Who says being a hero is difficult?
The definition of hero
here is a hero in the broad sense as we used to see in various superhero
movies. They are struggling to save the earth from various enemy threats, right?
Well, does saving the earth can only be done by the superheroes that are in
comics and movies only? Of course not, I'll tell you a bit about my experience
last week.
On Saturday, June 10, 2017, I and my friends of Indonesian Plastic
Bag Diet Movement were invited to the Marine Campaign event by the Ministry of
Environment and Forestry held at Ancol Lagoon, Taman Impian Jaya Ancol Jakarta,
Indonesia. The event is a collaboration of the Indonesian government,
especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry with the United Nations
Information Center (UNIC) and is a series of World Oceans Conference in New
York held on 5-9 June 2017.
In addition to beach cleanup, there is also campaign by Miss
Earth and proper handwashing education by the representatives from PT Unilever
Indonesia. The objective of this event is to support the implementation of
Sustainable Development Goals 14 (Life below Water).
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| Campaign by Miss Earth |
The event was started with welcome speech from various
parties such as the Jakarta Director of UNIC, Mrs. Eshila Maravanyika ; Mr.
Isnawa Adji (Head of Sanitation Agency of DKI Jakarta), Pademangan Head (Musa
Syafrudin), until the opening ceremony by Mrs. Tuti Hendrawati Mintarsih whom
is the Director General of Waste Management and Hazardous Hazardous Material
Waste.
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| Mrs. Tuti Hendrawati giving welcome speech in opening ceremony |
The
core event is cleaning the beach itself is done around the venue. With the help
of more than 200 people and in less than 1 hour, garbage collected reached more
than 145kg and 80% of them are plastic waste such as plastic bags, snack packs,
drink bottles, etc. This is unfortunate considering the plastic is
a material that is difficult to decompose let alone in the sea. Only by
cleaning in a short time, the limited amount of human resource and in a small
part of the coastal area, the garbage collected is already that much. Imagine
how much rubbish is stranded all over the world's beaches, let alone the waste
that remains in the ocean.
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| Clean the beach as a volunteer |
Without us knowing, our marine ecosystem is being threatened
now because of the plastic waste. The presence of plastics can disrupt the
activity of sea animals. Even if this plastic has broken into a micro plastic;
plankton-plankton which is fish's source of food will eat the plastic.
Fish that eat plankton contained plastic could be our meal and the plastic will be accumulated in
our body because it cannot be digested. These plastic can cause
various diseases, ranging from digestive system disorders to cancer.
Therefore, let's save our ocean starts from simple
step. Use plastic bags more wisely. If we can use reusable shopping bags like
goody bag, then use it to shop instead of receiving plastic bags from the seller, this can reduce the use of plastic
bags. Without us knowing this small step we do is the beginning of a big step to
save the sea, our earth even for our own sake and many people in this world.
So, who
says we cannot be hero who can save this world? Even without superpowers we
can save the earth and many people. See?
Eka N. Solicha (Volunteer of Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement)
See more at http://dietkantongplastik.info/
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| 4R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-think) |
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