Waste4Change • 31st December 2020

Getting to Know Furoshiki, The Japanese Method of Fabric Wrapping

It also refers to the art and/or technique of wrapping goods and gifts using cloth and fabric instead of wrapping paper. The term Furoshiki comes from two different words, which are “Furo” and “Shiki” meaning “Bath” and “To Spread”.

Furoshiki cloth is usually made of cotton, nylon, silk, or rayon. A wide variety of designs and sizes are available, so people get to choose furoshiki based on their/the receiver’s own taste.

Furoshiki originated in Japan around 710 B.C. during the Nara period. Dur

Waste4Change • 30th December 2020

Fireworks: Pretty for The Eyes, Bad for the Environment –

Who doesn’t love watching fireworks? Burst of colors up on the night sky, a feast to the eye.

However, have you ever wondered about the composition of fireworks themselves? How can a single firecracker emits so many colors, sometimes even in a very elaborate and intricate form, when being lit up?

And what about the aftermath? Do the exploding substances just vanished into thin air? Or did they actually left a mark, one that is invisible to the eye, but is actually concerning?

We’re not trying

Waste4Change • 7th December 2020

Rethinking The Celebration: Aftermath of Sky Lanterns and Balloons

Sky lanterns are usually called Chinese lanterns/wish lanterns/flying lanterns, and these lanterns can be traced thousands of years back in both Chinese and Thai celebrations and festivals.

Even so, lanterns are also becoming a popular custom for many celebrations worldwide – weddings, birthdays, music concerts, national holidays, etc.

Lanterns are generally made from paper supported by a wire or bamboo frame with a holder at the bottom for the heat source.

Why Are Sky Lanterns and Balloons D

Waste4Change • 21st November 2020

On This Year's World Tree Day, Let's Not Take Trees for Granted – Waste4Change

World Tree Day was made to commemorate and honor J. Sterling Morton, a nature lover from the USA who fought and advocate for the importance of trees and insist that there needs to be a day dedicated to it.

World Tree Day serves as a perpetual reminder that the world needs, and will always need, trees in oder for lives to continue to thrive in this blue planet.

In case you didn’t know, here are some of the benefits that trees provided for us that we might have taken for granted:

Trees remove p

Waste4Change • 8th September 2020

Plogging: The New Swedish Trend of Running while Picking Up Trash –

When it comes to balanced and healthy lifestyle, the Swedish people and their way of life is worth your attention. One of Swedish trends that started back in 2016 and is recently gaining popularity is called plogging, and for a good reason.

The term “plogging” is coined from the English phrase “jogging” and “plocka upp”, a Swedish term that means “picking up”. Yep, plogging is the Swedish fitness trend that combines jogging while picking up trash.

Besides plogging itself, there are also other

Waste4Change • 28th August 2020

Waste and Health: Skin Disease Suffered by Waste Pickers in Several Landfills in Indonesia –

When talking about waste, we also need to address the social dimension of our waste management system, which is none other than the well-being of waste operators and waste pickers who struggle in managing our waste on a daily basis.

This is the reality for most of the waste pickers in Indonesia: they often work long hours sorting through mountains of waste in landfills without any proper protective equipment/gear. Even without the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia’s waste pickers deal with such risk

Waste4Change • 3rd July 2020

Polluted Rivers as the Major Source of Marine Debris: A Study Case of Citarum River –

The Problems of Marine Debris in Our Oceans

Ocean plastic pollution has become a global phenomenon that threatens not only the marine ecosystem but also humans as the ultimate apex predator within the food chain.

As many as 700 species of marine wildlife suffer from the negative impacts of marine debris, specifically plastic waste. These species range from seagrasses and algae to whale, seals, and turtles.

Of the 700 species, 17% of them are categorized as threatened according to the Internat

Waste4Change • 7th April 2020

What You Can Do During The Physical Distancing Period at Home – Waste4Change

Ever since the COVID-19 is declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11th March 2020, the world has been on high alert and undertook preventive and countermeasures in order to curb the transmission of the Coronavirus.

