'Recycling is good business'

Think globally, act locally, environmentalists say. The proper handling of household waste, though often overlooked, could eventually save natural resources and reduce pollution. In observance of World Environment Day on June 5, The Jakarta Post asked residents about public awareness of the need to conserve natural resources and their thoughts on the importance of recycling.

Vina Khairunisa, 21, is a student at the University of Indonesia. She rents a room near her campus in Depok:

I think recycling would help reduce the piles of garbage in Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia. It would also mean helping to prevent more pollution.

It is true that many people still do not realize the importance of recycling and tend to ignore the issue. They assume that their garbage will be taken by scavengers, so they think they are helping the scavengers by dumping as much garbage as they can.

But they should realize that the paper and plastic bags they use could be recycled into many other materials. Furthermore, they could also start a business recycling used paper and plastic bags.

I guess one of the ways to increase people's awareness of recycling would be to encourage recycling companies or successful recycling businessman to share their experiences at universities and schools. They could inspire youngsters to recycle not only for the benefit of the environment, but also as a business opportunity.

Cak Narto, 35, works at a bookstore in Depok. He lives with his family in East Jakarta:

Many people talk about the environment, but they don't do anything to preserve it.

Lots of people talk about recycling as one way to preserve the environment because it saves trees from being cut down to produce new paper and cuts down on the number of plastic bags being thrown away.

However, recycled materials are usually more expensive than new materials. For example, recycled paper is more expensive than new paper, which is mass produced.

For now on, we should focus more on recycling plastic products because people everywhere use plastic bags and then just throw them away.

And environmental experts say plastic cannot be broken down naturally, so it has be recycled manually.

--The Jakarta Post