By: Sani Firmansyah and Natalia Trita Agnika

Waste has become a serious problem for the environment and must receive more attention. This is also the case with the waste problem that occurs in Bandung. In response to this, Bumi Panda together with a number of students and communities in Bandung held a discussion on waste problems on Saturday (16/8) at Bumi Panda. The discussion is expected to increase the awareness and understanding of all participants of the activity towards waste management so that the waste problem in Bandung can be handled appropriately.

Yuyun Ismawati, winner of the "Global Environment Prize 2009", appeared as a resource person for the discussion. The main issue raised in the discussion about the waste problem was about the creation of PLTSa (Waste Power Plant) which has been discussed since 2007 but has not yet been realized due to the negative impacts it produces. "Based on data on energy produced from waste, it only fulfills 1% of the energy mix in Indonesia. This is not in accordance with the harmful effects on humans and the environment, namely dioxin compounds from burning waste into energy," said Yuyun. This environmental activist also added that in addition to polluting the air, dioxin compounds can also pollute the soil so that the food chain will be contaminated and interfere with public health.

The discussion that day concluded that PLTSa is not the solution to the waste problem, especially in Bandung City. There are many ways we can do to save the environment from this problem. One of them is by doing the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) for inorganic waste. As for organic waste, it can go through a decomposization process that produces fertilizer for plants.

In addition to discussing waste, the participants were also invited to care more about the environment by becoming critical and wise consumers. "Currently, WWF-Indonesia is running the #BeliYangBaik campaign. This campaign invites people to buy products that have been certified as environmentally friendly. These certified products are products that are responsible and produced in accordance with the rules," explained Sani Firmansyah from Bumi Panda. By knowing the origins of the products we buy, we are taking responsibility for their impact on the environment.

Bumi Panda regularly organizes activities with the theme of environmental education. Various communities and institutions in Bandung and surrounding areas have partnered to run a series of events at WWF-Indonesia's Environmental Information House. Beyond that, the public can visit Bumi Panda and learn about Indonesia's biodiversity through a number of special rooms and memorabilia. Bumi Panda is located at Jln. Geusan Ulun No. 3 Dago, Bandung, operating every Tuesday-Thursday (weekdays) at 12:00-17:00 pm, Friday (weekdays) at 13:00-17:00 pm, and Saturday-Sunday at 09:00-15:00 pm. Group visits or outside the regular schedule can be made by scheduling in advance. There is no charge for using all the facilities available.