The rapid increase in the quantity of municipal solid waste in alignment with a growing population rate in Indonesia has spawned impending challenges to the management of waste in areas such as Salatiga in Central Java, for which is our geographical focus. Currently in Salatiga through a number of methodological approaches, we have identified waste disposal as a significant problem whereby water bottles, plastic packaging and human wastage such as diapers are commonly disposed of into surrounding environments and waterways, and/or frequently burned. A solution to this problem is essential, as the issue has become a concerning environmental and health hazard within the community.

Our aim is to develop and implement a sustainable, enduring and permanent solution to assist in minimising resistant attitudes to behavioural change when it comes to recycling non-biodegradable wastes.

For research purposes we have, with consent, hypothetically associated ourselves with the organisation Tanam Untuk Kehidupan (TUK), an environmentally concerned artist community in Salatiga. TUK’s most recognisable environmental effort is witnessed through their annual art festival by the name of Festival Mata Air (Festival of Water).

Participating in FMA 2016 has led us to witness firsthand the established international platform for collaboration and exchange between a variety of art communities, environmentalists and local residents, with Festival Mata Air increasingly recognised as a significant community-based environmental awareness campaign.

Briefly, there are many requirements with which this project needs to be evaluated against in order to design the most appropriate solution for waste management in Salatiga. These include the cost, sustainability, environmental impact and cultural appropriateness of the method.

In determining our design solution, we have proposed a permanent extension of Festival Mata Air, whereby the key components of the festival are translated into a permanent visual and interactive campaign. This will ensure the longevity of the environmental messages being portrayed at FMA, and keep environmental awareness at the forefront of the residents of Salatiga.

The visual design of a mural to be located at the Senjoyo, Kalimatan and Muncul sites has been done with children as the target to encourage rubbish disposal and a basic understanding of environmental principals when it comes to correct rubbish disposal and minimising environmental harm.  It is simple and to the point, using icons and images that are universal.

The first interactive component of the TUK campaign is an installation in the form of a modified basketball hoop situated on top of a bin. Basketball has been observed as a popular Indonesian past time, and therefore something that is culturally engaging and appropriate to the youth community.  The second interactive component to the TUK campaign is also centered around engagement with a bin, through again the universal game of hopscotch. Similarly, with the hopscotch design, the novelty behind it engages the youth, of a variety of ages and genders, to engage with the motion of putting rubbish in the bin through ending the game at the foot of the bin, with the outline stenciled in front of the bin.

When introducing this campaign as a means of improving behavioural approaches to methods of waste management and water sanitation to the people of Salatiga, education is a vital component when dealing with the implementation process. There are no strict guidelines or procedures which outline what has to be completed in the waste management process. During our research phase, children have been proven as the easiest generational sector to educate as they are likely more willing to learn new things and participate.

The concept of a throw away culture has been referenced in literature as being ‘incompatible with sustainability’, with an expanded definition of sustainability researched to be defined and also as being concerned with society’s ‘relationship with ourselves, our communities and our institutions’. This is where the TUK campaign situates itself, embracing the notion of collective change through recognising that behaviours and attitudes to water conservation and waste disposal need to be altered.

Group Rambutan – Nadia Al-Munir, Ji Young Bang, Emma Chegwyn, Katherine Cranfield

References:

Ali, M., Snel, M. 1999, Lessons from community-based initiatives in solid waste, Water and Environmental Health at London and Loughborough (WELL), viewed 24 February 2016, available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.485.9123&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Environment Protection Authority South Australia, 2016, Container Deposits,  viewed 21^t February 2016, available at: http://www.epa.sa.gov.au

Sembring, E. 2010, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Sustainable solid waste management toward an inclusive society: Integration of the informal sector, Elsevier, viewed 24 February 2016, available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344909002894,

Supriyadi, S., Kriwoken, L. K., Birley, I., 2000, Solid waste management solutions for Semarang, Indonesia, Waste Management and Research, Volume 18, Issue 6, pages 557–566, December 2000 , Wiley Online Library, viewed 24 February 2016, available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1399-3070.2000.00161.x/abstract;jsessionid=FBF7AA40994EE2B73DD4ABD5E7A004A1.f04t01?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+unavailable+on+Saturday+27th+February+from+09%3A00-14%3A00+GMT+%2F+04%3A00-09%3A00+EST+%2F+17%3A00-22%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.&userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage

*All images and illustrations, unless otherwise stated were taken by the authors.