Chapter I.
Introduction
a. Background of Research
Indonesia's garbage problem is not a new one. After China, Indonesia is the world's second- largest producer of plastic waste (Abdila). Waste could be spotted everywhere around Indonesia, including in the sea, on the beach, on roads, in the woods, and on unused land. The waste problem became homework for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan).
According to Inside Indonesia, the waste bank has been initiated in 2008. A waste bank is a place used to collect sorted waste and the results from collecting sorted waste will be deposited into a place for making handicrafts from waste. The waste banks also turned waste into something more useful, such as fertilizers or other items that have a sale value.
Waste Bank is a facility to manage waste with the 3R principle (reuse, reduce, recycle) as a means of education. We have also been taught about the 3Rs; reusing, reducing, and recycling is one of the best ways to properly manage and handle plastic waste. This has also been regulated in the regulation of Peraturan Menteri Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Nomor 14 Tahun 2021 about waste management in the waste bank.
There are numerous waste banks that I could find around Salatiga quite easily. In Salatiga, there were at least ten waste banks in Mangunsari. Not only the number of waste banks in a sub-district but also the waste bank was decorated attractively using waste to provide awareness to the public about waste management in their environment. Assisted in dealing with waste management in the environment and aimed to make people aware of their care for the environment.
With the presence of a waste bank, it could be beneficial for humans and the environment. The result was the environment is cleaner and the presence of a waste bank also makes people aware of the importance of cleanliness. To increase public awareness about waste problem, waste banks in Salatiga, specifically the unit waste bank “KUSADARI” (kumpul sampah djadi rejeki, or collect trash to make money) and Koperasi Barokah or cooperation that were located in Ngawen, were
pioneered by women in a family welfare program as known as Ibu-Ibu PKK. Through the waste bank, we can see women's perspectives on the issue of waste specifically in Salatiga.
According to Radhika Kapur on the Roles of Women Within The Society in 2019, women's roles in society are acknowledged in many areas, including social, political, economic, religious, and cultural. They strive for the benefit of society by spreading information and raising awareness among individuals. They are needed not just to carry out their job obligations to generate income, but also to operate efficiently to enhance the welfare of the community. Women's roles in society are largely recognized in ways that enhance their welfare (Kapur).
This research was intended to examine the role of women in the waste bank in Mangunsari, Salatiga.
b. Research Questions
In an attempt to find out the answer to the research problem, this research covered this question:
1. What is the role of women in the waste bank?
c. Objectives of The Research
The objective of the study provided an overview of the women’s role in the waste bank and their contribution to reducing the waste problems in their environment. Also, their role of caring about the environment and as an educator helped other people aware that the waste problem in Indonesia is still not finished.
d. Literature Review
Reviewed journals and articles that were related to phenomena about waste issues and women these days helped to collect the data about women’s role in the waste bank. Many recent studies have focused on the waste problem, also, women and their roles.
Plastic trash is a worldwide issue with geographical variations. The health and environmental consequences of plastic waste are only now becoming recognized. The majority
of our knowledge is focused on plastic waste in the marine environment, but research has found that plastic waste in landfills and poor management of recycling systems may also have an impact due to the chemicals contained in plastic (Plastic Waste: Ecological and Human Health Impacts).
This is particularly true of plastic waste in the ocean which can move vast distances be carried by, or be transported by wildlife that ingests or becomes entangled in plastic. Although plastic waste may not continuously cause detectable harm or death as a disconnected figure when combined with other impacts, such as uncontrolled fishing or oil spills, it may contribute in total to genuine impacts (Plastic Waste: Ecological and Human Health Impacts).
Unmanaged plastic waste has moreover influenced Indonesian streams and the sea.
Government has such activity to avoid and constrain the potential of a waste era as much as conceivable by executing the plan for supportability within the frame of re-designed items and packaging by staging single-use plastics, eliminating superfluous and excessive packaging, making packaging more recyclable and reusable (National Plastic Waste Reduction Strategic Actions for Indonesia).
