Efforts to address household waste accumulation at the village level have now entered a new chapter in RW 01 of Purwodadi Village, Sidayu Subdistrict, Gresik Regency. Through a community service initiative, local residents were introduced to an innovative sorted waste bin equipped with a plastic bottle press. This program strategically targets male heads of households, a group expected to become the driving force for environmental behavior change within the domestic sphere.
The service team realized that conventional environmental education is often not effective enough to change public habits. Therefore, the chosen approach was to provide concrete technical solutions. The plastic bottle pressing tool was introduced as a practical instrument to compact waste, making it more compact, easier to transport, and possessing high potential economic value if managed through the village waste bank.
During the socialization session, residents were invited to get actively involved through direct demonstrations. The fathers of RW 01 were not only taught the theory of organic and inorganic waste classification but also practiced using the pressing tool directly. This experience-based learning method proved effective in increasing residents' enthusiasm and facilitating the internalization of waste management practices in their respective homes.
This program carries the mission that environmental awareness is the collective responsibility of all elements of society, including heads of households who have often been overlooked in domestic waste management issues. By involving the fathers in this process, it is hoped that clean values can be more easily transmitted to all family members, creating a waste-conscious culture organically from within the home.
As a follow-up step, this activity is expected to continue as a sustainable movement rather than just a ceremonial event. The presence of this appropriate technology acts as a trigger for Purwodadi residents to be more consistent in maintaining environmental cleanliness. The success of this empowerment model is hoped to serve as an example for other villages in Gresik in achieving independent waste management at the source.
