Green News from Indonesia

Green Mosque

A plastic recycle vending machine has been installed at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, located in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia (click here for the virtual tour of the mosque).

A plastic recycle vending machine in Istiqlal Mosque

As reported by VOI, the collected plastic bottle waste can be exchanged into Plasticpay Points through an app which can later be converted into electronic money that widely used in the city, such as DANA, OVO, Gopay, LinkAja, and INACASH.

According to Antara News, the Istiqlal Mosque recently became the first mosque in the world to receive an Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certificate, as a green place of worship, from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The certificate has been awarded to the mosque since the worship place has been renovated based on an environmentally friendly concept. It has increased the efficiency of water and energy usage of the building by applying energy-efficient roofs, outer walls, and lighting; installing smart energy meters; as well as using solar panels, which support more than 13 percent of the building’s electricity consumption.

Waste Bank

Another green news comes from Tanjung Burung Waste Bank – or “bank sampah” as they are called in Indonesian.

At the Waste Bank, customers deposit their household waste and receive money in their bank account based on the rates and weight of the waste. Customers separated the waste into two, inorganic and organic. Inorganic waste is recycled and turned into bricks. Organic one is processed into compost.

Composter to turn organic waste to compost
The flowchart of the process to turn organic waste into compost, it includes storage (gudang) and marketing (pemasaran)
Bricks made from plastics waste
Another alternative to recycle plastic waste to build a wall
Recycle plastic bottles used to build a decoration fence

Reported by Jimmy Kalempouw
CMGT Ambassador from Indonesia

Plastic Waste Generation by Country

It’s incredible how plastic has been affecting our lives since the 1950s. Below you can identify the top five countries that generate the most plastic waste.

Source of Information: https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

Below you can find the world map picture of plastic generation per year.

Map taken from https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

We have to reflect and self-analyze to reduce these numbers because we are harming our earth which is our big mosque.

Allah SWT says in the Qur’an:

يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُوا۟ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍۢ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ

O children of Adam, take your adornment [i.e., wear your clothing] at every masjid,1 and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess. (Qur’an, 7:31)

You can be a Green Khalifa and help the environment. Join the PLARN Sleeping Mat: Conserve, Crochet, Care project. Check here all the information about this incredible project and be a Guardian of the Earth.