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Developing PlastikDetox with the 3R

Volunteer of PlastikDetox. Source: © PlastikDetox

While the world now is mostly familiar with the 3R of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, PlastikDetox has developed its own 3R (or 3P in Bahasa Indonesia) to educate small businesses in Indonesia on single-use plastic (SUP) waste prevention. When I am asked to share the story of PlastikDetox’s journey in the past ten years, I think that the best way is also by starting from the same principle.

PlastikDetox’s version of 3R is Reuse (pakai ulang), Reduce Gradually (pengurangan bertahap), and Rethink (pikir ulang). We teach this principle to business owners to assist them in their decision making process to wisely reduce SUP. 

Whenever possible, choose reusable alternatives to ensure that we don’t quickly produce a different type of waste. For example, paper straw is better than plastic, but it is still single use and immediately produces waste. 

Choose your reduction gradually based on your current available resources. It’s great to be ambitious, but too much of anything usually kills your consistency. We recommend gradual changes, likely to be imperfect, instead of instant zero waste for only a brief period of time. Then most importantly, don’t stop there. 

Rethink to improve your current alternatives. Do your research, share your findings, ask around, ask us to check whether what you are using is the best. Big challenge takes plenty of brain space to conquer. In PlastikDetox, we have our network and valuable dedicated volunteers to share theirs.

‘What do volunteers have to do with this?’. One of the most important parts of PlastikDetox work is our volunteers. These amazing individuals are students, business people, designers, architects, and professor; 18 of them who committed to support our activity with their time, skills and experience. We train them with PlastikDetox’s principles and way of thinking, give them chances and challenges, learn alongside them, and see their potential growing into leaders with environmental awareness and priorities.

For a 10 years old volunteer-based, not-for-profit organization with limited resources and assisting 43 small business members across 3 provinces in Indonesia; we exist from quality, not just quantity. This is where the 3R comes in handy. We often reuse and rekindle old ideas. What was once not suitable, turns out to become the solution for the current situation. We reduce unnecessary steps and try to keep things sweet and simple. Our stance to promote behavior change frequently leads us to the other R: rejection. It hurts, yet it frequently is the turning point to rethink our ways and regrow our programs.

Our impact cannot be explained by mere numbers. We forge long term relationships, we build critical thinking, we forgive mistakes and rise from it. We have business owners changing their minds about the packaging they used to be comfortable with, and they return to us with minimized plastic usage ideas. Our volunteers embrace new confidence, some of them stay with us for years, some continuing our values to where they are now. 

We hope to grow more with PlastikDetox’s 3R as the foundation of what we are, how we are recognized and trusted.

Writer: Anna Sutanto (Cofounder PlastikDetox)

Editor: Natalie Giusti (Cofounder PlastikDetox)

Writer profile:

Anna Sutanto, chatterbox of (mostly) sustainability. She likes to spend her waking hours either talking or reading or daydreaming about how to make a better world.