*Photo: The finished product, Ecobricks, made from single-use plastics.
Reported by: Nathania Karina Anggraini, Johanna Gracia Sunarno, Ni Wayan Dina Wiantari, Vanessa Lee
From August 19th to 23rd, Eco4Shore collaborated with Taman Rama Senior High School on the P5 Ecobricks Project. This initiative, part of the Ministry of Education’s P5 program, aims to foster students’ character and behavior in line with Pancasila principles. The senior theme for this project was “Sustainable Lifestyle,” and we chose to focus on creating ecobricks from non-recyclable plastics like wrappers.
1. Key takeaways
- Understanding the Value of Ecobricks: Students learned that plastic waste, particularly food wrappers and packaging, which typically end up in landfills, can be repurposed into ecobricks. These ecobricks can be used to create useful items like trash cans, ensuring that the plastic waste is safely contained and does not pollute the environment. This activity helped students from grades 10 and 11 understand the importance of ecobricks in maintaining environmental cleanliness.
- Practical Application: Each grade successfully created two trash cans from ecobricks. Grade 11’s trash can weighed approximately 2.9 kg, while Grade 10’s weighed around 4.3 kg. In total, they transformed about 7.2 kg of plastic waste into functional products.
2. Main highlights
From Monday, August 19th to Friday, August 23rd, Eco4Shore, in collaboration with SMA High School, organized a week-long P5 Ecobricks project at Taman Rama Jimbaran School, located in the East Block of Complex Puri Gading Br. Cengiling, Uluwatu – Jimbaran, Bali. The event saw the enthusiastic participation of 72 students, who engaged in various activities aimed at promoting sustainable lifestyles and environmental responsibility.
3. Activities implemented
- Monday: Students watched a video on making ecobricks and then washed and dried the collected waste.
- Tuesday: They cut up the washed and dried rubbish and began filling bottles.
- Wednesday: Students continued filling bottles and started assembling the trash cans.
- Thursday: They completed the trash bins, added special elements, and prepared a video documenting the process.
- Friday: Students finished the videos and trash bins, then presented their work, including a vlog of the steps and insights gained.
Although we did not capture photos of every activity due to our focus on classes, we requested each team to create a vlog documenting their process.
4. Students’ Feedback:
- Enjoyment and Learning: Students found the P5 project fun and educational. They appreciated learning about plastic, recycling, and reuse.
- Teamwork: The project taught them how to work effectively in teams.
- Environmental Impact: Students recognized the positive impact of ecobricks on the environment by reducing plastic waste.
Grade 11B:
- “I feel very happy because the P5 project was very fun. It was interesting because I learned a lot about plastic, recycling, and reuse. We ended up making a rubbish bin out of ecobricks, which was really fun and taught me how to work with a team.”
- “Yes, I think it affects the environment very well because we collected all the trash from the rubbish bins and recycled it into ecobricks instead of just throwing it out to be burned or whatever. So we recycled it into something better.”
- “I think we can do ecobricks again despite being time-consuming. It doesn’t take a lot of resources to do. It just takes a few items, and it’s very easy to get the plastic waste.”
Grade 11A:
- “I feel really happy because making ecobricks means we are contributing to reducing plastic waste in the environment.”
- “Yes, it affects the environment a lot. Even when we do small things, it still affects the environment we live in.”
- “Of course, as long as we stay consistent.”
Grade 10A:
- “I feel happy because I can socialize while making ecobricks. It’s fun. We can chat with friends and teachers, and it’s like working together. It’s really fun.”
- “For me, making ecobricks is important for the environment because we use plastic waste and plastic bottles, which can be recycled into something better for the environment.”
- “Yes, it can be done because there are a lot of students in this school that we can ask to join us to make even more ecobricks.”
Grade 10B:
- “This is my first time experiencing P5, and so far this week, it has been fun because of working in a team. I’m a new student here, so this project helped me get close to everyone.”
- “In my opinion, I think it is sufficient to help the environment as we used plastic trash that is usually found in the streets. It was useless before, but now it is more useful.”
- “Sure, why not. Having other new ideas can be done too, but ecobricks is a good practice.”
