We warmly welcome the Free Jakarta From Single-Use Plastic Bags Movement by joining various events held in July this yearJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's textile label "Sejauh Mata Memandang" joins a civil society movement to free Jakarta from the menace of single-use plastic waste as the capital city government has officially banned the use of it at shopping malls and markets since early July 2020.
"We warmly welcome the Free Jakarta From Single-Use Plastic Bags Movement by joining various events held in July this year," Founder and Creative Director at Sejauh Mata Memandang Chitra Subyakto said in a statement that ANTARA received here Sunday.
Subyakto said she is keen to see a significant behavior change of Indonesians towards sustainable environment in the future by being more responsible to manage their own waste.
Sejauh Mata Memandang has consistently involved in a public awareness campaign on the menace of plastic waste by organizing an installation art exhibition and several other programs, she said.
In July, this textile brand also joins a collaborative endeavor with such organizations as Greenpeace, Diet Kantong Plastik, and Magnifique Indonesia, to increase the public awareness campaign on the importance of preserving the environment, she said.
Among the public awareness campaign-related events that they initiate this month are discussion and a plastic free awareness rally.
Sejauh Mata Memandang also works with the @thebgbj Community to initiate a charity program for scavengers in Bantar Gebang dumpsite in Bekasi, Central Java Province.
It would also make and sell special face masks where a part of profits that it would gain would be used for providing the scavengers with free meal packages for a month, she said.
The use of plastic packaging is common in all countries, including Indonesia.
In terms of plastic bags, some 9.8 billion plastic bags are used in Indonesia every year, and almost 95 percent of it will end up as waste, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has noted.
The total number of plastic straws used by Indonesians daily reaches some 93 million, rising from nine percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 2018, the ministry's waste management directorate has estimated.
Indeed, the menace of marine debris has continued to plague Indonesia over the past decades. In 2018, the country was witness to a grim reality, with the recent death of a sperm whale who ingested almost six kilograms of plastic waste.
The news of the ill-fated sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), whose carcass washed ashore on Kapota Isle, Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, on November 19, 2018, had grabbed the attention of several mainstream media organizations within and outside the country.
Related news: COVID-19: Plastic recycling industry laid off 63 thousand workers
Related news: Indonesia launches radical action plan to curtail plastic waste
Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
