UNAIR NEWS – The high population of a country will affect the increase of various aspects. One of them is the increased production of food waste which is currently an environmental problem. Environmental problems such as damage to natural ecosystems due to greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, inefficient use of water and land, and unresolved food waste problems are increasing.
In this regard, UNAIR students designed an application called “FOSTEAM: Food Waste Management Application as a Solution to Food Waste Problems to Support Sustainable Development Goals,” which won a silver medal at the International Avicenna Youth Science Fair (IAYSF) 2021 in Iran.
The FOSTEAM innovation design was prepared by Jihan Amirotul Farikhah (FISIP), Siti Nur Lailatul Mutmainnah (FKH), Winda Aenah (FK), Bintang Surya Suladiputra (FV) and Ilham Ahmad Kamil (FTMM) with advisor Muhammad Thohawi Elziyad Purnama, drh., M .Si.
On December 21, 2021, Siti Nur Lailatul Mutmainnah explained to UNAIR NEWS that the FOSTEAM design was motivated by many things that have to be done as a student to keep working, one of which is by participating in competitions.
“Due to the current pandemic, other problems that should also receive special attention are now buried, and not many people care. A small example is the issue of Food Waste Management which has a major impact on climate change and even famine in Indonesia. Therefore, our team initiated an innovation to solve the problem,” said Laila.
Furthermore, Laila emphasized that their idea is important because the problem of food waste production in Indonesia is a dynamic problem over time. The increasing population, she said, will increase the production of food waste. If millions of tons of food waste are produced every day, it will be a disaster for the world since the methane gas produced from food waste is 23 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide gas.
“This gas triggers climate change. If we don’t find a solution from now on, what will happen to the earth we live in in the next 20 to 30 years?” Laila explained.
Laila explained that FOSTEAM is an application to distribute leftovers. This program establishes partnerships with MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) as food contributors and maggot breeders as recipients.
“This program is a combination of social and environmental sciences to solve problems and reduce environmental pollution from food waste,” said Laila.
Laila added that this application has various features that make the users use and develop it more easily. In addition, FOSTEAM also provides two-language options, Indonesian and English, to accommodate local and foreign users.
“The FOSTEAM application has various features, including Register and Login, Maps, Trash Database, Partner, Information, Reward, Trash Optimization, Users’ Database, and Logout,” she explained.
Laila and her team hoped that through these ideas, they could make Indonesia one step ahead in dealing with food waste management problems, considering that Indonesia occupies the second position in the world regarding food waste production. The position implies the contribution to global warming which has an impact on climate change.
“With FOSTEAM, people can be more aware, smarter, and wiser in consuming food or taking actions that can affect those around us,” she concluded. (*)
Author: Muhammad Suryadiningrat
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
