SLEMAN - Towards the age of 61 years on December 15, 2019, UPN "Veterans" Yogyakarta (UPNVY) is increasingly showing its commitment in realizing an environmentally friendly campus. This commitment is proven by the acquisition of 38th Greenest Campus in Indonesia in 2019 based on the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2019. In the world order, UPNVY is ranked 545.

This ranking was announced by UI Green Metric at Balai Sidang Building, UI Depok Depok, West Java, Tuesday (12/03/2019). The announcement of the rating is also broadcast live streamed which is witnessed by universities outside Indonesia.

"This is a form of our commitment as a sustainable green campus. It is not only the jargon but also its implementation”, said Marcus Kusnardijanto, the Head of Cooperation and Public Relations Subdivision.

The commitment of UPNVY as a sustainable green campus has been stated in Chancellor Decree No. 11 of 2017. The decree is then implemented in various activities, one of which is reducing plastic waste.

"In some study programs, we have started replacing snack boxes with lunch boxes, bottled mineral water with tumblers in every activity, both in meetings and during field studies. Hopefully, it will spread to e tother study programs soon", he said.

Previously, the commitment to reduce plastic waste had also been echoed at the National Defending Campus Life Introduction Week (PKKBN) which took place on 12-17 August 2019. At the orientation event, 3000 new students and 500 committee members were required to bring a tumbler.

"The committee prepares refill drinking water for the students and the committee. This is our joint commitment”, said M. Irhas Effendi, the Chancellor of UPNVY.

This year, said Irhas, is the first time for UPNVY to require new students to bring a tumbler as a form of commitment to reduce plastic waste.

The result is that, according to Irhas, the plastic waste, especially mineral water packaging can be reduced. He hopes that this commitment will continue to be carried out by academicians.

UI GreenMetric is one of the programs from the University of Indonesia that assesses universities in Indonesia and the world based on commitment and action towards greening and environmental sustainability.

UI GreenMetric participants reached 780 universities from 85 countries in the world this year. This number increased from 719 universities from 81 countries in 2018. (wwj/ PR)