Jusuf Kalla School of Government collaborating with Muhammadiyah Living Environment Council conducted the Earth Day Clean-Up on Wednesday (19/4) at Sepanjang beach, Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta to commemorate the Earth Day on April 22. There were 300 students participating in the event including Government Study students and exchange students from Thammasat University and Khon Kaen University.

“The event aimed at raising students’ awareness of caring about environment. The earth is getting hooter and a lot of environmental issues emerge due to people’s activities,” stated Eko Priyo Purnomo, Ph.D. in an interview on Thursday (20/4). It is also to promote UMY to people of Gunung Kidul.

Eko informed that the participants visited several places before doing the Earth Day Clean-Up. First, they had a meeting at Environmental Services of Gunung Kidul. The visit is with the purpose of noticing the establishment of Geology Park of Mt. Sewu as an eco-tourism in Gunung Kidul. Second, the participants also visited Government Tourism Office of Gunung Kidul. It aimed at finding out how tourism places can enhance economy in Gunung Kidul.

Afterwards, they cleaned Sepanjang beach by taking trash, and provided organic and non-organic trash cans in several areas to trigger visitors’ awareness of not littering.