By: Hery Davidson Siahaan (Community Marine and Business Tourism Assistant, WWF-Indonesia)

"Clean is healthy,"for the people of Kataloka Village, Gorom Island District, East Seram, this motto is not just spoken, but also practiced. Welcoming the month of Indonesian independence, this new tourism prima donna is cleaning up to make its area clean from waste. Especially, plastic waste which is difficult to decompose and has great potential to kill the tourism potential of the region.

The Clean Environment activity began on 11/08/17, by students of SMA Negeri 1 Gorom together with WWF-Indonesia. They cleaned up the garbage that littered the roads to the beach in Petuanan Kataloka, the proud customary territory of Negeri Kataloka. Starting from residents' yards, roads, harbors, and Kataloka fields.

Starting from the school field of SMAN 1 Gorom, all students of SMA N 1 Gorom Island moved led by WWF-Indonesia friends. They were very enthusiastic when given directions in the division of groups, the location of waste collection, until the distribution of the types of waste taken.

The waste collected was divided into 8 groups, namely plastic bottles, plastic cups, paper, product packaging, plastic bags, iron / cans, glass / shards, and cloth. After approximately two hours, everyone gathered at Viktoria Field to weigh the waste that had been collected.

The total waste collected reached 207.5 kg. The most waste collected was glass waste of 39.5 kg, and the least was plastic bottle waste of 14 kg. Following were 37.5 kg of paper waste, 23.5 kg of plastic glass waste, 24.5 kg of cloth, and 25 kg of plastic bags.

The garbage that has been collected is then sorted, cleaned, and some will be used as material for making recycled workshops for elementary school students and the Bansina Group, assisted by WWF-Indonesia which is engaged in tourism management in Kataloka.

Interpreting independence with this Clean Environment activity will instill a spirit of love for the environment for all students of SMAN 1 Gorom Island and the people of Gorom Island in general.

"We will schedule this activity to be held regularly once a month and invite the Gorom community and Leawana institutions to jointly protect the land of Kataloka from garbage," said Mr. Imran as the person in charge of student affairs.

"So, local and foreign tourists are happy when they come here," he added. A clean environment, of course, will create a sense of comfort for all residents in Kataloka and tourists who come to visit Kataloka.

"Suba Au Lau Goran Lo'a," - Welcome to Gorom, which is clean because of the active role of its people.