Precious Trash

During their breaks, women vegetable farmers in Jernih Jaya village turn plastic waste into handicrafts. Motivated by Kaliyem, over a dozen women in the village appeal to residents to manage their own trash.

KOMPAS/YOLA SASTRA (JOL) 02-01-2020

Kaliyem, 45, who chairs the Jernih Jaya Makmur Farmers Group, holds up a bag made from plastic waste that she and Jaya Makmur members made, on Thursday (2/1/2020) in Jernih Jaya village, Gunung Tujuh district, Kerinci regency, Jambi.

Kaliyem, 45, showed a knitted hat with yellow, red, purple, white and black patterns. Adeptly, she demonstrated how to knit a hat made from used plastic bags.

“I learned [to knit and weaving] as an autodidact. At first I learned from a relative in Jambi. Then I found the tricks of the trade myself to top off my handiwork,” said Kaliyem at her home in Jernih Jaya village, Gunung Tujuh district, Kerinci regency, Jambi, on Thursday (2/1/2020).