By: Syevira Citra, Ciptanti Putri, Beryl Masdiary

Entering three weeks before the switch off celebration on March 29, 2014, a simultaneous action in 26 cities supporting the Earth Hour Indonesia campaign was held. Centered in Jakarta and Bandung, the action themed #BijakKertas on Sunday (9/3) sought to increase public awareness about the behavior of saving paper products as one of the green lifestyles that have an impact on the preservation of forests as a source of raw materials.

In Bandung, as usual the area along Jalan Dago, Bandung, was closed for Car Free Day (CFD) activities since 6 am. On that day, the Earth Hour Community activists of Bandung City along with members of a number of local communities who care about the environment gathered in the parking lot of Bank Ekonomi. They were busy preparing everything needed for the action. There was a menu board that read "Zumba, Panda and LINE Mob, Dropbox of books, papers, newspapers and used magazines". The board became an information point for people passing by the Dago CFD area about the actions that took place that morning.

At 7am, the parade of paper waste picking and paper waste research - as well as waste segregation education - began. Volunteers from Earth Hour Bandung, U-Green ITB, the BFI community, Teh Kotak's Thanks to Nature community, and a number of communities under the Bandung Wise Energy Communication Network moved with Pando (WWF mascot) and Moon (a LINE character), around the Dago CFD area.

CFD activities that are in fact filled with various sports activities, selling, offering various products, and so on produce a lot of waste, especially paper waste. Based on the results of waste collection actions carried out around the area once an hour from 07.00 - 10.00 WIB, the Dago CFD activity produced 26.6 kg of waste paper, mostly consisting of flyers or brochures, and food wrapping paper, with a ratio of 2:1. The same research was also conducted by a team of volunteers from Earth Hour Community Bandung the day before (8/3), at "Braga Culinary Night" (BCN), a culinary district in Bandung that is held every two weeks. The research conducted from 19.00-22.00 WIB at the event resulted in 241.5 kg of paper waste with the highest percentage being food wrappers.

After the first round of the parade, visitors were invited to do Zumba gymnastics with the volunteers, in order to maintain their health during the action. During the second round of waste collection, an educational training on how to make recycled paper was held in the courtyard of Bank Ekonomi, guided by activists from the U-Green ITB Community, followed by information on waste recognition and processing by activists from the Thanks to Nature Teh Kotak Community.

In Jakarta, the #BijakKertas action was filled with a waste research march followed by activists from the Earth Hour Indonesia Community with the BFI Community and WWF-Indonesia supporters. A dropbox was set up in the courtyard of Menara BCA Building, where people donated papers, used magazines and newspapers, and books worth reading. The books will be distributed to reading parks and schools in rural areas. The used papers that were still empty on one side were then crafted into notebooks. The event, which was held in the CFD area along Jalan Sudirman - Thamrin, Jakarta, was also enlivened by a marching band performance and a ""Heart Mob"" action from dozens of London School of Public Relation Jakarta (LSPR 4C) students.

The paper waste collection march at the #BijakKertas CFD Jakarta action which started from 06.30 - 09.00 WIB that day produced more than 124 kg of paper waste - consisting of food wrapping paper, brochures, newspapers, and magazines - which is equivalent to three large trees.

Among the volunteers collecting waste at CFD Jakarta, there were Akwila Romauli, Miss Tourism Indonesia 2013, Yossico Stephanie, Miss Earth Indonesia Eco-Tourism, Nita Sofiani, Miss Earth Indonesia 2013. With enthusiasm and full of self-awareness, the three of them helped spread messages about the implementation of green lifestyle behavior.

"Paper wise plus loving trees plus being creative plus caring for the environment. We have the power to act and change the environment into a beautiful one," said Nita.

Akwila added, "Actions like this must continue because it is important for the preservation of nature. Those who haven't started yet, let's start now!" Yossico agreed, saying that a green lifestyle should be practiced by everyone. "Protecting nature is our responsibility."