The youth of Bumiaji have developed a composting center with a little bit of knowledge and a lot of enthusiasm, while making extra income and conserving the environment.

Malang. There may seem to be little connection between garbage and young people. In fact it is a rare thing, indeed, for youth to want to have anything to do with processing waste.

An exception to this rule can be found in Bumiaji Village, Bumiaji District, Batu, Malang, East Java. Inspired by the various theories and exercises during a Field School Program, a number of Bumiaji youth guided by Darmanto, a member of the Kelompok Tani Bumijaya II farmers group, decided to test some creative ideas for solving environmental problems occurring all around them. One of the ideas grew out of the concept of perceiving a challenge as an opportunity by making compost from garbage and waste water.

Up to now garbage has been an increasingly difficult problem to solve, as the population grows and residential areas become more crowded. On the other hand, environmentally friendly farming techniques have been found to be an effective solution in several places.

Their plans recieved support from the village administration. Bumiaji Village allocated Rp. 13 million through the ADD (Alokasi Dana Desa or village budget) program for the processing of garbage. The first step taken by Darmanto was to organize the village youths to develop a composting center.

Different from most composting efforts, the ”Compost House” uses the fermentation technique of making starter compost known as MOL (local microorganisms). All of the MOL materials are natural, so no purchases are necessary. With MOL the composting process has proven to be faster. The composting center can produce 6 tons of compost in just 10 days. Even with this production level, they are still having trouble meeting the demands of apple, vegetable and flower farmers. For the time being, they are concentrating on meeting the needs of members, and then selling left-over compost to meet the increasing demand.

After almost three years since its establishment, the composting center has a compost chopper and a livestock feed unit. According to Darmanto, the “Compost House” brings in around Rp. 1 million in profit monthly, after paying for water, fuel and manpower. Even with minimal facilities, the composting center is able to employ around five people daily. ”Not bad for high school dropouts,” added Darmanto.

Arief Lukman Hakim, ESP East Java