UNS – Issues in plastic waste often become a discussion topic. The vast amount of plastic waste in Indonesia inspire the team of Student Community Service Program (KKN) from Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, in Krambilsawit Village, Saptosari Sub-District, Gunung Kidul, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY), to take an initiative in reducing plastic waste through a Workshop on Totebag Tie Dye in an attempt to reduce plastic bag usage. The event was held in Elementary School (Sekolah Dasar Negeri- SDN) 5 Krambilsawit on Thursday (23/01/2020).
Totebag Tie Dye is a plain bag, which created through a tie-dye coloring technique. The workshop was attended by the students of SDN 5 Krambilsawit. The bag is designed to be kept the goods bought by the students, thus they do not have to use plastic bags to carry their foods or any other necessity bought.
The production of Tie Dye Totebag is not difficult, by preparing a plain white tote bag that intended for coloring. Afterward, the tote bag should be folded and tied using rubber bracelet following the desired pattern. The folds or tie can follow a horizontal, vertical, or circular pattern. After all the tie is finished, the tote bag is dipped in dye liquid. Then, drain the tote bag well until coloring liquid dries slightly, for about 15 minutes, and after that dip the tote bag into ‘water glass’ to lock the color and dry them while it still tied.
After the tote bag is completely dried, the tie can be released until there is no more tie. Rinse off using clean water and dry it off again. Totebag is ready to be used.
This event is expected to reduce plastic waste and increase the creativity of the students, as well as raise awareness to use environmentally friendly bags.
“We hope that this activity can bring benefits in the efforts to reduce plastic waste and to enhance the students’ creativity. It is expected that the participants and the committee will have the awareness to use the environmentally friendly bag as the replacement for plastic bags in their daily activity,” said FIka Noorhikmah, one of the KKN members on Tuesday (28/01/2020). Humas UNS/Zalfaa
