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We are ashamed to admit that we, college students in Indonesia, have contributed to some environmental damage. In early May, we made a baseline survey on college students’ consumption behavior in the city where we study, Bandung. We found out that students take away their food at least once a day, and up to three times a day, using non-friendly food packaging made from papers, plastics, or styrofoam. The most popular one here is a wrapping paper, locally called as kertas nasi.

Ketas nasi is a food wrapping specific to Indonesian food culture or nearby Southeast Asian regions. It is made from brown-colored recycled paper which is layered with a thin plastic in the inside. It is convenient, however the waste of it creates mountains and we cannot really recycle it. Moreover, the fact that this wrapping is very popular for take-aways around college areas made us realized that we contribute hugely to the waste of it.

Imagine when every student uses one kertas nasi every day. In a college area with the population of 10,000 students, it means there will be 10,000 wastes of them every day in that area. Adding to the fact that Bandung is famous as a student city with numerous universities, kertas nasi waste has become one big issue here.

After we have understand the problem, our team have been trying to come up with a solution to lessen the kertas nasi waste by college students. From our survey, we discovered that the root of the problem is that kertas nasi is somewhat like a culture. It is something that we have always been doing like a business as usual, therefore people still use it despite knowing the harms.

The students think that they don’t have a choice since the food sellers only provide kertas nasi as the packaging. Then, the solution is to make them realize that they do have another choice. We can make them aware of the alternative by doing campaigns.

The main point of the campaign is that the students should be encouraged to take their own food container or box when they want to take away their foods. We have four campaign models that should be done simultaneously both digitally and directly, involving collaboration of different parties. The parties involve are universities in Bandung, student associations or other types of internal university organizations in Bandung, food sellers and the students themselves. We believe that collaboration from multiple parties related to the target can support the effectivity and efficiency of the campaign. However, we do understand that campaigns only are not enough, for we also need a firm policy made by those who hold authorities. That’s why we aim to join the 6th AFMAM 2020 to learn about policy, decision-making, and diplomacy so we can put the last piece to the missing puzzle.