Students of Universitas Gadjah Mada have made another innovation. Now they make a trendy, environmentally friendly bag named as BEST or Baggy Expert of Shopping & Travelling.
The students are Nadia Atina Solihati, Evita Dwi Nastiti, and Fajar Arumningtyas from Faculty of Medicine, Adi Wahyu Saputra from Faculty of Economics and Business, and Bernadheta Sari Jasmine from Faculty of Engineering, with the supervision of dr. Arta Farmawati, Ph.D from Biochemistry Department in Faculty of Medicine UGM. BEST has passed selection to be funded by the Higher Learning Directorate for Student Creativity for Entrepreneurship programme this year.
BEST, a reusable and trendy bag, comes out as a solution to plastic bag waste problems in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta as one of Indonesian major cities produces as high as 220 tonnes of waste per day. Of this figure, only 80% can be transported.
“Presently, the society prefers something practical and portable. Seeing this condition, we tried to modify a tote bag into a multi-functional bag which is still fashionable. Besides, we want to support the Indonesia Free from Waste movement by 2020,” said Nadia on Thursay (8/6).
BEST is equipped with zippers on both sides to extend the bag so it can contain more things from 12 litres to 17.5 litres of volume. A net fabric is also installed on the upper part to prevent any spill out. Inside the bag there is a pocket to keep mobile phones or wallet to give more convenience.
“Unlike other tote bags, BEST can be widened so it is suitable for doing monthly groceries shopping. It is also installed with net fabric on the upper part to secure the contents,” said Nadia.
BEST material has good quality as it uses canvas for the external part which makes it look trendy. The inside uses WP Parachute fabric which is water proof so it can carry vegetables or fruit.
The target market of BEST is female people both students and adults alike. Women who are shopping or travelling need a big capacity bag while they can stay fashionable. BEST is expected to give solution but still prioritising the environment.