Community Service: "UMI Lecturer Team Provides Education on Non-Organic Waste Management into Application-based Handicrafts for Darul Ilmi TPA Students in the Selayar Islands"

Selayar, 01 October 2024 – The Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) Lecturer Team held a community service activity with the theme "Education on Non-Organic Waste Management into Application-Based Handicraft Items for Darul Ilmi TPA Students in Benteng Selatan Subdistrict, Selayar Islands".

This service activity was held on 1-2 October 2024 in Benteng Selatan Village, Selayar Islands, carried out by Ir. Nia Kurniati, M.Kom with Irawati, S.Kom., M.T. who is a Lecturer from the Faculty of Computer Science  (fikom.umi.ac.id)  UMI Informatics Engineering Study Program and Nurfathana Mazhud, S.Pd., M.Pd. Lecturer from the Faculty of Letters (fs.umi.ac.id) UMI Indonesian Language Education Study Program, apart from that this activity involved several students and alumni. The number of participants who attended was 32 participants consisting of Islamic boarding school students with an average of elementary school (SD) education level and 1 teaching staff who is the manager of the Darul Ilmi TPA, Benteng Selatan Village, Selayar Islands.

The aim of this activity is to increase the awareness and skills of TPA (Al-Qur'an Education Park) students to be able to manage non-organic waste into useful handicraft items, especially for children. This activity is a very relevant and important activity in the context of education and sustainability, especially in efforts to deal with environmental problems.  The head of the service team stated that one of the visions and missions in carrying out this activity is to focus on handling environmental problems, especially the non-organic waste produced. Considering that the Selayar Islands are surrounded by sea where the volume of waste is increasing, facilities for waste disposal and management are still limited. So this is one of the big challenges in waste management which not only has an impact on environmental quality but also on marine ecosystems which are vulnerable to pollution.  The team of service lecturers were moved to take positive steps by educating the public in overcoming the waste problem, namely through outreach about the types of waste and the correct way to manage waste and producing handicraft products.

In this educational session, students are invited to better understand various types of non-organic waste and their impact on the environment. Through the use of multimedia applications, material is delivered interactively using videos, images and presentations, which aims to make students more creative in using used goods, such as plastic bottles, paper and glass. This approach not only increases students' knowledge about waste management, but also encourages practical and innovative thinking in creating solutions.

The enthusiasm of the participants was very visible in the question and answer session, where the santri students actively participated and shared ideas about effective ways to manage non-organic waste into handicrafts. "High student involvement shows that they are interested in learning more and taking a role in protecting the environment around them," said Nia Kurniati.

This service activity is funded by the UMI Research and Community Service Institute (LPkM) as well as internal support from the UMI Faculty of Communication Sciences (Fikom). Through this funding, it is hoped that this activity can reach more participants and have a wider impact in increasing public awareness regarding the importance of good waste management. Through available resources, this activity aims to expand the reach of education to more individuals, while encouraging changes in more environmentally friendly behavior in local communities.

It is hoped that this activity can change people's habits in managing waste into useful craft items so that they are more encouraged to reduce waste and reuse unused items.