Author: Ahmad Cholis Hamzah*
Many countries are aware of the environmental threats brought on by chemicals, pollutants, household and industrial waste and are making every effort to search out appropriate ways to cope with such environmental problems.
There are social movements in several districts/cities in Indonesia to coach people to concentrate on environmental disasters for their very own safety and health, including: “Garbage Bank”, to which residents could send their garbage in exchange for financial advantages from the bank, e.g. they might save their income in consequence of this activity; Moreover, as a part of its ‘Social Responsibility’, the Bank could also provide scholarships to children from poor families.
Recently, the town of Surabaya launched one other smart move in solving environmental problems. The city authorities are fully aware that plastic waste generated in households and industry can harm public health. Four Indonesian rivers were reported to be among the many 20 most polluted on the earth by way of the quantity of mismanaged plastic waste measured in metric tons. This makes Indonesia the second largest source of marine plastic pollution after China. A recent research paper published within the journal Nature Communications estimates that between 1.15 and a pair of.41 million tons of plastic find yourself within the ocean yearly. Of this, Indonesia is estimated to emit around 200,000 tonnes of plastic from rivers and streams, mainly from Java and Sumatra.
The mayor of the town, the down-to-earth Tri Rismaharini, an urban planner by training, got here up with an excellent idea to lift public awareness to cope with environmental problems on this case plastic waste, by organizing a good looking city bus tour where audiences in any respect levels of society could find board the bus and at the identical time enjoy exploring the town by giving only three used plastic bottles to the bus driver in exchange for bus tickets. The same approach was also introduced in Beijing, China, where 34 reservation machines were installed in subway stations. When a passerby inserts an empty plastic bottle, the machine’s sensor scans it to estimate the worth of the plastic – anywhere from 5 to fifteen cents – and spits out public transportation credit in the shape of additional phone minutes.
The mayor is indeed a household name at home and abroad, a number one figure who has transformed Surabaya because the second largest city in Indonesia from a slum to a good looking city filled with parks, clean rivers, clean pedestrians and enabling poor people to enter the entrepreneurial movement. She often turns down the “offer” to run for governors of Jakarta and East Java because she is heavily involved in the development of Surabaya.
Law enforcement agencies might be used to eliminate environmental problems by imposing specific financial penalties on people violating environmental protection regulations; nevertheless, it will not be sufficient and effective if imposed on a rustic like Indonesia, where many individuals have different ethnicities and academic backgrounds. In Indonesia, it has long been known that civic norms and regulations are easily accepted by people after they are implemented based on local wisdom, comparable to local puppet shows, local theater performances and singing.
The Surabaya city government already has enough local environmental regulations which have been passed by the town’s parliament; nevertheless, the newly introduced city tour bus is one other smart type of cultural approach to coping with environmental issues as an alternative of using law enforcement. It can increase people’s awareness of environmental protection, while also providing opportunities to spend free time while exploring the town’s wonderful monuments.
So far, this newly introduced environmental protection method has attracted more individuals who wanted to point out their contribution to the town, while also increasing their awareness of supporting urban tourism. Therefore, this city tour bus is a way of attracting people to interact within the economic development of the town based on their free will, not forced regulations.
*Special Staff of the Rector for
Airlangga University in Surabaya
On International Affairs.
