Waste Management and River Conservation

Supporting local organization in garbage management and river conservation. Citarum is the longest river in West Java runs over 300 kilometres from the Wayang Mountain to the Java Sea. There are 30 million people rely on the water source for agriculture, water supply, fishery, industry, sewerage, electricity, etc. However, unregulated factory growth since the area’s rapid industrialisation in the 1980s has choked the Citarum with both human and industrial waste. The 5 million people who lived in the river basin are directly affected. Over 200 textile factories line the river banks and contaminate the river with lead, mercury, arsenic and other toxins, changing its colour and lending the area an acrid odour. Moreover, the river is also polluted and filed with trash such plastic, styrofoam, even dead animals. In cooperation with Bening Saguling foundation working in Citarum river basin and Saguling basin since 2015, GREAT started the IVS intervention since 2017. We work together in the community development program through education, social, economic, and environment conservation. By using the trash as their potential product for making “TRASH BANK”, they also take advantage from the water hyacinth weed (pollutant plant) by making handicraft from that plant. Now, the community have their own forest in the river basin where they conserve some variant of bamboo trees and other local trees. Their home based has become a learning centre for garbage management and water hyacinth handicraft. Aims:  To support the foundaton program in environment, social and education  To help garbage management project  To raise the awareness of environment and river conservation to local people  To manage the organic farm with local people  To organize a non formal education for the local people and local children  To exchange cultures among volunteers, local people, and local students  To spread out the idea of voluntary service and international workcamp among the local people