Helda is educating local people to sort their household waste and later deliver it to the waste bank. The founding of Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank was a concrete action of her concern.
By
Susie Berindra
·5 minutes read
Putting up a poster with the words “Sort Trash from Home” is what Helda Fachri can’t afford to miss. Tirelessly, Helda is educating local people to sort their household waste and later deliver it to the waste bank. The founding of Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank was a concrete action of her concern.
During the Covid-19 pandemic period, Helda continues to give instruction in trash sorting from home and encourages waste bank formation by touring South Tangerang city, Banten. She carries out her activity in person as well as online. One of her online socialization sessions was conducted with junior and senior high school students of Anderson School, Serpong, South Tangerang (Tangsel), on Tuesday (8/6/2021). She supplied the material for the webinar from her home in the BSD zone, Serpong, Tangsel.
Helda conveyed her message to the students to start sorting their trash from home. “Who has sorted household waste? Why only three, it means
I’ve got to work harder for socialization. Moreover, you are young people, come on, join the new culture of waste management,” said Helda.
In order to arouse the youths’ interest in waste management, Helda screened an animation video depicting the tragedy of waste explosion in the Leuwigajah Garbage Dump (TPA), Cimahi city, in 2005. The other example given was the retaining wall of the Cipeucang TPA, Tangsel, which was sliding into Cisadane River in May 2020.
“We can start from ourselves, managing our trash. The longer we use our stuffs the better, try to practice 3R, reduce, reuse and recycle,” she pointed out.
We can start from ourselves, managing our trash.
As the founder of Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank, Helda always calls on people to sort their waste and deposit it at the waste bank. Over the last two years, she has encouraged many housing complexes around Tangsel to set up waste banks. The latest one was Savia Nusa Loka BSD Waste Bank, which started operation on 23 May 2021.
Housing residents gather at a spot to bring their sorted waste. Some of the types of trash are plastic bags and bottles, cardboard, glass shards and paper. The sorted trash is weighed and its different prices calculated. Thereafter, the waste is taken to stall owners.
If managed, waste will bring great benefits. Stall owners are happy as they can make money and we aren’t merely discarding trash. There are 42 types of manageable waste but waste banks can only manage around 15-28 types,” said Helda.
Helda always warns residents against getting rid of waste by transporting, heaping and dumping. “Hold the waste at home, sort it and then send it to waste banks,” added Helda.
Enthusiastic
During the pandemic, Helda remains engaged in her activity. Since 2018, she has initiated the formation of 38 waste banks around Tangsel. A total of 17 waste banks were opened in the pandemic time.
“I’m handling Tangsel first, the waste problem is dominant here, except for online socialization, when I’m ready to assist wherever needed,” she said.
At the end of 2020, Helda was supported by her husband, Mohammad Iksan Modjo, an alumnus of Monash University. As Advisory Chairman of Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank, Iksan received an aid fund from the Alumni Grant Scheme (AGS) program of Australia Awards in Indonesia. The program called Hello (Healthy Environment for Life and Livelihood Opportunity through Solid & Plastic Waste Management) is executed by Helda and her team.
Besides implementing the program, since April, Helda has followed Waste Bank Innovation Competition (BASIC) 2021 selection organized by PT Astra International. “Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank has passed as three Selected Waste Banks. Now I’m preparing my presentation,” said Helda.
When speaking of waste banks, Helda is always enthusiastic. She wants people to get motivated to manage their waste and at the same time love their environment.
When visited at her residence on Thursday (29/4), Helda related how she had initially been interested in waste banks. He became accustomed to sorting waste from home when accompanying his husband’s study in Australia. As she returned to Surabaya and later moved to Tangsel, she was disturbed to find all kinds of trash jumbled up.
While sorting trash from home, Helda was thinking of how not to directly discard waste to the TPA. She wished to start a waste bank but felt confused over how to begin. Then, she unexpectedly came across a waste bank executive who was photocopying invitations to a meeting. “When I met him, I promptly requested to be allowed to join their meeting. I wanted to know how to set up a waste bank,” she said.
In 2018, Helda began her activity from her closest neighborhood, which was the forum of parents in her children’s school, Hikari School, Tangsel. Along with four other housewives, through Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank, they were gathering and sorting trash from students to be delivered to stall owners.
Previously, Helda surveyed several stalls that were ready to receive plastic or other waste. In the stall owners’ places the waste was reprocessed.
Helda felt that the month-long waste bank activity in Hikari had a limited impact. So she was searching for other locations to get more waste, covering housing complexes, restaurants and school buildings.
In one week, she managed to go round ten places to give instruction in sorting, weighing and depositing waste. After many more areas were involved, Helda guided their communities to open waste banks independently.
To date, Jaya DanaKirti has succeeded in recovering 20 tons of waste that could be managed. If calculated with the other 38 waste banks, the amount can reach 500 tons.
Helda Fachri
Born: Banjarmasin, 28 December 1972
Husband: Mohamad Ikhsan Modjo
Children: Three
Organization:
- Founder of Jaya DanaKirti Waste Bank, South Tangerang (2018)