‘Bank Sampah’ (Rubbish Bank) in Suryodiningratan, Mantrijeron, Yogyakarta reactivated after being in a vacuum for three years. It was activated by Nursing Profession students of Medical and Health Science Faculty (FKIK) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta of batch XXIII, namely Arief Tri Wibowo, Syamsudin Ali Akbar, Indra Purnama, Astria Wulantri, and Farida Nuraini. The students had observed health in community of RW 14 of Suryodiningratan and found out three main issues that one of them was trash management.

In an interview on Saturday (2/7), a supervisor of the students, Dianita Sugiyo, S.Kep., Ns., MHD stated, “On 8 June, the students conducted Forum Group Discussion (FGD) with the community. The forum elected a chief, secretary, and treasurer, and two ‘bank sampah’ cadres of each household (RT). “

The students, after that, promote bank sampah and listed the people who would be bank sampah customers. “Activities of bank sampah in RW 14 have been running; however, the interest of people of RT 48 and 49 in bank sampah is low. Thus, the students encourage the people’s awareness of bank sampah,” she informed.

The forum also yielded Strandard Operating Procedure (SOP) of rubbish collecting. The SOP was dealing with selecting rubbish based on the dustbin, collecting rubbish once a month, and selecting rubbish by the elected cadres in temporary rubbish dump.

Indeed, the students cooperated with Environmental Agency (BLH) of Yogyakarta city and officials of rubbish dump in Suryodiningratan. “The officials are opted by the BLH to monitor the bank sampah in RW 14,” Dinanita conveyed.

She expected that the new organization structure in RW 14 of Suryodiningratan could organize the bank sampah well. “The students has been scheduled to monitor and evaluate the bank sampah in the first week since they will stay with the community only for six weeks,” she ended.