One of the important measures that have been applied in various countries is called physical distancing, a situation in which people are asked to stay at home if there is no urgent need to go outside, to avoid large gathering or crowds, and to keep th

Waste4Change • 27th March 2020

Understanding Medical Waste Management to Curb the Transmission of COVID-19 –

The Outbreak in Wuhan and The Surging Amount of Medical Waste

Wuhan is a city located in Hubei province, China, which becomes ground zero for the COVID-19 virus. With a population of 11 million people, 75% of fatality cases of the Novel Coronavirus are concentrated in Wuhan. In China itself there are more than 80.000 positive cases and more than 3.000 cases that result in death. What’s even worse is that since December last year, Wuhan does not only struggles with the ongoing health crisis and

Waste4Change • 24th March 2020

How to Deal with Your Disposable Medical Mask - The Responsible Way –

Amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak, Medical Mask Waste Becomes Our Next Threat

Due to the increasing panic of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of medical masks has increased rapidly in many countries. Unfortunately, in most of the countries, this rise in medical masks demand is not accompanied by better-prepared medical mask handling protocols and education.

It was reported by South China Morning Post (5/03/2020) that due to a lack of treatment facilities, China is struggling to deal with a mountain o

Waste4Change • 17th March 2020

True of False? Debunking Myths about Waste – Waste4Change

Almost everyone is familiar with myths, which according to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia V (The Indonesian Dictionary), is defined as the story of a nation about ancient gods and heroes, which includes interpretation regarding the origin of the universe, humans, and the nation, itself as well as profound meanings expressed in a supernatural way.

The definition of myths that exist in today’s society are not limited by stories that revolve around gods and heroes, but also those that revolve in our

Waste4Change • 26th February 2020

Jakarta's Regulation on Environmentally-Friendly Shopping Bag: What We Need to Know and Prepare –

Good news came from the capital city of Jakarta at the end of 2019, because Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan has officially implemented the ban on single-use plastic bags by signing the Governor Regulation No.142 of 2019.

Governor Regulation No. 142 of 2019 regarding The Obligation to Use Environmentally Friendly Shopping Bags

The government of DKI Jakarta has decided to issue a regulation to ban single-use plastic bags because many people contributed to the increasing amount of plastic waste

Waste4Change • 25th January 2020

Things You Need to Know About the Green Economy – Waste4Change

What is Green Economy and Why?

There was a general consensus that the economic system we are using now is no longer suitable due to the massive and significant negative impacts in both social and environmental contexts.

Governments, companies, as well as societies, are realizing the planetary boundaries that are reaching their limit. This is not only due to greenhouse gasses and global warming, but also because of the extraction of natural resources such as water, soil, forests, and others.

T

Waste4Change • 22nd January 2020

Popular Travel Destinations that Suffer from Overtourism – Waste4Change

The term overtourism is used to describe the condition of a tourist destination/site that is overcrowded and visited by too many people. The phrase “too many” occurs when there are more visitors than the facilities of a host destination can handle, and when the quality of life or experience in an area has noticeably and significantly deteriorated.

Overtourism has also been used to refer to the negative impacts attributed to the tourism activities that were too massive and intensive in a certain

Waste4Change • 15th January 2020

Sustainable Tourism: A Tourism that Does Not Cost the Earth

Boracay is a small island in Central Philippines located in Aklan province. With its white sandy beaches and blue water, Boracay was nominated as the best island in the world by Travel+Leisure magazine in 2012.

Moreover, TripAdvisor also named Boracay as one out of the 25 most beautiful islands in the world, and 7th most beautiful in Asia. Unfortunately, in April 2018, Philippines’ PresidentRodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of Boracay for tourists.

This closure is not without a reason: a vid

Waste4Change • 3rd January 2020

Decluttering 101: Why and How –

Upon entering both new year and new decade, what plans do you have in store? Is decluttering one of them?

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the concept of decluttering, the term itself originates from the word clutter, which means anything that one keeps inside their house that does not add value to their life. Decluttering itself is a term referring to the activity of getting rid of those clutter from our house and eventually our lives.

An example of a cluttered kitchen. Source:

Waste4Change • 23rd December 2019

Throw Party without Throwing so Much Waste: How to Host A Less Waste Party –

Year end is almost always filled with celebration and parties, either at home with families, at the office with coworkers, or even a gift exchange with friends.

