Award-winning students put green theories into practice

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

How can high school students use science to help save the environment?

They need not spend night and day in the school's laboratory, nor perform complicated experiments. It's more a matter of having a good look around them and applying what their teachers and textbooks say.

The three winning students in the My Environment, My Challenge science competition, held by the Australian Education Center, did so as they mixed a healthy dose of environmental concern with basic science and a dash of creativity.

"There is a lot of organic waste from trees at our school, and we figure, why not help to solve the problem by creating a simple decomposer," said a student representative from private high school Darul Ulum Agung in Malang, East Java, during his final presentation Sunday.

The group proposed the use of simple materials like a plastic barrel, PVC pipes and human saliva to build a simple and affordable decomposer for organic waste.

"Shredded organic waste is put inside and mixed with our own saliva to help speed up the decomposition process," the group explained.

"We can also put in a mix of herbs containing flavonoids to help reduce the smell."

It's simple, it's scientific and it provides a solution to environmental problems.

The group won first place in the third science competition supported by the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Noted scientist Yohannes Surya, who heads Sunday's final assessment of student projects, said the students still had a way to go.

But they have the right spirit.

While most high school students' closest encounters with science are during examinations, the 49 groups from 29 schools nationwide that participated in the competition applied their theories to daily life.

Furthermore, with their limited resources, they are trying to help solve environmental problems.

The runner-up in the competition, a group from Ciputra High School in Surabaya, was even inspired by the mudflow disaster in a neighboring city.

With simple technology, they have actually been able to produce paving blocks from the mud.

Meanwhile, the second runner-up, a Jakartan finalist from the Gandhi International School, formulated a campaign promoting the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle.

They may not have invented anything, but their seven-minute video clip surely reminds fellow teenagers that caring for the environment starts with the basics.

"We would like to add respect and rethink to the 3Rs," said Gandhi's group representative. "Respect our planet and rethink before you start polluting it."

The group advises turning off electronic devices when they are not in use, not letting the tap run when brushing one's teeth and taking carry bags to the grocery store.

Shall we start by helping save the environment in our own homes?