Authors: Maelgwyn Hallatu ('22) and Emily Stanford ('23)
Photo Courtesy of Maelgwyn Hallatu
Over 10.9 million people live in Jakarta, and due to its location on swampy ground and its poor infrastructure, Jakarta is vulnerable to heavy flooding. One side of the Indonesian capital city not many people may see is its poorly built slums that are at risk of collapsing during every flood, which as an effect of rising sea levels and climate change, are always around the corner. Jakarta exemplifies how Indonesia struggles to be sustainable in the face of a rapidly changing environment, and the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and the prevalence of fires from deforestation add to the nation’s carbon emission problems.
We can be thankful that Kota Baru and our community may not be under the same risks as Jakarta—we’re far from a crowded community by the ocean, and our infrastructure seems to be holding up. However, we shouldn’t be blind to the issues that pose real threats to our world. Knowingly or not, when put together, our everyday habits still contribute bit by bit to our changing environment.
You might be asking yourself: “What can I do about this? I live in Kota Baru, not Jakarta.” Action against climate change starts with spreading awareness. Students in BAIS’s environmental science class have been working on projects focused on environmental problems, their causes, and how to approach them.
In December, students in environmental science began a project in collaboration with the Bandung GoGreen Lions Club. They were tasked with creating Google Earth stories about various events related to a global energy crisis, followed by a brief presentation about ways anyone could save energy.
After their presentations, the students switched gears and recorded themselves to post them as Youtube videos. Based on the number of likes their videos got in a week, they donated the corresponding amount of money to the Bandung Lions Club. A couple of days after posting their videos, the class collected their likes and managed to raise Rp. 442,000.
On February 2, 2022, a representative from the Bandung GoGreen Lions Club visited BAIS. So, after spending their raised money to buy seven trees for the organization, the environmental science class greeted the representative and presented their proceedings. The representative gave her thanks to the class and brought them an encouraging message about how little actions like theirs can be meaningful.
Photo courtesy of Maelgwyn Hallatu
More recently this February, Mrs. Maria, BAIS’ environmental science teacher, had her students pair up to write and design picture books geared towards elementary and middle schoolers that tackle various topics regarding different types of pollution: water, air, and terrestrial. Whether they chose to portray the destructive, long-term effects of pollution, or how climate change can disturb our daily lives, each of the groups found different, creative ways to portray these issues to children and show how they can be overcome.
Junha Kang & Odelyn Sinaga’s Project
For example, when asked what he chose to write about, Thaniel (TJ) Tanudjaja shared,
“The message I was trying to communicate is that our actions are leading the earth to its destruction, but it’s not too late to change that.” TJ took a grim approach to his project, telling a story about visions of a polluted future through a poem. “If we take action earlier,” he adds, “we can still work to save the Earth.”
In regards to pollution, Mrs. Maria shared with the BAIS Times, “The purpose of this project was to reach out and campaign to younger students.” In addition to that, she posted all of the class’ projects on the February 18 issue of the BAIS Buzz for the entire community to view.
Even though many people have varying opinions on the causes or genuineness of environmental changes, everyone can agree that it is important to take care of the Earth. In Genesis 2:15 it is written, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it,” and in verse 28, man is encouraged to take care of the Earth and everything that lives on it. BAIS is a small community, so the decisions we make to improve the environment may have only small effects on the wider world. However, we shouldn’t feel hopeless to take that responsibility when against something as impenetrable as climate change. By taking up the attitude and responsibilities encouraged by pro-environment campaigns, whether that means being more mindful of our energy usage or finding fun, creative ways to spread awareness, each of us can be stewards of the earth and ensure that Indonesia will become an altogether cleaner place in the years to come.