By: Osha Rosalia (volunteer Bumi Panda) & Fina B. Bestari (volunteer Bumi Panda)

As the home of environmental education in Bandung, Bumi Panda has an important role in delivering various messages about the environment. "Goes to School" activities are also carried out by Bumi Panda in order to reach more people, as was done on Thursday (21/04) and Wednesday (27/04) ago.

In a visit to SMA Labschool Bandung on Thursday (21/04), Bumi Panda educated 10th and 11th grade students with the theme "Let's Reduce Waste at School". The activity, which was held as a commemoration of Earth Day, began with an explanation of WWF-Indonesia and the screening of a video about biodiversity in Indonesia. They looked very enthusiastic to see the variety of biodiversity in Indonesia.

After watching the video, the students were invited to observe the environment around the school, especially related to waste. The results of the observations made in groups were then presented in front of the class. "After making observations, it turns out that in a day, our school produces 1,800 plastic bottles if everyone does not use a tumbler. That's just bottle waste, not to mention other waste," said Tantan, a student at Labschool Bandung High School. This fact intrigued the other students.

Their awareness of the waste problem was raised through recycling activities. They were taught to utilize used bottles into hydroponic plant containers and turn used T-shirts into multi-purpose cloth bags. The volunteers from Bumi Panda hope that the students will be able to utilize and recycle used items so as to reduce waste generation in their school.

Bumi Panda's visit on Wednesday (27/04) at SMAN 17 Bandung was also conducted in commemoration of Earth Day. In his speech, Iwan, the Head of SMAN 17 Bandung reminded the students about the adverse effects of climate change that will make the earth damaged. The Earth Day commemoration is expected to be a momentum for students to care more about the surrounding environment. One of them is by creating a beautiful school environment and optimizing the implementation of 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle). "Loving and preserving the earth can start from the school environment. A beautiful school environment will make students feel like they are learning in a park, not in a school," he said, opening the activity.

Sani Firmansyah from Bumi Panda then introduced WWF-Indonesia and played a video of #BeliYangBaik, a campaign that invites the public to choose environmentally friendly products. The students were then divided into groups and asked to write down the key points from the presentation and video. At the end of the event, the students had the opportunity to beautify their school by making hydroponic plants. This activity also introduced them to recycling activities, namely turning used bottles that had been brought from home into hydroponic plant pots.

Safira Nurul Iza as the Chief Executive of the event said that the visit from Bumi Panda was the first environmental-themed activity held at her school. According to her, the activity was very positive because the students not only received theoretical explanations but were also invited to practice it themselves and pass it on to other friends.