Recycling and dengue fever in Sukunan, Indonesia

Dengue fever is a serious, sometimes fatal illness, which has been increasing in recent years in Indonesia. It is spread by a type of mosquito which can breeds in very small amounts of water - including rainwater captured by litter, such as discarded plastic bags.

This project has addressed this problem in a village outside Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, through an ambitious waste management and recycling program, including changing people's habits in discarding rubbish.

Current status

Very sadly, the village was mostly destroyed in the May 2006 earthquake. Dr Iswanto is continuing to work with villages, and providing email updates to supporters in Australia.

(This project has no direct connection to Appropedia.)

External links

• The Sukunan Waste Management and Sustainable Living Program - Monash University site.
• Recycling in Sukunan - Australian university students lend a helping hand
• Recycling in a Javanese village - brief description on radio site. (Note, Chriswaterguy has the audio file for this program.)
• Java earthquake followup - brief update on radio site.