SERAH TERIMA BOTOL

We have designed a strategy to socialize with elementary students. Elementary students are generally more fun playing while learning. To that end, we designed a socialization of the more enjoyable by presenting video content that can later to invite students to better understand the dangers of plastic waste. We will also listen more to their experiences in the neighborhood of each.

Besides carrying out socializing, we will implement the "Symbol of Friendship" as we did in the SMPN #2 Melaya and SMKN #4 Negara. Of course, their ability to write messages on different paper with junior high school students and vocational. But their innocence is a challenge for us  to invite students in writing of moral message in order to save the earth from plastic waste.

We can not wait for next week, if you imagine the sight of people exiting elementary students in implementing the Bottle for Botol Program. We will facilitate them so that the program can run well.

[Yasatenaya & Dwipayana]

So is the program Bottle for Botol in Jembrana, contribute to the activities carried out in Australian primary school students. Mrs. Christine (Director of Bottle for Botol) invites Volunteer Mendoyo to target programs to elementary schools as well. There are two considerations in implementing the program at the primary school level. The first consideration, elementary school students felt very fitting to receive information about plastic waste. The second reason, elementary school students with the knowledge and experience of environmental education will continue to SMP and SMA. Surely habits they did in elementary school will continue also at a higher level (junior high school and senior high school).

For the success of such programs, we have prepared in the dissemination strategy and program of activities that have been set. As we know, for Programme Bottle Botol is not only limited to tackle plastic waste. The program is implemented in order to establish good cooperation between Australian students with Indonesian students. The program of activities that we performed for the elementary school is a steel bottle, a symbol of friendship, learning about the environment, and skype date.

We hope primary schools that we choose to accept and execute the program properly in accordance with the stipulated time. For that, we always communicate and coordinate well in order to succeed Bottle for Botol Programs.

[Yasatenaya & Dwipayana]

The staff and students at SMPN#1 Mendoyo are amongst the most environmentally progressive in Indonesia. A middle school educating around 600 students in years 7, 8 and 9 on the west coast of Bali; their environmental program headed up by Pak Yasa is truly inspirational.

The school boasts an environmental club named SISPALA with over 300 members that volunteer to support a great number of sustainability initiatives during their free time on the weekends. Some of the activities they have performed this year include planting mangroves to stop beach erosion, turtle patrols at night to transport turtle eggs into protected hatcheries, bird watching activities across Bali, beach clean ups and installation of bins on Menjangan island and the separation of the schools waste into organic, recyclable and non-recyclable.

It was volunteering at this school that our founder Christine Parfitt was inspired to do more around the issue of single use disposable plastic "aquacups" that are the main source of drinking water for school children in Indonesia. Working with the local staff to come up with a more sustainable solution they started developing the idea of using stainless steel water bottles and water dispensers in every classroom. After putting together a detailed proposal of how the system will work and presenting it to the headmaster and canteen staff the idea was accepted and we went to work creating Bottle for Botol.

By buying a water bottle during our pilot program you are helping develop what we believe will become a much needed example of environmental sustainability at schools in Indonesia. The bottles will be delivered with a two month environmental education program about the effects of plastics on the environment as well as the opportunity to develop a sister school relationship with their Australian partner school Billanook College. 

Most importantly you are showing these young environmental leaders that if they work together to tackle environmental issues with a well thought out simple local change, they can create a great positive example to the world.

 The entire Bottle for Botol team would like to thank Pak Yasa, the members of SISPALA as well as all the staff and students of SMPN#1 Mendoyo for their commitment and ongoing efforts to improve environmental education between Indonesia and Australia. 

This week we wanted to delve into the kids perceptions of their environment now and 30 years from now. We got them to start the lesson by drawing pictures to represent this and to our great dismay, all the kids drew a broken environment in the future. We followed this activity with a story of hope which the kids loved - did you know the River Thames was pronounced dead 50 years ago? It's now the cleanest river in a city in the world!

The final activity involved getting into groups and thinking of questions that the kids could ask their parents about their environment 30 years ago. In order to get a plastics focus, we have asked the kids to bring in an example of something that their parents used to use that was not made of plastic but now is. We're looking forward to a great show and tell session next week!

Our first project kicked off to a great start in West Bali, the junior-high school is very excited to pilot the project with more than half the students including the current year 7s and the environment club. 

The teachers are keen for the students to be the ones to implement the project and therefore we began the first lesson by asking them first if they wanted to join the program and secondly, why? 

The education program is not only trying to reduce the plastic waste at the school, but also to encourage students to drink more water!

We asked the kids to divide into groups and create a poster explaining to the teachers why they wanted this program in their school. Here is a sample of the posters and the reasons they came up with:

A key component of our program aims to create ownership of the project. We believe that one of the best ways to do such a thing is to get the kids to design their own school logo for their bottles! These are some of the competition entries:

The students were given the following criteria for their water-bottle logos:
- The design must be 19cm (width) x 7cm (height) and of the colours: Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, Black or White to meet printing requirements.
- It must bear the school's circular environment club logo of any size.
- It must have the words "Bottle for Botol" written on it of any shape or size.