Teaching Love for the Environment
Living in a metropolitan city with a mountain of waste problems has pushed Sony Teguh Trilaksono, 57, into becoming an environmentalist. He built his house to provide an example of how to balance human life with nature, and is spreading his enthusiasm among those around him.
The 1,000-square-meter residence on Jl. Raya Kodau V in Jatimakmur, Pondok Gede, Bekasi, looks normal from the outside, a large house surrounded by a 2-meter-high concrete fence. One side of the fence has a steel plaque that reads, “model home for environmental management from the Bekasi municipal administration”.
Sony said during an interview at his home on Feb. 20, 2019 that the house he had built in 1997 and had lived in since then had been a model of environmental management for the last few years. The house, where he lives with his wife and three children, was built using the zero waste concept, and has not produced any waste for more than 13 years.
How could this be? Sony sorts his household garbage or, as he puts it, “from the upstream”. The house has two garbage receptacles, one for separating organic waste to be composted and another for inorganic waste for recycling. The inorganic waste is deposited at a waste bank in the neighborhood.
Sony optimizes the use of biopores – vertical holes drilled into the ground – to process organic waste. His yard has more than 90 biopores, each about 10 centimeters wide and 1.2 meters deep. The biopores also absorb rainwater and runoffs, so puddles never form.
The biopores are very special to Sony. People can use them to return nutrition to the soil after reaping its many benefits. “Biopores are the ‘holes of life’ that can stimulate and revive the soil,” he said.
In addition to the biopores, Sony has five barrels and one concrete vat for fermenting organic waste and turning it into compost. He uses the organic fertilizer to grow many kinds of plants.
His house is home to dozens of plants, from ornamental plants, to fruit trees and medicinal plants. They fill his yard of almost 300 square meters. They are planted directly in the ground, as well as in pots and vertical gardens.
Educating people
There is a purpose behind constructing the eco-friendly house. Sony has loved plants since he was small. He became more concerned about the environment as an adult. “As the older
generation has damaged the environment, I feel responsible for fixing it,” he said.
However, he also realized that his own efforts would not be enough alone. Environmental awareness must be spread across the community. Therefore, the 1999-2014 chairperson of the Iwan Fals Fan Club-Indonesia (Oi), invited its members from all over the country to engage in environmental activities.
Sony hosted several workshops at home for Oi members, teaching about reforestation and how to make biopores. The shared learning session also produced innovations, like the organic liquid fertilizer they called “BiOipori”.
Busy with his activities for the Oi members, Sony almost forgot about the local community. Bekasi has struggled with waste problems for many years. In addition to managing its own waste, the city also manages the waste of 10 million Jakarta residents at its Bantargebang Integrated Waste Management Facility (TPST).
In 2006, the Environment Ministry announced the four dirtiest cities in Indonesia, which included Bekasi in the metropolitan category. Then-Bekasi mayor Ahmad Zurfaih (2003-2008) said improvements and management at bus terminals and traditional markets needed to be prioritized.
Sony thus pioneered a movement to encourage the people of Bekasi to love the environment. In 2005, he opened his home as a place of learning for the local community, including officials and residents. One of the first officials who came to learn about the environment was Ahmad Syahu, the Bekasi deputy mayor of 2013-2018.
Sony also established SOPAN House, derived from arts, sports, education, morals and commerce. The music lover and former national karate athlete established the environmental community forum to empower people of diverse backgrounds.
Amid his busy schedule, he makes time to share his knowledge with the SOPAN community, developing theories and practices on reforestation and biopores, promoting independent household waste management and encouraging entrepreneurship in urban agriculture.
“I am not educated in the environment. I learned everything by reading, observing, experimenting and taking notes,” said Sony, who has a bachelor in Mathematics and Natural Sciences from the Jakarta Teacher Training and Education Institute (now Jakarta State University).
He also likes to collect books to support his activities. His private library now contains around 2,500 titles that anyone can borrow.
Although he has no formal education in environmental management, Sony’s community endeavors have produced several results. He has developed several technologies, including making strong and inexpensive biopores, processing organic waste using fungus to prevent fly and maggot infestations, and inventing a multipurpose composter that produces both solid and liquid organic fertilizers.
Continuity
Sony, who is a history buff, said that the original people of Bekasi were environmentalists. Present-day Bekasi and Karawang were once part of the Tarumanegara Kingdom, which employed advanced methods in managing the environment. The development spirit of a past civilization could also be used to motivate today’s people to change. However, this would, of course, take a long time.
Therefore, Sony has been consistent in his efforts over the last 21 years to instill love for the environment in the local community. He coaches several environmental programs for the Bekasi administration, such as those related to the central waste bank, the climate village program (proklim) and developing vertical gardens in slum areas.
Meanwhile, he continues to run environmental learning workshops at home, holding more than 50 workshops in a year. The participants come from Bekasi as well as other cities. Sony also teaches at public spaces, like the integrated child-friendly public spaces (RPTRAs) in Jakarta.
Sony runs all his activities independently, without any external funding. The man, who once held the highest position at a state-owned enterprise, said he had no achievement target. “In my retirement, I seek nothing more than serving the community,” he said.
Sony Teguh Trilaksono
Born: Malang, Oct. 27, 1961
Education:
Bachelors, IKIP Jakarta; postgraduate studies, Gadjah Mada University
Awards:
- One Million Biopores Movement Pioneer, from the Indonesian Military commander (2016)
- People’s Empowerment Pioneer, Environment category, from the West Java Governor (2016)
- People’s Empowerment Pioneer, Environment category, from the West Java Governor (2015)
- Adikarya Pengabdian Sewaka, awarded by the Communications and Informatics Minister and the President (2013)
Wife: Antien Ester Savitri
Children:
- Gemilang Ramadhan Santoso
- Faiz Agung Baskoro
- Nadhifa Trihapsoro