UNS — Faculty of Agriculture (FP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a Community Service Webinar to commemorate UNS 45th Anniversary. This event is series 1 of âGreen Campus âZero Wasteâ Faculty of Agricultureâ on Wednesday (7/4/2021) through Zoom Cloud Meeting and FP UNS YouTube channel.
In an opening remark, the Dean of FP UNS, Prof. Dr. Ir. Samanhudi, S.P., M.Si., IPM, ASEAN Eng. hopes that this event will provide an example for the campus and community in waste management. âHopefully, what we introduce can run well and benefit the community and how we educate people and institutions to handle future problems well,â Prof. Samanhudi stated.
Asri Nursiwi, S.T.P., M.Sc. led the webinar with three speakers, Muhammad Muslim, Assistant Manager 2 for Communication and Literacy PT. Pegadaian (Persero), Dwi Ishartani, S.T.P., M.Si., Faculty Member of Food Technology Program UNS, and Prof. Dr. Ir. MMA Retno Rosariastuti, M.Si., Professor in FP UNS.
Waste Management Literacy âSorting Trash Saving Goldâ
The large plastic waste production in Indonesia causes environmental problems. The academic community, industry/corporation, and general publicâs contribution is a triple helix in solving waste problems. In a more detailed explanation, Muhammad Muslim stated that two issues played a role in the never-ending waste problems; the communityâs littering habit and weak waste management by the community and the industry.
PT. Pegadaian (Persero) initiated Bersih-Bersih Lingkungan (Pro Planet) (Cleaning Environment) as one of three key variables in Pegadaian Bersih-Bersih (Pegadaian Cleaning) program. This program is implemented through Memilah Sampah Menabung Emas (Sorting Waste Saving Gold) since 2018. The program is PT. Pegadaian (Persero) contribution through community involvement in sorting household wastes independently to solve environmental problems.
âWe want to invite the community to be aware of the issues in daily life. Then we link this program with our product, gold saving,â Muslim said.
âFood Wasteâ Management
Food Waste is food thrown away at retail and consumer level which cause the inefficiency of land and water usage, high carbon and methane emission, threatened biodiversity, and creates new health problem. Dwi Ishartanti shared the steps in solving food waste by donating excess foods, separate food waste sources, and recycle food waste. âThe conclusion is to stop wasting foods. Starting from now, we proclaimed not to waste foods and stop creating food waste,â Dwi Ishartanti explained.
FP UNS Professor, Prof. Retno Rosariastuti, stated that the high Indonesian population and consumption lead to high waste production. She added that environmentally friendly behavior is vital at this time. People need to pay attention to the environmental management aspects, including environmentally friendly buildings, wise energy use, and good waste management. In waste management, particularly in organic wastes, Eco enzyme becomes the latest solution in the community. Eco enzyme is made from wet organic composition because it is easy to decompose and needs to be processed. Prof. Retno explained that the Eco enzyme is mainly made from fruit peels and vegetables. Eco enzyme has many functions, such as reducing greenhouse effects and global warming, benefits marine life, and reducing pollution. âEco enzyme from vegetable wastes from non-animal organic wastes will create a clean and healthy lifestyle in supporting the zero waste life,â Prof. Retno said. Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga Pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti