GLIDES 28th Edition by GLIDES

JUNE 2022

VOLUME #28

SMALL ACTS IN OUR DAILY LIFE CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE PLANET

ISSUU.COM/GLIDES

TABLE OF CONTENTS 01

JKT24: The Indonesian Capital’s Escape from Mother Nature’s Wrath by Clarisa Rebecca

Ruled by Fossils by Sofia Dewi

Usage of the Internet: an Invisible Disease for the Earth by Anggita Khansa Paramitha

Food Waste: Catastrophe of Human’s Bad Habit by Nadia Salsabila

Editor In Chief Handiko Wijaya Advisor Paramita Ayuningtyas, S. Hum, M. Hum. Editors Vera Benita Ahmad Fikri Adzhani

Writers Anggita Paramitha Nadia Salsabila Clarisa Rebecca Sofia Dewi Designers Cherrylita Ollyvia Adisty Fachrani

Editor's Note GLIDES #28 June 2022

Happy World Environment Day! Although we’re late, like what wise people would say, better late than never. The environment is a hot topic. Not only because once in a while there will be news with a sensational title saying that our Earth’s ending at noon, or how the governments around the globe are destroying our home with each second of their policies. The new technological innovations that we see coming every year also come with risks, and these risks push people to come up with ideas to keep Earth still liveable in the foreseeable future.

Handiko Wijaya Editor in Chief

In this edition, some of our writers are going to present their approach, vision, and opinion regarding the environmental condition in this modern era, not only in the international scope but also from Indonesia. From our new capital in Borneo to the disastrous food waste, this is GLIDES 28th Edition.

JKT24: By Clarisa Rebecca

The Indonesian Capital’s Escape from Mother Nature’s Wrath It’s been almost three years since President Joko Widodo made the surprising announcement that he was planning to move Indonesia’s capital city in 2024 from Jakarta to the planned city, Nusantara. With a population of over 10 million people, Jakarta plays a crucial role both as our nation’s capital and largest city. Jakarta is also rich with national diversity and history, witnessing major events from our nation’s independence declaration to tackling down a dictator’s regime. However, Jakarta’s pivotal position isn’t always in favor of Mother Nature, making it one of the reasons why our president wants to relocate the capital. In this article, we are going to take a look into the environmental problems Jakarta is facing and whether relocating offers a proper solution.

Jakarta, Java Island: Hook, line, and sinker It’s no hidden secret that Jakarta is notoriously known for its frequent flooding. We often hear about floods almost every time heavy rain occurs. Not only that the floods have many times destroyed houses and public facilities, but they also have taken a lot of Jakartans’ lives. This proposes the question of who or what is to blame for our capital’s subscription of floods. Truthfully, that’s not exactly an easy question to answer, since it is a complex problem prompted by various reasons.

First of all, the large number of floods Jakarta gets can be attributed to the large number of rivers situated across the city. The lack of proper waste management pushes people to dump their trash into the rivers, which results in clogging. Add in frequent heavy rains, and you get the first recipe for disaster, which are floods that happen due to the overflowing rivers. Floods that happen because of this reason can be prevented by keeping the rivers clean and trash-free, or adding better trash management in Jakarta neighborhoods.

Next up, there’s the most urgent reason that pushed our president’s decision to relocate our capital, which is the fact that Jakarta is sinking. Experts have taken note that Jakarta is sinking at a concerningly rapid rate, with a prediction that the city would be underwater by 2050. Each year, the city grounds sink approximately 6 cm deeper, making them more prone to flooding. The main culprit behind this issue lies behind the habit of pumping underground water (which could be traced back as far as the city was known as Batavia), with 35% of the city’s population still using underground water. Unless we see a change in this habit, we will continue to witness Jakarta sinking its way to its end.

Nusantara, Borneo Island: 0ut with the old, in with the new. To answer that question, we must take a look at the future demographics of Nusantara. The first priority group to move to Nusantara includes members of Lembaga Negara, Alat Negara, Sekretariat Negara, and Sekretariat Kabinet.

Afterward, the next priority group to move there includes government employees with their families. Following that, the government will invite investors and businessmen to economically develop the city. From there, an influx of workers and students is projected to migrate to Nusantara as job opportunities become available for the public. There you have it, Indonesia’s brand-new capital city, Nusantara.

After discussing Jakarta's environmental problems, let’s take a look at the destination of our future capital city. Our president has decided that our new capital city will be located in Penajam North Paser Regency, East Kalimantan, under the name of Nusantara City. He chose this specific destination with the intention of spreading out the nation’s population from the bustling Java Island. So, will relocating offer a solution for our capital’s environmental problems, or will it only be done to escape Jakarta’s impending doom?

Jakarta – Nusantara: The race against time Now that we have the image of Nusantara, we can try to figure out whether relocating can save our capital city. If all of Nusantara’s developments go as planned, the city is predicted to become liveable by 2045. Meanwhile, if no serious efforts were taken to reduce the amount of water pumped from underground, Jakarta would almost be underwater by that same year. From here, we can conclude that it’s up to Jakarta to save itself. Nevertheless, Nusantara can reduce the number of people migrating to Jakarta for work and investment by diverting them to the new capital.

Those small wins will give Jakarta more opportunities to focus on itself. The government can channel its attention and funds to generate effective solutions, since facilitating investments and projected migration should no longer be their main responsibility. They can work on easing access to proper waste management, cleaning up the rivers, and providing an alternative water source that's not pumped underground. In short, Nusantara’s goal of spreading the population out of Jakarta does help give the city a chance to rescue itself.

With fewer people moving to Jakarta, the rivers won't be filled with as much trash, which helps prevent prospective floods. It also halts the potentially increasing number of people pumping underground water, thus at least slowing down the ground's sinking rate. Aside from that, it diverts new corporations away from constructing more office buildings. Despite not being the main culprit behind the issue, these buildings weigh heavy enough to worsen the ground's conditions, making them more prone to sink.

Conclusion: What's next for Jakarta? Jakarta has long served itself as Indonesia’s iconic capital city, but its days are numbered by the fact that it’s sinking. Nonetheless, President Widodo’s plan to relocate the capital to Nusantara may help Jakarta by relieving its burden, allowing the city to redeem itself. After discussing this topic together, do you think relocating our capital is a good idea?

by Sofia Dewi

RULED

by FOSSILS

If you’ve ever wondered what the world was like before the UN existed, look no further than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. War in 21stcentury Europe (everyone seems to have forgotten what happened to Georgia in 2008) and images of white refugees leaving rubble and death behind are both impossibilities to a world used to associating these things with people who are much, much browner. Equally as surprising, perhaps, is the united Western response to this aggression. From “lethal aid”, asset seizures to sanctions tailor-made to break a state, the invasion of Ukraine has countries in the West abandoning neutrality and tanking a global superpower's economy.

What did France and Germany, the two biggest powers in the EU, do? Bypass sanctions to sell weapons to Russia. No prizes for guessing what those weapons are being used for now.

But if you’ve been following the conflict since its beginning in 2014, things seem less surprising and the Western response less glamorous. Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine didn’t start with this war, but with the annexation of Crimea, a territory in the south of Ukraine originally gifted to the country in the Soviet era, following the Maidan revolution that ousted the Russian-friendly fourth President Viktor Yanukovych. Condemnations resounded and sanctions were passed.

In the same way, not buying any more Russian fossil fuels would naturally hamper the country’s ability to maintain a military capable of foreign invasions. Unfortunately, many European countries are unable—or unwilling—to follow this train of thought to its proper conclusion, as seen by both its constant appeasement of Russia and the possibility of one EU country agreeing to use rubles in purchasing Russian gas. After all, free-market, profit-oriented capitalism is just as much a European value as freedom and democracy are.

However, the cold feet on fully supporting Ukraine are not limited to this; nor is weaponry its only scope. Amidst the dramatic images of yachts being seized and Russians queueing up at the bank, it’s easy to miss the only two things that the EU can’t seem to take action on: Russian gas and oil. With Russia’s energy exports being as major as they are, it’s no exaggeration to say that they are almost singlehandedly funding the country’s war machine.

Russia’s authoritarianism and imperialism before the invasion have, of course, been widely known and documented. Using a false-flag attack on apartments to justify a war-on-terror-esque operation in Chechnya (and assassinating the journalist that covered it), murdering dissenters, and spreading disinformation to pit ethnic Russians against their Ukrainian compatriots: there is no low that Putin’s government won’t reach and that Europe won’t close its eyes to. It’s pretty hard to keep them open when Gerhard Schroder, a former German chancellor, makes money off advising Russian gas companies. The problem isn’t just limited to one country, either. One of America’s biggest allies, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, has graced the news in headlines about the state-sanctioned assassination of establishment-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi and their offensive on Yemen, which has created a humanitarian crisis only topped by the one in Afghanistan. Although some sanctions have been applied for the former, the US ultimately doesn’t seek to change its ties with an absolute monarchy that has feminists in its jails, or even to hold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for ordering the assassination in the first place. As for the latter, American weapons in Yemen say enough. Taking both of these status quos into account, it's hard not to conclude that the problem isn't only one of putting cash over convictions, but also fossil fuel use itself. Oil and gas are only available in certain pockets of the world. When those regions include countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia for oil and Russia, Iran, and Qatar for gas, it's nearly impossible to keep using them without dealing with despots. Europe’s ambition to replace Russian gas by sourcing the fossil fuel from a country that violates the rights of migrant workers couldn’t paint a better picture of this fact if it tried. It’s clear, then, that the only solution is switching to renewable energy (including nuclear power). Unlike fossil fuels, the many sources of renewable energy are available at least to some degree in every corner of the world—especially solar power. The self-sufficiency that relying more on renewables would allow bestows upon a country something else besides a cleaner and healthier environment: moral consistency.

Once a nation meets its energy needs mostly or fully via a fully developed mix of renewable energy sources, it no longer needs to buy the oil and gas of countries in which basic freedoms and human rights cannot be taken for granted. Thus, it wouldn’t have to worry about funding autocrats nor be held hostage by them. Maybe Germany shouldn’t have shut down their nuclear power plants after all. In this regard, it seems that some countries who have been (and perhaps still are) threatened by Russia in the past are doing better. Take Finland, which once had a war with the USSR, for instance. With their consumption of renewable energy higher than that of fossil fuels, they can afford to be much less worried about Russia cutting off gas. Transitioning entirely or almost entirely to renewable energy sources amidst rising living costs, which may be alleviated by cheap Russian fossil fuels, is not easy. However, neither is being economically pressured by Russia or existing in a situation where your energy needs and national security clash with each other. Putin continues his invasion with the knowledge that Europe can’t go without his country’s “black gold.” With the right energy strategy, though, he will one day reach to turn off the tap and see that nobody’s been drinking from it for a while.

USAGE OF THE INTERNET: AN INVISIBLE DISEASE FOR THE EARTH BY ANGGITA KHANSA PARAMITHA

As we're living in a globalization era like today, our lifestyle and work have also been evolving each day. So to keep on track with the movement that is currently running, society tend to always try to keep up to date to the newest normal. They come up with new things that can go along with their living, meanwhile can still be in touch with their daily activity. This then became a note by many parties in the world. Their goal is to develop new things that can reduce human’s weight on daily activities. They started creating new technologies that become more sophisticated than before, with features that can help humans reduce work. One of the examples of this new technology is the internet. It has become irreplaceable from the world because of its accessibility, and everything can be solved with just one or two clicks. These days everything is always about the Internet, whether it's about work, school, or even tiny chores that are usually being done offline, now are being transferred into the online base. We even tend to almost 24/7 check on our phone to keep updated on the things we are doing.

However, not many of us realized that the activity we thought can bring many benefits to us, is actually harmful to the environment in a nonvisible way. Not many realize that even just activating our phone, or just sending one or two emails, can cause huge harm to the Earth. Texting, emailing, scrolling through social media, or even studying through the internet or YouTube. All of these can benefit the now-worse-climate change due to the energy that our devices need for them to run; they release small grams of carbon dioxide as energy for the devices to run. The carbon dioxide numbers will continue to increase when we use the data or internet in the device. Basically, the more we use internet data in our device more, it will result in a much more carbon dioxide . Although the number of emission being released by this activity is seen to be small, just imagine how many people that are always using their phones, computer, and the internet, each hour and day. We can already imagine how billions of people have already littered the environment without noticing, that they are harming the climate each second.

Even though scrolling through our device has been something that we can no longer replace from our life, there are still several ways that we can do, in order to prevent the environment from getting destroyed by our activity in the internet. Here are some of the ways:

1 - Controlling emails

Emails nowadays have evolved to be a huge part of the working and advertisement fields, each day more companies try to make more interesting and engaging flyers, brochures, and posters to be sent to their company’s email subscribers online, and they send the advertisements via email, directly linking to their customers. Their goal is to market their works. However, this can be categorized as spam emails, which are emails sent automatically in a large number, Spam emails usually contain images that can release higher emission than regular messages. How so? In sending messages using internet services, it is found that the larger the file of the messages (including attachments such as pictures, folders, files, etc.) will affect the number of emissions being released, which cause them to also be larger. This does seem quite illogical if we only try to think of it in one way, but this was already proven by the researches being done by Mike Berners-Lee, a fellow at Lancaster University who researches carbon footprints, he found that emails being sent can have various amount of emissions that they release, based from different types of the email. For emails, spam emails are estimated to release carbon dioxide around 0.3 grams, regular emails around 4.0 grams, meanwhile emails with pictures and attachments around 50 grams, now imagine how many grams of emission are being released each day by just emailing, excluding other things we do on the internet such as doing video call and streaming videos, which can cause higher numbers of emission. If we continue to do things this way then even the Earth won’t survive for too long, but how can we prevent this from happening? Just as simple as controlling our emails and reducing unnecessary greeting emails can already be a big save to the environment.

2 - Cleaning up searches

When scrolling through the internet, what is the very first thing we do? Right, search up for interesting topics. But few acknowledged that internet search is also a big media that distribute carbon dioxide to the environment. Similar to emails, although the numbers may be small (around 0.2 gram of CO2) for each search, however, if it is being run at the same time by millions of users, then it will still be harmful to the environment. From here we can already think of how even our daily activity that we actually see can be beneficial for us, can actually lead to harm to the environment, but again if this has already happened how can we fix it? For internet search problems, one of the easiest ways to reduce the emission can be done by clearing up our search history and emails spam. They do not help on a large scale but still can help reduce the emission on a little scale. Clearing up searching histories and controlling our search usage is also the most effective way.

3 - Being off-screen

Lastly, regardless of all the things that we can do through the internet to reduce the emission that has been spread, the most effective and promising way to keep the environment safe is by also by being offscreen. Reducing the normal screen time of our devices each day would resulted in less carbon that needs to be released in order to run our devices. Moreover, when we don’t activate our devices, the internet and emails won't be active, which is actually a very good way of reducing emissions. The less we use our devices, the fewer carbons can be released as an effect of the activity. It can not be denied, the internet plays a big role in the globalized-society like in this modern day. Globalization makes it difficult for everyone to not live far away from the internet, however by being more wise in using the technology, like by using a battery mode, limiting your time in the internet, and so on. Anything, whether they are direct or not, as long as they are trying to conserve energy, they can also give a big impact to the environment.

by Nadia Salsabila

FOOD WASTE:

CATASTROPHE OF HUMAN’S BAD HABIT We human eat food for necessities–collecting energy to start the day and keep their immune system on track. Food gives a positive function on human wellbeing and health. Moreover, some of us also love to treat food as an enjoyment–we tend to try many delicious foods that we could find. But sometimes, we only let our hungry eyes order as many food as they could see; we order too much that we can barely consume and then waste them because we’re too full. And it turns out that this bad habit leads to endangering our environment, known as food waste.

for a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions; it generates 8% of greenhouse gasses anually. When food decomposes in landfills, it releases a potent greenhouse gas called methane. Now, let’s look at these issues from the scope of Indonesia. The locals misuse over 300 kilograms of food per person each year–according to Economist Intelligence Units. Based on the Indonesia Green Growth Program’s data, Indonesia Indonesiadisposes disposes of of 23-48 23-48 million tons tons of of food food waste waste from from 2000 to 2019, million 2000 to 2019, equivalent kilograms per equivalent to to 115-184 115-184 kilograms per capita capita per per year. year. These issues cause energy loss, just like losing food portions for 61-125 million people per year.

LET'S DIG MORE ABOUT FOOD WASTE! It’s safe to assume that we all know that spoiled foods bring a phenomenon called food waste. It refers to the food that is still fit for consumption but consciously discarded at the retail or human consumption phases. People tend to dispose of many inedible foods in the trash. This then leads to a neverending food waste issue that only worsens the ecological condition.

Another example is from China, the largest food waste country producer worldwide. According to Forbes,China China has an estimated estimated discarded food China hashas an estimated an discarded discarded food annually food annually at 91.6 91.6 million million tonnes–equivalent tonnes–equivalent to to 6% 6% of of anually at food food production production in in China. China. The waste is enough to feed 30 to 50 million people—about half, between 17 and 18 million tonnes.

Every year, globally, food consumption is wasted around 2.5 billion tonnes. tonnes. The global food demand 2.5 billion has a massive impact on the use of land, natural resources, and biodiversity. Food waste also accounts

Seeing those two cases above is eye-opening to interpret what kind of situation our Earth has been dealing with. Heartbreaking, isn't it, to realize that our beloved planet Earth isn't a safe place to live?

What’s the cause behind these issues? We know that there are causes to every problem. ‘Over’ is the one word that describes this primary cause. Overbuying, Overbuying, overproduction, overproduction, and spoilage spoilage is the main highlight of food waste’s origin. Overbuying is often a result of inadequate forecasting of consumer demand and the large quantities of food that restaurants typically need to purchase at one time. In other words, buying things that exceed our supplies is the one reason why food waste cases are expanding. Moving on, there’s also overproduction. Overproduction means preparing and serving too much food by cooking it. The main core is cooking portions have increased over time, and a large portion of meals often include more food than what we could finish. Food spoilage occurs when the house lacks storage and improper use of it, lacks visibility in refrigerators, partially used ingredients, and misjudged food needs.

People often forget to eat leftovers and throw them away in the trash can because it’s not edible anymore. Poor planning. Why can this occur, you might ask. Poor People who are indifferent to environment issues might contribute to this food waste problem. The simplest example of this act is when we buy a plentiful amount of food, and in the end, are left in the refrigerator to rot. Let’s be honest, how many of you have done that? Poor planning can make us buy more food than we need. While buying more significant amounts of food less frequently makes it more likely that products will have spoiled by the time consumers eat them.

Households are the most significant food wasteproducing sector as a result of leaving spoiled food in refrigerators. However, to solve the issue of food waste, we must also look at other establishments along the chain, including farms, supermarkets, and restaurants.

What’s the solution to end this problem? To not let food waste damage our environment, we must remember to reduce it, as little progress is still helping our environment. How can we help? Here are some of the easy things that you can immediately practice! food. Just buy fewer The first thing is to not overbuy overbuy food. foods that the household can consume for one week or one month. Take notes on how many foods we need to purchase in the supermarket. Remember, buy only what we need.

Second, check the use-by date on fresh fresh food. People usually don’t examine the use-by date expiration after opening a fresh food package. These are the dates to notice, rather than the best-before dates. Only buy what you can use before it expires.

Lastly, don’t forget to to eat eat leftovers. leftovers. We frequently don’t forget forget that there are leftovers in our refrigerator. We fail to eat them until they become stale, and eventually get thrown away. If you happen to cook a lot and regularly have leftovers, remember to eat them immediately–or give them to other people. It’s a great way to avoid throwing away food. Food waste needs to end at the roots. Yes, it’s hard to stop it as the problem becomes more prominent; still, we must settle this problem slowly and steadily. Remember, if we love our Earth, we must change our lousy habits. And most importantly, start to learn and raise awareness regarding these issues, as it’s essential for every generation and the future. The fate of the Earth is in our hands, so be wise about it.