorbed by the ground. Sony said he had carried out this activities since he moved to the house in 1997. "Improving the environment has become my responsibility as part of the older generation that has damaged the environment," he said.

Sony, who served as the leader of the fan club of the popular pop singer Iwan Fals, called Indonesian (Oi) for the period of 1999-2014, has encouraged 9.7 million members of the fan club to learn about greening programs, how to make biopore holes, infiltration wells, independent household waste management and urban agriculture under the SOPAN House community. SOPAN is an acronym for Seni (art), Olahraga (sports), Pendidikan (education) Akhlak (morals) dan Niaga (commerce).

He has been motivated to carry out the social work due to the fact that the city of Bekasi has long become an object of ridicule for people from other regions due to its poor management, including with regard to waste.

Starting in 2005, SOPAN House activities have been focused on Bekasi city. Sony provides its home as an environmental training center. Communities and local government officials come over to learn to manage the environment.

About 2,500 environmental references can be read by the public at any time in his home. Those books also enrich Sony. Abdul Rosid, 36, a resident of Kampung Sawah, Bekasi city, said SOPAN House inspired residents to love the environment. He has also been active in protecting the environment for the past 1.5 years since he joined the SOPAN House community.

Hundreds of families who have studied there have also established independent groups in various fields, such as urban agriculture and fisheries.

Mother\'s movement

A similar spirit emerged from the Pekayon Environmental Care Foundation (GPL), a group of residents in Pondok Pekayon Indah, Bekasi city.

The chairperson of the GPL foundation, Rustinah Hassan, 64, said residents of community units (RW) 008, 009, 010 and 011 neighborhoods in Pondok Pekayon Indah had carried the program since 2003. At that time, those who had lived there since 1985 only realized that garbage collected from their residential areas every day had not been dumped in a landfill, but only stacked in an unused area of about 1 hectare nearby.

The existence of this illegal landfill was discovered when the stench caught residents. They also found the ground water was getting contaminated. About 800 families demanded the closure of the illegal landfill.

To reduce the content of the garbage truck, residents first sort the garbage. In 2004, GPL also won the Waste Management Creativity Competition held by the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

Yulianti, 63, a resident of the RW 011 neighborhood in Pekayon Jaya, said they were also committed to maintaining the environment as a whole. Activity units were formed, including nurseries for the development of gardens in the yard, a place to reuse cloth waste, a reading garden and a community empowerment unit to educate citizens about a healthy environment.

"With this system, the waste can be reduced. Before 2003, one truck was unable to collect garbage from each RW. Now, a truck can carry garbage from three RWs," said Suko Witono, 69, a resident of RW 011 in Pekayon Jaya.

The efforts to reduce waste are very important because three landfills in Bekasi city have begun to exceed capacity. The three landfills covering about 140 hectares are Jakarta\'s Bantargebang Integrated Waste Disposal Site (TPST), Bekasi city’s Sumur Batu landfill and Bekasi regency’s Burangkeng landfill.