By Burgundy Hurkmans
When you walk along the sidelines of your local beach, how many bottles of plastic can you count? As we all know, Indonesia is known to have problems with pollution, from water pollution to the massive issue of plastic wastage. There are many challenges and sometimes it can feel like there aren’t as many obvious solutions. However, an inspiring engineer has founded a project to reduce the usage of plastic bottles. Meet Lyonda Huwaidi, the youngest aerospace engineer in Indonesia! Lyonda, has always been actively participating in environmental organisations and enjoys helping the community around her. Lyonda noticed the pattern and knew that she must do something about this issue. That's when she founded WaterHub.
Well, what is WaterHub? WaterHub is a project founded in late 2019, that focuses on creating a safe, eco-friendly way to cut off the usage of plastic bottles. The way it works is that water refill stations are placed in many public spaces (schools, bus stations, markets). When people leave their homes, they can simply bring a reusable water bottle, and fill it up using one of WaterHub’s refill stations. It uses a quota subscription model, which is connected to an app on your mobile device. The amount will be deducted from how much you refill, so it doesn’t go to waste. As long as you have a reusable water bottle, all you need to do is walk over to the nearest water refill station and fill up your bottle with healthy, clean drinking water. As WaterHub is different from its competitors, WaterHub is on a path heading towards success. Typically, the conversion to eco-friendly products can be quite expensive, which is inconvenient or not an option for individuals who want to save or have low income. With WaterHub’s economically sustainable system, they can end up saving a lot of money!
Lyonda Huwaidi has already implemented WaterHub in Jakarta and is planning on expanding their reach by implementing WaterHub in schools, public transport stations, and other provinces in Indonesia! This is a very eco-friendly and cost-effective solution to the ongoing plastic wastage issue all over Indonesia.
As a woman in today's society, it can be quite difficult to have our voices heard. Although, over some time, fortunately, there have been a lot more opportunities for women in STEM. This has been an incredible thing to see! Recently, there has been a rise in supportive communities with safe environments for women to pursue a path in STEM such as Generation Girl (Indonesia), STEM Women (UK), and Girls Who Code (USA). It’s much more empowering now than ever! To those who feel as if they’re afraid to speak up, Lyonda has some inspiring words to encourage you!
“Don’t be afraid to leap and have faith. No matter what happens, we are here to support each other.” - Lyonda Huwaidi, 2023
To know more about WaterHub, visit their Instagram page @waterhub.id.