UNAIR NEWS – In the commemoration of National Waste Awareness Day, UNAIR students who are members of Green Nursing Corps (GEN Corps), Wanala UNAIR, and Yansos Islamic Student Activity Unit (UKMKI) also took part in cleaning up trash in the Suramadu Banteng area, Bulak Sub-district, Surabaya. The activity was held on Sunday , Februari 19, 2023.

“So today we clean up the trash in several zones, there are red, white, yellow zones. So, the division of the group is divided into 3 according to the opening line,” said Nur Afifah, a member of the Green Nursing Corps.

In the cleaning effort, each team was provided with a trash bag and gloves. Each cleaning zone is also supervised by the committee. Not just picking up trash, the team also separated commercial from non-commercial waste.

“We looked for a commercial brand, then we will do a brand audit so that the manufacturers can be responsible, for example packaging is not made of plastic, to minimize plastic waste,” explained Nur Afifah.

Reflection of Leuwigajah Cimahi landfill landslide

National Waste Awareness Day 2023 is not just an ordinary commemoration. It also commemorated the sad event of waste avalanche at the Leuwigajah Cimahi Final Processing Site (TPA) that happened on February 21, 2005. The incident was the result of very high rainfall and an explosion of methane gas in a pile of garbage at the TPA. It had killed 157 people.

“As youths, we should be able to take lessons from an incident. Moreover, this waste is there because of human consumption process. So yes, cleanliness should be a shared responsibility,” said Nur Afifah.

According to her, this trash care program should be a slap in the face for everyone, especially tourist visitors, because the number of trash bags collected reaching 30 bags in three zones.

“Thus representing that awareness of waste management in this community is still lacking,” she concluded.

Author: Rosita

Editor: Nuri Hermawan