MULUNG CILIWUNG BECOMES A FORUM FOR THE COMMUNITY TO CARE ABOUT WASTE
The Mulung Ciliwung activity was again carried out by WWF-Indonesia, HSBC volunteers, Ciliwung Depok Community, several volunteers from the community, and related agencies. This time the Mulung Ciliwung activity was carried out on Sunday (24/02) in one of the segments of the Ciliwung River, precisely at the Grand Depok City Boulevard, Depok. The Mulung Ciliwung activity was carried out in the framework of the National Waste Awareness Day (HPSN) which is commemorated every February 21.
Different from previous activities, in addition to picking up trash on the riverbanks, Mulung Ciliwung activities are also filled with plant care around the riverbanks and provide education about the utilization of plastic waste into ecobricks.
This activity was also attended by the Director of Performance Assessment of Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management (B3) and Non-B3 Waste-KLHK, Sinta Saptarina Soemiarno, and representatives from BPDAS HL Citarum Ciliwung, Tarunajaya. According to Arung Ramadhan, the head of the activity and volunteer of Ciliwung Depok Community, there were quite a lot of participants in Mulung Ciliwung this time. "All participants look happy but still prioritize safety because they are doing activities in nature," he said.
The action carried out by the volunteers managed to collect around 1.2 tons of non-organic waste within three hours. Arung Ramadhan explained that this shows that there are still many people who do not care about the environment. Arung Ramadhan hopes that this activity can raise awareness, especially for the participants involved and residents who see the activity.
Non-organic waste that has been collected in garbage bags is then thrown along the river current to a certain point to be picked up with a pulley. The bags were then weighed and loaded onto the truck of the Depok City Environment and Sanitation Agency's Cleanliness Task Force. The activity of throwing and carrying the garbage bags is one of the attractions for the surrounding community.
The Mulung Ciliwung activity is one way to reduce waste that pollutes the river. In addition, we must also reduce waste production from ourselves, for example by using tumblers to reduce plastic bottle waste, bringing our own shopping bags to reduce the use of keresek, and not using plastic straws.
