Students compost in name of nature

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Sengkang

Early in the morning students of SD 199 Sengkang elementary school in Wajo regency, South Sulawesi, were already hard at work. Some of them collected garbage, some separated it into organic and non-organic piles and the rest prepared a mixture of soil and lime powder.

The students were making compost from household waste they had collected from the school and their homes.

Their teacher, Muhammad Sukri, guided them through the process. They mixed the garbage with soil and lime powder and placed the mixture inside an iron barrel.

The barrel was sealed to let the composting process take place. When the barrel is reopened 1.5 to three months later, the mixture will be ready to be used as compost.

Sukri said his students could only produce a small amount of compost, enough to fertilize plants at the school and at several neighboring houses.

They hope they will be able to produce more compost and sell it in the near future, he said, adding that right now they couldn't produce compost on a regular basis due to a lack of materials.

"I not only teach them how to make compost, but I also explain the uses of compost, as well as its role in saving the environment," Sukri said.

Sixth grader Fitrah Husparandi said he learned to make compost in fifth grade.

"I learned that dry leaves and vegetable debris that are usually thrown away as waste can actually be made into compost to fertilize plants," Fitrah said, adding he would like to learn how to produce and sell large volumes of the compost.

The composting program in several schools in Sengkang started a year ago, organized by the Wajo Regional Environmental Impact Management Agency in order to cope with the city's garbage problem and help preserve the environment.

The head of the agency's supervisory unit, Amiruddin Faisal, said they wanted to educate students as early as possible about the environment and the challenges it faced.

"Nowadays many people do not care about the environment. They destroy it gradually, even though they already know that eventually they will also destroy themselves. That's why we want to familiarize our children with the concepts of conserving nature while they are still very young," he said.

So far the agency had encouraged and assisted 32 junior and senior high schools, three traditional markets and some institutions, as well as individual residences in the region, to take part in composting.

Besides making compost and using it as fertilizer for their plants, students also solved some of the problems caused by garbage accumulation.

Amiruddin said the city administration was now able to manage its garbage problems because residents were familiar with the idea of composting. The total amount of Sengkang's garbage could be reduced by 25 to 30 cubic meters per day, he added.

The Wajo administration plans to introduce the program into all schools throughout the regency. It hopes the regency will become cleaner and that all plants in the region will grow well without requiring expensive fertilizer.

"The administration hopes the region will remain clean and green, for the benefit of the residents," Amiruddin said.