By: Natalia Trita Agnika

Last Sunday morning (22/3), Jakarta's National Monument area was filled with groups of women in unique green costumes with lots of flowers and leaves. Some wore dresses made of braided green leaves, some dressed up as trees, and some painted their faces to match their leaf decorations. In fact, there was a group of mothers who had been preparing at Monas since 04.00 WIB. They did all that to participate in the "Tupperware Women for Mangrove Carnival 2015".

This year, Tupperware in collaboration with the Women's Planting and Preserving Movement (GPTP) and WWF-Indonesia again held an activity to care for the availability of clean water entitled "Tupperware Women for Mangrove Carnival 2015". This activity coincided with the commemoration of World Water Day, held in commemoration of International Women's Day. Through this activity, women from various backgrounds can bring meaning to the environment.

"We want to invite people to care about mangroves. With the theme fairytale, the costumes we designed were full of fantasy like in a fairy tale," explained Mrs. Indra, a representative of carnival participants from Yon Armed 10 Bogor. Not only through the costumes, the enthusiasm of the women was also evident from the yells they shouted. One of them was the yell from the group of the Army Intelligence Center which called for saving water.

Not only symbolizing through costumes and chants, the "Tupperware Women for Mangrove Carnival 2015" event provided real donations in the form of mangrove plant seeds. For each participant who participated in the activity, Tupperware Indonesia donated one mangrove seedling. After the carnival parade, Tupperware Indonesia symbolically handed over mangrove seedlings to WWF-Indonesia to be planted in several locations, including Jakarta, Bekasi, and Surabaya.

The cooperation between Tupperware Indonesia and WWF-Indonesia in reforesting critical mangrove areas began in 2013. At that time, Tupperware dedicated 10,000 mangrove seedlings to be planted in Muara Gembong, Bekasi, and Lam Ujung, Aceh Besar, and 1,600 mangroves in Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta. In 2014, the two collaborated again through planting 5,000 mangrove seedlings at Muara Blacan Beach, Muara Gembong, Bekasi.

For Tupperware Indonesia's commitment, WWF-Indonesia Marketing Director, Devy Suradji, gave her appreciation. "For the past two years, Tupperware Indonesia has been our consistent partner in conveying the importance of mangroves that benefit the environment and surrounding communities. We hope that conservation efforts such as those made by Tupperware Indonesia can be followed by other corporations," she said.

The "Tupperware Women for Mangrove Carnival 2015" activity was enlivened by the presence of a number of booths that attracted public attention. One of them, the WWF-Indonesia booth. The visitors enthusiastically queued for the face painting session, ranging from children to parents, all looked happy when their faces were painted with animal shapes, ranging from cats, turtles, to tigers.

During the queue, the visitors got an introduction to WWF-Indonesia and the programs that have been carried out. They also received information about the Earth Hour movement that will be held simultaneously on March 28. Encouraged to contribute, the visitors also committed to make a donation and register to become a WWF-Indonesia Supporter.

It is planned that a similar event will also be held at Parkir Timur Plaza Surabaya on April 5.