Partaigelora.id – The Indonesian People’s Wave Party (Gelora) regrets that developed countries in Europe and the United States still use Indonesia as a dumping ground for their waste, especially plastic waste.
“It was recently revealed that our beloved country has also been used as a waste landfill by developed countries such as countries in Europe and the United States. Even though we have a lot of waste production,” said Ratih Sanggarwati, Chair of the Women’s Division of the Party Gelora Indonesia in her statement, Friday, June 18.
This was conveyed by Ratih when she was the Keynote Speaker at the event ‘Rumpi Gelora #9’ (Space for Progress for Indonesian Women from the Gelora Party) with the theme ‘Tips for living with minimal waste’ last Friday.
According to Ratih, plastic waste is very dangerous for the survival of ecosystems on earth. So that the current condition of the earth is getting worse.
“The problem of plastic waste is very complex. We must find its solution because it has become a serious threat to the lives of living things in the future,” she said.
She also continued that one of the solutions that Indonesian women could do is to change their lifestyle in shopping and in their daily lives not to use plastic products, and switch to environmentally friendly products.
“We were very sad when we heard the news that there was a whale that washed up and died on a beach. A lot of plastic waste was found when the stomach was opened. Some also had their noses stuck with straws. Of course this is very worrying,” she said.
Ratih hopes that this ‘Rumpi Gelora’ can open the eyes of all circles that the waste problem in Indonesia is already at an alert level.
“Therefore, we need to fight together to be a solution to this problem, at least by reducing waste in our daily life,” she enunciated.
Meanwhile, Efi Femiliyah, the recipient of the Kartini Gelora Award 2020 from DKI Jakarta, said that she has implemented a minimal waste lifestyle in her daily life, such as managing organic waste and not using plastic products.
“This is what made me finally have a shop without packaging. We (her family and her) also no longer use bottled water. And if we want to buy side dishes such as chicken pecel, we will bring our own food containers, including for the chili sauce. Meanwhile, if suddenly my children want to buy some drinks, I always bring my own glass,” said Efi.
Efi emphasized that the instant lifestyle has led to a significant increase in plastic waste. She considered that Indonesia is currently experiencing a plastic waste emergency and needs serious attention from the government.
She also revealed a study abroad released in 2019, about finding small forms of microplastic in human feces that cannot be decomposed.
“The discovery of microplastics in our feces is evidence that we have ingested plastic. Our feces have been examined, this was a very surprising fact at the end of 2019,” she said.
The recipient of the Kartini Gelora Award 2020 added that Jakarta is having difficulty finding new locations for waste disposal, other than the TPA Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, West Java because of the increase in the amount of waste every day.
“It is predicted that the TPA Bantar Gebang will not be able to receive waste from DKI Jakarta by the end of this year. It already looks like Borobudur Temple. So the waste problem is a serious problem, which must be quickly resolved,” she concluded.