The need for proper waste management has become increasingly important in line with the rapid growth of urbanization (Khan, Ahmed and Najmi). Plastic waste is a major concern to human health and the environment along with this domestic waste. Plastics that take years to decompose represent a major threat to the natural environment. Waste that is thrown into landfills, as well as waste that has been mishandled and mistreated may contaminate the ecosystem (Khan, Ahmed and Najmi). One of the methods for the management of waste is the recycling of waste materials. Consumer behavior in developing and developed countries concerning handling waste could help reduce the waste problem in their environments (Khan, Ahmed and Najmi). Increasing awareness of the waste problem is one of the most efficient strategies for consumers to recycle plastic waste.
Women have been entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the household chores, as shown by Singh and Islary’s research. Only men’s lives and experiences have been portrayed by historians in the past but women’s experiences and roles in society have been forgotten and ignored. The line of gender inequality in Bodo society was just so narrow that it was hard to imagine even more differences between men and women (Singh and Islary). However, gender
inequality is brought to light for further investigation under certain circumstances and women have made significant contributions to human society’s growth, development, and sustainability (Singh and Islary).
Gender discrimination is also seen in Kenya based on Maulana and Supriatna’s research about ecofeminism and Wangari Maathai’s movement. By viewing gender as a given nature or state, the concept of gender is used to weaken the position of women. Kenya has seen the development of a women's movement against male dominance, and the inequality experienced by Kenyan women is in line with natural injustice and oppression. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan conservationist, is moved by the harmony between oppressed women and degraded nature.
Wangari Maathai's ecofeminism movement, which he founded as a way to shift Kenyan society's perception of women as weak creatures, tree planting, and Maathai's ecological movement came from his concern for the destruction of nature and discrimination against women. The perception of women as weak creatures, as well as the existence of unequal treatment of women, are issues that will never be solved as long as society is unable to change its paradigm concerning nature and women. (Maulana and Supriatna)
On the other hand, women and girls are vulnerable to gender discrimination. Radhika Kapur in the research on the Role of Women within the Society also mentions that women have important and necessary roles in society. When women take on diverse and complex roles, they need to ensure that they should be working efficiently to improve the well-being of their families and communities (Kapur). To look at it another way, they must make certain that their contribution is valuable to individuals. When people have these kinds of experiences, their ability to contribute is considered impacted.
They are also expected to do something more than carry out their job responsibilities to earn money and are expected to work efficiently to promote the community’s well-being (Kapur).
In Surabaya, women's roles in handling PKH funding remain static. Women who profit from the cash play a dual role as well. Aside from that, women perform household tasks such as baby care, cooking, and so on. These women do not play their rightful role in managing funds, budgeting, and spending. This shows that men continue to dominate the role of setting household allocation, while women serve only as executors (Wijayanti and Rosalinda).
e. Significance of The Research
Based on several journals and articles that have been reviewed, this waste problem is not a simple matter, even the waste comes from various industries, one of which is the electronics industry. This study uses ecofeminism which explains that there is a connection between nature and women. Women often get discrimination against thinking that they have something in common with nature, which is getting more and more full of garbage caused by human activities.
The role of women is not only at home, women have other roles. Kapur explained that women have an important role in the welfare of society. Research conducted in Surabaya also proves the role of women in funds even though the results are stagnant. Therefore, this study aims to show the important role of other women in society through waste banks. As a contribution to making people more aware of waste issues in their environment.
f. Research Methodology
This research was based on ecofeminism by Greta Gaard. The data was collected through interviews and participant observation by taking part in the area of documenting the role of women in the waste bank in Mangunsari, Salatiga as a contribution to reducing the waste in their environment. It is necessary to have first-hand or second-hand experience to get information about the women’s roles, struggles, and activities in their home and social life. From a woman’s perspective of how to manage waste such as plastic waste or organic waste from their environment. The collected data were analyzed using the narrative analysis method.
