A few months ago I wrote about IDEP, a Yayasan that's taken a unique initiative to help Bali households manage their garbage more effectively. IDEP's Eco-Trainers were overwhelmed with requests, and had to re-strategize their training programs to ensure client satisfaction. "Based on our client's feedback (thanks for your inputs everyone!) the program has now been re-designed with practical questionnaires so you can see exactly what your staff has been taught," says founder Petra Schnieder. "The Eco-Trainers will come to your place for a site visit within 2 weeks of the training session."
" Our most popular training program is Waste Management, which we will now start holding at the new IDEP Centre every Wednesday morning. This class teaches your pembantu or gardener about separating garbage, recycling options, the dangers of burning or burying garbage (especially plastic) and the principles of composting." IDEP also offers a popular Kitchen Garden course on Wednesday afternoons, with tips on organic garden design and management and plenty of organic seedlings for sale. If you prefer, Eco-Trainers will come to your home or business and conduct the training there.
Detailed information sheets in Indonesian and English are provided on starting an organic garden, separating waste and establishing and maintaining a compost pile. There are also illustrated descriptions on why it is harmful to burn plastic, bury rubbish or throw it in the river.
IDEP has already trained over 75 Indonesians as part of the Eco-Trainers program. In order to provide ongoing support and direction, it is launching an Eco Club for past and future participants of all Eco-Trainer programs. At this monthly gathering participants will exchange information and experience, participate in workshops and have access to the IDEP resource library. IDEP hopes that this activity will encourage Indonesian workers to take greater environmental responsibility in their communities as well as in their work places. "Our goal is to create long-term impacts in environmental awareness and sustainability in Bali," explains Petra.
How effective is an Eco Training course? Barbara Browne, a teacher at Sunrise School, was delighted with the results of the program. "You only have to be in Bali five minutes to realize there's a serious waste management problem here," she points out. "Maybe it's a cultural habit. When things were wrapped in banana leaves, people would just throw the leaves on the ground where they would degrade, and that was sustainable. But now everything's wrapped in plastic."
Barbara has been separating and recycling her garbage all of her adult life, so when she became a resident in Bali 15 months ago she started to look for a way to manage the waste produced by her family of three. "It was important to me to find a system where I could do something constructive," she says.
She learned about Eco-Trainers and arranged for a team to come to the house, where she and her staff received training in waste separation and composting. The staff have learned quickly to separate and wash the plastic waste. Barbara takes this to Sunrise School, where it's collected by Bali Fokus as part of its recycling program.
Barbara, who has always lived in cities until now, is particularly intrigued by her compost unit. It has solved the problem of what to do with her kitchen scraps, and she's looking forward to making healthy soil for her garden. Eco-Trainers also set up an organic kitchen garden for Barbara and her family, which is now producing herbs and vegetables. Her pembantu/landlady has now begun using the compost unit, too -- a first step in recycling for this Balinese family.
" I know it's a drop in the ocean, but oceans are made of drops. If we want to see changes, we have to start at home. The banjar here is also interested in cleaning up the community, and that's an important step. We need to approach the problem at many levels. Eco-Trainers are part of the solution and provide a great service."
My own household served as the test site for the Eco-Trainer program back in April. Now the non-recyclable garbage that leaves my house every month doesn't quite fill a grocery bag. Plastic, paper, glass and metal are taken away by ABC Solutions every week. My IDEP -designed compost cage digests all the kitchen and garden scraps that the ducks don't eat. Now, if I could only figure out what to do with old light bulbs, flashlight batteries and those pesky milk cartons that are neither metal nor paper
For recycling collection, call ABC Solutions telephone 976324 (Ubud area), Bali Fokus at 759610,
or the Wisnu Foundation at 735320.
To make a booking, obtain information on the ECO Club or for a full list of training programs, contact IDEP at 974152 / ecotrainer@dps.centrin.net.id
