Building environmental awareness on campus doesn't always require grand gestures. At the Faculty of Da'wah and Communication (FDK), UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, that awareness takes shape through a simple habit built into the New Student Orientation (Sospem): cutting back on single-use food containers in favor of reusable ones.

This year's Sospem brought together 534 new FDK students for a series of activities designed to bridge the transition from school to university life. Amid all that activity, FDK has worked to ensure student events don't add to the pile of single-use waste on campus.

Fitri Nur Istiqomah, M.M., who oversees Sospem catering and also serves as a Junior Expert Analyst for State Budget Financial Management, explained during an interview at FDK's Integrated Administrative Services office that the use of reusable food containers has been in place for the past three years. The policy grew out of concern over the volume of food waste generated after student events, particularly cardboard and single-use containers.

“In the past, after Sospem, the trash bins would be overflowing every afternoon. If you added it all up across UIN Sunan Kalijaga, the total would be enormous,” she said.

According to Fitri, single-use containers create not only an environmental problem but also additional costs and labor for waste management. That's why FDK chose to address the waste at its source.

This was achieved through a partnership with a catering provider that supplies reusable food containers. The containers are delivered to students at mealtimes and then collected back by the caterer after use.

“Within our existing budget, it turned out we could still afford reusable boxes. So the cost still works out, and afterward we don't have to add to the waste pile,” Fitri explained.

Over the three years since its adoption, the system has run without major issues. There has never even been a shortage of containers requiring FDK to pay replacement costs, proof that low-waste habits can be practically applied to student events when supported by a clear system and cooperation among all parties.

For FDK, this step is also part of the spirit being cultivated through Climate Warrior, an environmental awareness movement involving students and guided by lecturers. The movement encourages students to see waste not simply as something to be thrown away, but as something to sort and manage according to type.

Fitri explained that waste management at FDK is carried out through collaboration between students, faculty administrators, and cleaning staff. Waste that still holds value, such as plastic bottles and paper, is sorted, collected, and passed on to waste collectors, while organic waste is separated from inorganic waste.

FDK has also set up a dedicated space to store reusable inorganic waste and has two waste-shredding machines. These steps ensure that waste with recycling potential doesn't end up directly in the landfill.

“For things that can still be used or resold, like paper and bottles, we've set aside space to store them. Once it's full, we contact a collector. So not everything ends up in the trash,” she said.

These efforts are now being expanded through a new initiative: a pilot project composting organic waste. FDK has begun processing organic waste, mainly leaves and plant residue, into compost. Going forward, the compost is expected to be reused as planting medium or fertilizer to support the upkeep of the faculty grounds.

Though still in its early stages, the initiative is also a learning process. One challenge is ensuring that only genuinely organic waste ends up in the composting bins, making education and habit-building an important part of the process.

According to Fitri, behavioral change cannot be achieved by one party alone. Waste sorting requires the involvement of students, lecturers, education staff, faculty administrators, and cleaning personnel alike.

Separated waste bins are already available across the FDK campus, but in practice, misplaced waste is still sometimes found. That's why collaboration with cleaning staff remains an essential part of keeping the sorting process on track.

“It's a process, after all. There are still cases of plastic ending up in the organic bin, or paper in the wrong place. But we keep working at it to make things more orderly,” she said.

Support from faculty leadership has also been a key factor in the program's sustainability. The idea of using reusable containers was discussed from the outset and has continued to be refined based on yearly evaluations. This year, after three rounds of implementation, the catering provider even agreed to collect the food containers back from students directly, so the organizing committee no longer has to spend time counting and gathering them one by one.

For FDK, three years of experience have shown that reducing waste can start with simple decisions in how events are organized. With 534 students taking part in this year's Sospem, choosing reusable containers means hundreds of single-use containers didn't end up as waste after the event.

“We're trying to do our part so we're not contributing to the waste pile. At the very least, around 500-something students didn't send any waste to the landfill this time,” Fitri said.

FDK's approach shows that environmental education doesn't only happen through lessons or campaigns, but also through everyday practice. When students are invited to see reuse, sorting, and waste management as part of campus culture, environmental awareness can grow into habit.

Through Sospem, this message is delivered alongside students' first steps into academic life at UIN Sunan Kalijaga. They are prepared not only to become independent, principled learners, but also invited to take part in building a more responsible campus environment.

For FDK, an eco-friendly campus isn't just about how little waste is produced, it is about how the entire academic community learns to reduce, sort, reuse, and manage waste together. (humassk)