Unwilling to see plastic waste pollute the environment in the Borobudur area, Hadi Prayitno, 45, turns it into various handicrafts of economic value.
By
MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO
·5 minutes read
Borobudur temple has long been a magnet for tourists. However, aside from bringing in fortune, tourists also bring plastic waste. Unwilling to see plastic waste pollute the environment in the Borobudur area, Hadi Prayitno, 45, turns it into various handicrafts of economic value.
"I consider this plastic garbage a friend. I turn them into flowers," Hadi said at his home in Susukan, Tegalarum, Borobudur district, Magelang, Central Java, Thursday (17/10/2019).
Hadi had dealt with the problem of plastic waste in 2016. Initially, he was concerned to see plastic waste, especially drinking bottles, scattered along the road to tourist attractions around the temple. He was also concerned when he saw tourists casually throwing trash from the car.
"This earth is not a legacy from our ancestors, but it rather belongs to our children and grandchildren," said the husband of Krisnani, 35, explaining why he was concerned about the garbage that pollutes the Borobudur area.
I consider this plastic garbage a friend. I turn them into flowers.
Hadi looked for a way to transform plastic waste into goods of economic value. He then tried to turn the trash into plastic flowers. He collected used plastic bottles from collection points for non-organic waste around Borobudur. Every month, on average Hadi buys 150 to 200 used plastic bottles for Rp 200 each.
After being made into plastic flowers, Hadi sells them for Rp 7,500 per stalk. However, more often he sells them in a package of plastic flowers consisting of three flower stalks complete with a vase also made of plastic bottles. It sells for Rp 20,000. Every day, Hadi can make 25-30 plastic flower stalks.
Aside from making use of used plastic bottles, Hadi also creates things from used gallon water jugs. Her purchases used gallon water jugs for Rp 6,000 to Rp 7,000 and turns them into sculptures. He first breaks the used gallon into pieces. After that, the jug is melted down and turned into various statues of animals, like tigers, a bull’s head, horse, crocodile, crane, eagle, giraffe and a dinosaur.
The size of his sculptures vary, generally 80-centimeters high and 150-centimeters long. The sculptures are sold for Rp 1.2 million to Rp 5 million per piece.
Embrace the resident
Hadi also embraced 15 young people in the village to help process the plastic trash. Each person gets a pay of Rp 3,000 for every 20 plastic flower stalks. However, because it requires perseverance and high patience, they only work for about eight months.
He does not stop there. Hadi’s house is also a gallery and open to people who want to learn how to turn used plastic bottles into usable items.. A number of students, university students and teachers visited this place to practice with Hadi.
In addition to providing training at his home, Hadi is often invited to work with environment and social affairs agencies to provide similar training. The training is also given to disabled students and administrators of landfills in a number of regions.
So far, he has spread his knowledge to Magelang, Sukoharjo, Kulonprogo, Wonosobo, Salatiga, Tangerang and Banjarmasin.
The work of the disabled students has won awards, including second place at the Central Java Provincial Level SMPLB/SMALB Creation Contest Competition in 2019, first place at the SMPLB/SMALB Secondhand Goods Creation Competition in Central Java Province 2018 and second place at the Magelang Dekranasda Handicraft Design Competition, Central Java.
Blessing
Before processing various waste products into various handicrafts of economic value, Hadi worked in marketing at a cosmetics company for five years. He also started a snack culinary business. In the field of art, Hadi is engaged in pyrography, which is painting with fire.
When plastic waste can be used properly, it can bring blessings.
Hadi\'s artwork is a bamboo loudspeaker for gadgets. It looks like a small version of kentongan (bamboo instrument) with a small hole to place the device. On the surface of the bamboo skin, Hadi paints using solder with various motifs, such as batik motifs, flora and fauna.
"While working in the gallery, the solder that I was using accidentally touched a drinking water bottle. Then I tried to make flowers from the plastic bottle," said Hadi.
The plastic from bottled water that is processed using a hot solder can produce floral decorations and curved leaves that look more natural and appear more lifelike and similar to the original. It is then arranged with wires wrapped with plastic from plastic bags, sprayed with paint and equipped with pistil decorations.
Even though he had been sneered at and considered a crazy person because he was taking care of the trash every day, Hadi kept going. For him, as much waste as possible should be used. If not, the garbage will accumulate and eventually pollute the environment. When plastic waste can be used properly, it can bring blessings.