People gather with their friends and families to reflect on the past 12 months that they gave gone through, or simply to share laughter, food, and stories with their beloved.

From that estimates alone, we can imagine the amount of waste that will be generated (and will end up in landfill) if every person in every party or celebration e

Waste4Change • 10th December 2019

This Holiday Season, Exchange Gifts, not Waste – Waste4Change

The Increasing Amount of Waste during Holiday Season

The month of December means holiday seasons and festivities, especially because it has both Christmas and New Year. From decoration in shopping malls to restaurant menus, all of them are made thematically to suit the holiday spirit. Let’s also not forget about the gifts exchange and celebrations, either big or small, with families, friends, and loved ones.

Of course there is nothing wrong in celebrating such joyful occasions, however, we oft

Waste4Change • 27th November 2019

Thrift Shopping: An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Buy Clothes –

What is Thrift Shopping and Why?

Have you ever heard of the term ‘thrift shopping’ before? Thrift shopping is taken from the word ‘thrift shop’, which is a store that sells pre-loved or second-hand stuffs that are still decent and wearable.

For some people, the image of “buying second-hand” can be dreadful and unimaginable. Even so, thrift store itself has recently gained popularity and is considered as an alternative way to shop with its own benefits, especially in terms of the environment.

Waste4Change • 13th September 2019

Extended Producer Responsibility and Its Implementation in Indonesia – Waste4Change

Last April, a picture of an instant noodle packaging in Indonesia that was found in Sendang Biru beach in Malang, East Java went viral on Twitter. What piqued people’s interest (and sympathy) was not the fact that someone littered an instant noodle pack on the beach. Instead, it was the inconvenient truth of how the noodle packaging is 19 years old.

According to Fianisa Tiara Pradani, on the instant noodle packaging that she found was a writing that says “Dirgahayu 55 Tahun Indonesiaku” or “Hap

Waste4Change • 11th September 2019

5 Movies About Waste That You Need to Watch – Waste4Change

Movies have significant roles in shaping the opinion and thoughts of the general public towards a certain issue, in ways that are not patronizing but instead inviting the audience to think and reflect.

Furthermore, the visual aspect of a movie is capable of delivering messages that cannot be conveyed through written words, including about environmental issues.

If reading books and participating in environmental-themed events are deemed as too bothersome or boring, then watching movies can serv

Waste4Change • 4th February 2019

Indonesia’s Waste Emergency: Indonesia’s Landfills are on the Verge of Overcapacity –

All these times we continue to think that TPA stands for Tempat Pembuangan Akhir, or in other words, a final waste disposal area. However, Law Number 18 Year 2008 regarding Waste Management states that the definition of TPA is in fact, a final processing place, not disposal.

Furthermore, TPA is defined as a place to process and safely return waste back to the environment without damaging both humans and the environment itself.

In addition, there is also the term TPS, which should be defined as

Waste4Change • 25th January 2019

Thames River: Once was The Cause of Cholera Outbreak and Filled with Sewage, Now Nominated as One of The World’s Cleanest River –

The Thames river is located in Southern England and is 330 kilometers long, making it the longest river in England. The river that flows through the city of London does not only serves as a tourism spot, but also serves as a habitat for 125 species of fish and 400 species of invertebrate who dwell on the surrounding areas.

Even though the Thames is considered as one of the cleanest river in the world, the river’s condition is not always like that. In fact, Thames river was once declared as biol

Waste4Change • 22nd January 2019

Taking A Peek of The Zabbaleen: The Garbage People of Cairo, Egypt –

Manshiyat Nasser: A City Where 85% of Cairo’s Waste is Recycled

In the outskirts of Cairo, specifically in the base of Mokattam hills, there lies a city named Manshiyat Nasser, also known as “Garbage City”. Manshiyat Nasser is a slum area that became home for 262.000 Egyptian people who live under poverty line. These people are then called as the Zabbaleen People, a term in Egyptian Arabic with the meaning “Garbage People” .

Just like the nickname suggests, Manshiyat Nasser is filled with garb