Towards Sustainable Living: The Sukunan program in Java, Indonesia
About the Sukunan Program
Plastic waste is choking rivers, irrigation channels and rice fields on the densely populated island of Java in Indonesia. In the cities, the air is grey with the toxic smoke of burning rubbish and vehicle exhaust.
Fifteen years ago in the "education city" of Yogyakarta, students rode bicycles, food packaging was mostly banana leaves, and the air was clean. With increasing affluence and modernisation, students are choosing motorcycles (fuelled by leaded petrol), and packaging for everything is now mostly plastic. This plastic ends up in the rivers or rice fields, or is burned with leaves and other mixed rubbish in thousands of small kerbside fires producing toxic, acrid smoke and serious air pollution. But in Sukunan, a small village on the western edge of Yogyakarta, change is in the air.
The Sukunan Waste Management and Sustainable Living Program
With strong local leadership, community involvement and simple technology, this farming village of 800 is setting an example for much of the developing world. Starting with home composting and the separation of waste in the kitchen of each household, they have begun a village program of recycling and re-greening.
Community meetings were held; classes were organised; children learned educational songs about recycling. Old 44-gallon drums were collected, cleaned, painted beautifully, and positioned strategically around the village to receive glass, metal, paper and plastic for recycling, and buyers have been found for these materials.