Tuesday, October 18, 2022. GIDKP and Aisyiyah’s Institute for Environment and Disaster Management (LLHPB) held a shopping and cooking competition at Pasar Tebet Barat, the first plastic-free pilot market in Indonesia. This activity was carried out to raise environmental awareness through a religious approach related to the ban on single-use plastics in traditional markets.
A total of 25 mothers from Aisyiyah, parents of Muhammadiyah Tebet Kindergarten students, and PKK mothers participated in the shopping and cooking competition without single-use plastics.
Feeling the Sensation of Plastic-Free Shopping at Tebet Barat Market
Contestants who bought fish in reusable containers
In this competition, each participant is required to shop at Pasar Tebet Barat by bringing a reusable container from home to wrap the groceries they will buy. In addition to sellers at Pasar Tebet Barat no longer providing plastic bags for buyers, this was done to show the participants that Shopping using their reusable containers is possible.
Not only reusable shopping bags were used by each participant to buy ingredients at Pasar Tebet Barat, but also containers such as used jam, ready-to-eat cracker containers, and children’s lunch boxes as wrapping containers.
“Because Pasar Tebet Barat no longer provides plastic bags, we have to bring our containers from home. That’s why I brought a lot of containers. But one lesson for me is that it turns out that shopping for food or drinks doesn’t have to be aesthetic; any place can be used. For example, I want to buy ice cubes in large quantities, I can use the used peyek jars at home,” said Mrs. Dwi one of the competition participants.
We need cohesiveness between traders and consumers to succeed in this Plastic Free Market Program. The consumers must also be ready if the merchants are ready not to use single-use plastic. And vice versa.
Cooking Without Single-Use Plastic
Contestants Getting Ready to Cook
After shopping without single-use plastic, the contestants were asked to serve the archipelago cuisine that each team had previously agreed upon. Betawi, West Java, East Java, Padang, and Manado dishes were there.
In the cooking process, the participants were presented with the convenience of reusable shopping containers used during Shopping at Pasar Tebet Barat. If purchased ingredients exceed their cooking needs, participants can re-store them in their reusable containers.
That way, the participants also don’t need to worry about the freshness of the ingredients they buy; as Mrs. Tatik said, “Shopping using our containers has its advantages, too. After Shopping, we don’t need to move the groceries to the containers. We take enough ingredients to cook, after which we can immediately put the remaining ingredients. At home, I think the extra ingredients can be put in the fridge, or if it’s spices, we can put them directly in the spice rack without having to go out and put the ingredients in again”.
Shopping and cooking without single-use plastic is convenient and easy. Therefore, let’s support the Plastic Free Market Program to make Indonesia free from single-use plastics!
