The launching was initiated jointly by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics’ General Secretary Rosarita Niken Widiastuti and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics’ Director of Economic and Maritime Information and Communication Septriana Tangkary. They were accompanied by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s Director General of Garbage, Waste, and Toxic and Dangerous Materials Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs’ Deputy IV for Coordination of Maritime Human Resource, Science, Technology, and Culture Safri Burhanuddin, and Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia – “KPI”) Chairman Yuliandre Darwis.
The launch was performed by jointly pressing a digital button on the giant screen, and by pressing down their palm prints and signing the commitment to maintain cleanliness and reduce the use of plastic-based products in daily life.
In front of the 1,500 attendees in GBK, the speakers gave a message on the worsening condition of the environment due to excessive amounts of plastic waste. In order to initiate change, we must first start by changing ourselves. We must start to reduce our daily dependence on plastics, for example using refillable tumblers to carry our drinking water instead of buying new bottled water every time. The One Million Tumbler movement is planned for dissemination throughout Indonesia, so that in the end, millions of people will use tumblers continuously.
“We are also running this movement in 10 other cities. We hope to inspire one million people to stop – or at least reduce – their use of single-use plastics for carrying their drinking water,” Rosarita said.