Summary

Departing from her hobby to create something, besides her art blood inherited from her parents, Julita Joylita Wahyu Mumpuni (34) is motivated to utilize the abundant river weeds in surrounding of her house for the materials of useful household articles. This idea has inspired her to gather people around her house to turn the weeds into something useful and at the same time help cleaning the river/dam which serves as a buffer that regulates water to prevent flood. For the information this river weeds locally known as enceng gondok, flourishes very fast and block the mud and other wastes that make rivers and dams shallow in a short time and hamper their function.

By utilizing the river weeds as the raw materials of handicrafts, she has played a great role in fighting pollution and sedimentation of rivers and dams, and at the same time helping the Municipal Government of Surabaya to prevent flood. She also invited the surrounding inhabitants, the youths, women’s organization and handicapped children to participate in the utilization of the weeds into handicrafts in order to give them additional income.

Her role in preserving water, such as (1) Utilization of water weeds that are considered as pests and waste to become valuable articles, for instance the stems are used for plaited mats and the leaves are used as compost and recycled paper; (2) Socializing the Clean River Program, (3) Innovator of small industry for utilizing water weeds; (4) Controlling the uncontrolled development of waterweeds around Kebraon dam; (5) Utilizing the waste of waterweeds from handicraft industry for compost; (6) Utilizing the waste of water-weeds from handicraft industry as complementing material for the production of recycled paper.

By holding the hands of the youths, women’s organization and handicapped children in utilizing the waterweeds for handicrafts, she is able to produce handicrafts such as; bags, chairs, tables, mats, dish layer, saucers, fruit containers, waste baskets, draperies, laundry baskets, newspaper holders, lamp caps, cushions, caps, trays, jewelry boxes, food containers, blinders, flowers, shoes and sandals, carpets, beds, various covers and others. On top of that she also produces compost and recycled paper from the waterweeds.

Besides teaching skills to the workers, women’s organization and handicapped children Julita Joylita Wahyu Mumpuni is often invited to teach the skills of making handicrafts using waterweeds. Sometimes a group of people from various places come to learn how to make handicrafts out of waterweeds. She has done a lot of things to promote her products among others by participating in fairs and bringing tourists, either domestic or foreign, to her workshop and to go around the dam using the traditional local carriage (pedicab). The tourists enjoy learning how to make the waterweeds handicrafts starting from the process of collecting the waterweeds until the making of handicrafts.

The social impact of her activities is reducing unemployment, many society members work by collecting the waterweeds and making the handicrafts, making compost from waterweeds, making recycled paper from waterweeds, guiding tourists, and as environment lover activists. The impact to natural environment, among others, can be seen from lessening of waterweeds that pollute the Kebraon dam, prevention of sedimentation in the river and the dam and prevention of flood.

Her work has resulted in the award from the UN (UNEP) “Clean Up the World Award 2002”.

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