Despite Omicron, Hari Bersih Indonesia Cleans Up Over 7 Tons of Waste

Despite the recent surging cases caused by the Omicron variant, thousands of volunteers around Indonesia participated in Hari Bersih Indonesia 2022. The event managed to unite 2,288 volunteers from across the archipelago to collect over 7,586 kilograms of waste on Sunday, 20 February 2022. Hari Bersih Indonesia 2022 is a national cleanup day organized by Indonesia Indah Foundation.

In its third year of the event, Hari Bersih Indonesia focused on raising awareness among the public about the importance of taking an active step in being responsible for their waste, by sorting the waste they produce. The move is aligned with Hari Bersih Indonesia’s aim to raise awareness about the dangers of littering and plastic waste, and the importance of separating our waste and recycling.

The focus on segregating waste also acts as a safety measure, as this year Jakarta faced a surge of cases caused by the Omicron variant. With the Covid-19 pandemic still happening in the nation, Hari Bersih Indonesia focused on asking individuals to start to care for the environment from their homes.

“Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we are grateful to be able to hold the third Hari Bersih Indonesia event and for our volunteers who work tirelessly to support the cause. This year, along with other local environmental initiatives, we supported the Jakarta government’s program, Jakarta Sadar Sampah, where citizens and residents are encouraged to start separating recyclables from non-recyclables,”

said Angela Richardson, Indonesia Indah Foundation’s Founder and Chairwoman.

On the occasion of National Waste Awareness Day (Hari Peduli Sampah Nasional), Indonesia Indah Foundation and several local environmental initiatives participated in an online streaming event, to support the Jakarta Environment Agency in spreading awareness of the importance of collaboration to solve waste management in the capital.

The streaming event was broadcast through Jakarta Environment Agency’s official YouTube channel on 21 February, where the video gained 15,000 views during the live event.

This year, Hari Bersih Indonesia collaborated with Duitin, a digital app that helps people sort waste, have their recyclables collected, and earn a side income from the activity. Under the collaboration with Hari Bersih Indonesia, for every Rp10,000 of recyclables that volunteers in West Java, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and East Java manage to collect, Indonesia Indah Foundation will plant one (1) mangrove tree.

Hari Bersih Indonesia 2022 worked with communities and individuals in 34 provinces of Indonesia to clean up and collected a total of 3,180 kilograms of organic waste; 3,620 kilograms of inorganic waste; and 786 kilograms of hazardous waste.

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, it was heart-warming to see that people were still willing to do something good for the environment.

Hari Bersih Indonesia 2022 was sponsored by Square Resources Holdings, Unilever Indonesia, and supported by Indofood, Wardah Indonesia, PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro), and Food Station Tjipinang Jaya.