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Didin Nurohim loves David Beckham. But when the 11-year-old unveiled a picture of the English football star it was the frame he proudly pointed to and the sketch of colorful flowers along its border.

“Me and my classmates made it,” said the student of Perguruan Rakyat II Elementary School in Melayu Kecil, South Jakarta. Didin beamed with pride when he said his “team” was able to make 10 picture frames out of used cardboard rescued from the school’s trash cans.

In the past four months, 90 pupils at four elementary schools in a flood-prone area of Melayu Kecil have been learning to reduce solid waste by recycling it to make handicrafts.

Three NGOs — Plan International, the Indonesia Disaster Awareness Foundation (YTBI) and the Information Center for Indonesia’s Environment (PILI) — are helping students learn to cope with flooding, but more importantly, how to prevent floods in the first place.
Experts say about 20 percent of Jakarta’s daily solid waste ends up in the city’s rivers and canals, blocking their flow and reducing their ability to deal with floodwater by up to 50 percent. This program shows students the link between littering and natural disaster, and teaches them how to recycle waste materials and also what to do in the event of a major flood.

“They are always excited to learn these lessons,” said Sherly Leo, an activist with YTBI.

The four schools taking part in the program — SD Manggarai 03, SD Muhammadiyah 52, Perguruan Rakyat II and SD Manggarai 04 — are all located near the Ciliwung River and are no strangers to flooding. During the massive floods of 2007, Perguruan Rakyat II was closed for two weeks.

“I’m confident more schools will join this program,” Sherly said, noting that the schools’ teachers also took pride in the fact that their campuses were cleaner since their students joined the waste recycling project.

Nuryanti, the principal of Perguruan Rakyat II, said the trash and litter scattered around campus had been reduced by 70 percent since the program began because the students were recycling trash and using some of it to make handicrafts.

“They separate paper and plastic waste from organic waste. Their new attitude encourages teachers to do the same. Our students are good examples to their teachers,” she said.