i. Theoretical Framework
Ecological feminism was the position that there were important connections- historical, experiential, symbolic, and theoretical-between the domination of women and the domination of nature, an understanding of which is crucial to both feminism and environmental ethics (Warren). According to Gaard and Gruen on Environmental Philosophy, ecofeminism was a thought that aimed to analyze and practice the connections between women and nature. Ecofeminists have recognized connections and relations between women's oppression and nature's oppression that were important to understand why it is that the environment was a feminist issue (Gaard). The idea was to examine the correlation between all types of human oppression, particularly women's
oppression, and nature. Also, ecofeminism could highlight the importance of a person's personal experience as a source of knowledge as it believes that there was a connection between women and nature. (Gaard and Gruen)
ii. Research Methods
(a) Data and Data Gathering Methods
The collected data were gathered from interviews that were held in May-June; I interviewed Bu Mendy from the Kusadari waste bank dan Bu Lea from Koperasi Barokah to see the women’s role in the waste bank and their contribution to their environment. The secondary data were collected by library reading and from other sources, such as someone’s experiences from webinars and videos that were related to the research. The answers to the research question were found by combining ecofeminism and the data that collected from the Kusadari waste bank and Koperasi Barokah to see the relationship between women and nature, and looked at the issue of waste from a woman's perspective.
The methods of data gathering were gathered by interviewing and observing the waste bank. It involved the activities and struggles of the women to see their role in the waste bank in Salatiga. It was also an in-depth interview with women at the
"KUSADARI" waste bank and Koperasi Barokah. Interviews and participant observation to collect the data from their perspectives and observation to get a clear image of the location and activities in Salatiga. The questions for the interviews covered the primary data such as what are they doing in the waste bank, their experiences, etc. Field note-taking, photos, video audio recordings, and interview transcripts were the primary data gathered in this research. To get secondary data, joined some webinars and library research, including document reading and note- taking.
(b) Instrument (interview questions, observation protocol, etc.)
The resource people were agreed to do the interviews, and these are the interview questions;
Interview questions for the management of a waste bank
1. What do you think is the meaning of the waste bank?
2. Since when did this waste bank stand?
3. Who are the members of the waste bank
4. What is the importance or benefit of a waste bank for the environment?
5. What are the benefits of saving in a garbage bank for mothers?
6. Activities or programs at the waste bank?
7. Work schedule at this waste bank?
8. What types of waste are received by this waste bank?
9. Does this garbage bank also have waste management based on the type?
10. What are the results of waste management at the waste bank?
11. Is there a special strategy to increase income in this waste bank?
12. Why do many women work for a waste bank?
Interview questions for the member of the waste bank
1. Your response to the existence of a waste bank in your area?
2. The waste bank helps you in what way?
3. Do you attend the training before joining the waste bank?
4. What crafts have been taught by the waste bank to you?
(c) Data Analysis
The method of data analysis is conducted with narrative analysis to analyze data from various sources; the resource person’s stories and experiences, and library readings. Ecofeminism helped to see a more humanist and equal society, not only the relationship between humans but also the connection between humans and nature. Ecofeminism was applied to see from women's perspectives about the issue of waste specifically in Salatiga. Later on, the data that were recorded were interpreted and structured into the form of fiction in Chapter 2.
g. Outline of The Thesis
Women have been entrusted with the responsibility to take care of household chores, but they also have an important role to play in their environment. Ecofeminism also can be seen in movements and activities that fight against the ecological crisis and gender discrimination, such as Mayasari who teaches the women in PKK to sort waste and make handicrafts from used goods as a contribution to reducing the waste problem in Salatiga.
The characters are Mayasari 41 years old, and Mayasari’s husband named Galih. Mayasari and Galih’s daughter Elina. By using a third-person point of view, the story will be going forward and flashbacks to see Mayasari's determination to do something that has an impact on her environment. The setting time will be set in March and it will be in Salatiga.
The conflict began to be shown when her neighbor did not want to join the waste bank.
She thinks that what Mayasari is doing is ridiculous and she has other work she has to do every day. After that, Mayasari started to lose her confidence to continue teaching the women from her neighborhood to sort their household waste. In the end, Mayasari gets encouragement and support from people around her.
