By: Lina Haselo (Volunteer Panda Mobile Papua)

In order to welcome the National Waste Awareness Day which is commemorated every February 21, WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile Papua Program visits schools to provide education on waste management. The Panda Mobile Goes to School activity took place at SD Kristen Baik Sentani on Friday (17/02).

With the spirit of conservation, Panda Mobile volunteers invited students to take small actions that can have a positive impact on the environment, especially the school environment. They shared information with students about waste management, the 3R concept (reduce, reuse, recycle) and its functions. Not just in the form of theory, Panda Mobile's volunteers invited the students to apply the information directly by doing recycling activities.

The day before, the students had been encouraged to bring unused plastic water bottles. "The plastic water bottles that you bring can be recycled into useful objects, such as flower pots, pencil cases, and other handicrafts," said a volunteer.

Plastic bottles used for drinking water packaging are one of the most common types of waste found in the school environment. Therefore, the recycling activities taught by the Panda Mobile team of WWF-Indonesia Papua Program can contribute positively to reducing waste in the school environment of SD Kristen Baik Sentani.

Groups of students in grades 1-3 made pencil cases with interesting motifs from used water bottles that had been brought. While the group of students in grades 4-6 elementary school cut the bottle into two parts so that it could be used as a flower pot. To make them look more beautiful, the flower pots were painted with various colors. Volunteers and some teachers were actively helping the students make their handicrafts.

The students seemed eager to make recycled creations as if they were competing to create the best and most attractive recycled work. The flower pots created by the students of SD Kristen Baik will later be hung in front of their class and will be planted with flowers. Let's protect the environment because the environment is home to every living thing. One way to protect it is to reduce plastic waste.