The power of waste
Meet Yuyun Ismawati, a 58 year old environmental engineer in Indonesia who helps local communities create and manage sanitation projects to improve their health, environment, and economy.
Yuyun was born in Bandung with an innate mission to make the world better. Her father was a high-ranking military official, and the family moved from posting to posting, inspiring in Yuyun a love of travel and an understanding of the world well beyond her years. After graduating university with an environmental engineering degree, she worked in the private sector, designing rural and city water supply systems but was frustrated that the projects failed to help the communities who needed them most.
By the mid-90s, inadequate waste management had resulted in critical environmental damage around Indonesia, especially in peak tourist areas where the speed and rate of government collection services were no match for the mountains of waste. In 1996 Yuyun moved to Bali and redirected her engineering expertise into helping communities create their own waste solutions. Partnering with a fledgling hotel waste company, Yuyun developed the island’s first sustainable waste and recycling organisation that reduced landfill at dump sites by 70% and employed hundreds of locals.
In June 2000, Yuyun founded BaliFokus (now Nexus3) and developed SANIMAS, a community-driven sanitation program that allowed her to replicate her Bali success across Indonesia. Yuyun's programs encourage locals to reimagine waste as a way to improve their local environment and boost their economy. Villages now use recycled materials to create traditional handicrafts for the tourist market, compost is collected and distributed among farmers and local housewives are trained in easy-to-learn daily practices of waste separation and composting.
For the past 20 years, Yuyan has worked tirelessly to campaign for new environmental legislation for her country and has expanded her mission into helping communities stop the spread of toxic substances from burning wastes, pesticides, and heavy metals such as mercury. She believes the ultimate job of every government and organisation is to empower people to create and manage their own solutions.
Despite the hardship and poverty, I’ve seen people’s behaviour and confidence improve after becoming involved in our programs. When people are empowered and trusted to help themselves, they will succeed.
