Vermicomposting vs. mall-building<\/p>\n
As yet another controversy flares over waste management and
\ngarbage disposal in the metropolis, ought not there to be a more
\nholistic approach taken to the problem?<\/p>\n
A considerable element of this problem appears to come in the
\nform of plastic for bottles, cartons and bags, which, as we all
\nknow, are simply thrown away in the casual manner in drains and
\non patches of waste ground.<\/p>\n
A consumer campaign directed at the public to purchase durable
\nshopping bag and, to reject plastic bags at supermarkets and
\noutlets such as Carrefour, which in turn should be persuaded to
\nmove quickly away from plastic, seems to be in order.<\/p>\n
I, for one, make a conscious effort to give back superfluous
\nplastic wrappings where possible and to recycle those such as
\ncome on greetings cards for other purposes. Bottle banks should
\nbe set up by the Jakarta Metropolitan administration (DKI) for
\nmineral water bottle collection.<\/p>\n
An imaginative approach to the enormous problem of food waste
\nwould go some way to dealing with that element, and might be
\ncopied from Japan, where legislation is in place requiring
\nrestaurants and others to recycle a certain percentage of such
\nwaste.<\/p>\n
Local composting initiatives using the vermicomposting (use of
\nworms in the process) technique are not impossible and can help
\ngenerate income from micro-gardening of vegetables; this could be
\ndone on a neighborhood-to-neighborhood basis, provided small-
\nscale credit could be made available.<\/p>\n
Of course, in a city where the governor spends much energy
\npromoting massage-stroking statuary and environmentally ruinous
\nprojects such as the intended coastal reclamation scheme whilst
\nevicting the most vulnerable, this may be too much too ask.<\/p>\n
It may be too much to ask of this particular governor to leave
\naside the conceits of a mall-building, property development
\nculture to look at the waste and other problems in a more
\nsympathetic fashion.<\/p>\n
DAVID JARDINE
\nJakarta<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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