Young Indonesians take home environmental award in Sweden

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia may be something of a pariah for its lack of commitment to environmental issues but that did not stop three young women from taking top honors in a recent international environmental competition.

From Surabaya, Agnes Santoso, 21, Vania Santoso, 15, and Wening Pranayadipta, 15, created an environmentally and user-friendly waste bin that turns organic waste into fertilizer.

The students beat 14 other finalists to win the sixth edition of the Volvo Adventure in Gothenburg, Sweden, with their "Useful Waste for Better Future" project.

The girls are entitled to the US$10,000 first prize. The jury awarded a team from New Zealand with $6,000 and second place for their "Plastic not so Fantastic" project while a South African team was third with their "EnergyWise" campaign, taking home $4,000.

"Whilst it was a stain on Indonesia's reputation being branded the dirtiest nation in the world by the WHO, it was also a wake-up call that something had to be done and in our small way, we may have helped both change perceptions and improve our local environment and economy," Vania said on receiving the award.

Theodore Oben of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said the "Useful Waste for a Better Future" project "works on many environmental levels, waste reduction, recycling and revenue earning and as such, it was the outstanding project amongst 15 excellent finalists".

There were a total of 365 projects from 47 countries this year. The event started in 2002 and the UNEP has sponsored it since 2004.

The award was presented on May 30 in Gothenburg, according to a media release sent Tuesday by the PT Central Sole Agency, which handles the Volvo brand in Indonesia.