The easiest ways to keep the environment clean are daily habits: put rubbish in the bin, sort and recycle waste, compost food scraps, keep drains clear, never burn rubbish, plant greenery and clean up together. These 10 steps work at home, at school and in your neighbourhood.
Each habit is simple enough for children, and together they turn the 5Rs of recycling into everyday practice.
What You Need to Know
- Binning, sorting and recycling rubbish are the three easiest habits to start with.
- By the end of 2025, only 25% of Indonesia's waste was properly managed (KLH/BPLH, 2026).
- Households produce the largest share of waste, 56.7% (SIPSN 2025, via Kompas).
- Clear drains and covered water containers help prevent dengue (Kemenkes, 2025).
Why Is It Important to Keep the Environment Clean?
A clean environment protects your health, because rubbish, dirty water and blocked drains spread germs and attract pests. In February 2026, Indonesia's Ministry of Environment (KLH/BPLH) reported that only 25% of national waste was properly managed by the end of 2025, leaving 105,483 tonnes a day not adequately handled.
Where does all that waste come from? SIPSN 2025 data, from the national waste information system, show that households are the biggest source at 56.7%, as reported by Kompas in 2026.
Put the two figures together: more than half of the waste starts at home, and three quarters of it is poorly handled. The most useful clean-up therefore begins in your kitchen, not at the landfill.
Poor sanitation also has a direct health cost. The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe sanitation accounts for 564,000 deaths each year, mostly from diarrhoeal disease, and links it to cholera, typhoid and intestinal worms (WHO, 2024).
The problem is growing worldwide too: UNEP projects that municipal solid waste will reach 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050 (UNEP, 2024).
10 Ways to Keep the Environment Clean
You can keep the environment clean by handling rubbish properly, stopping mosquitoes from breeding, protecting the air and working with others. The list starts with the easiest habits and ends with community action, so you can begin today.
1. Throw Rubbish in the Bin
Always put rubbish in a bin, even small sweet wrappers. No bin nearby? Keep it in your bag until you find one. Litter blocks drains and attracts flies and rats.
2. Sort Organic and Inorganic Waste
Use two bins at home: organic for food scraps and leaves, inorganic for plastic, glass and metal. In Denpasar and Badung, Bali, waste sorting has already passed 60% (KLH/BPLH, 2026).
3. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Carry a reusable bag and bottle, reuse jars and boxes, and take clean plastic, paper and cans to a waste bank (bank sampah). Less rubbish today means less to clean up tomorrow.
4. Compost Food Scraps
Fruit peels, vegetable scraps and dry leaves can become compost, a natural fertiliser that also shrinks your rubbish pile. Try these practical ways to make compost at home.
5. Keep Drains Clear and Water Containers Covered
Clean drains and gutters so rainwater flows away instead of pooling. Indonesia's Ministry of Health recorded 2024 as the country's peak dengue year, with more than 1,400 deaths, and promotes 3M Plus: drain (menguras) and cover (menutup) water containers, and recycle (mendaur ulang) used items (Kemenkes, 2025).
Recycling appears in both 3R and 3M Plus for a reason: an empty bottle left outside can hold rainwater where dengue mosquitoes lay eggs. One habit solves two problems.
6. Never Burn Rubbish
Smoke from burning rubbish can cause coughing, skin irritation and breathing problems (WHO, 2025). In Greater Jakarta, open burning of waste and land accounts for 9-11% of air pollution (KLH/BPLH, 2025). Instead, sort your rubbish and give it to waste collectors.
7. Plant Trees and Greenery
Plants make your surroundings shadier and more pleasant, and their roots help hold soil in place. Start with potted plants on a terrace or a few trees along your street.
8. Use Fewer Harsh Chemicals
Choose cleaning products with simple ingredients and use only what you need. Keep batteries, used lamps and chemical containers apart from other rubbish, because they count as hazardous waste.
9. Join a Neighbourhood Clean-Up
Indonesian neighbourhoods often hold kerja bakti, a community work day for cleaning streets and drains. Many hands make the job lighter, and you get to know your neighbours.
10. Teach and Remind Others
Share what you know with family and friends. Children copy adults, so your own example is the best lesson.
Also read: How to Deal with Plastic Waste Wisely: Take Note Now!
How Can Kids Help Keep the Environment Clean at School?
Kids can keep their school clean with five easy habits: use the bins, do class cleaning duty (piket kelas), bring a reusable bottle and lunch box, take leftover food home, and tell a teacher about broken drains or taps.
Students can also turn these habits into posters for the class noticeboard. Which habit could your class start this week?
Also read: 9 Examples of Easy-to-Draw Plastic Waste Posters, Check!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are 10 ways to keep our environment clean?
Throw rubbish in the bin, sort waste, reduce and recycle, compost food scraps, keep drains clear and containers covered, never burn rubbish, plant greenery, use fewer harsh chemicals, join clean-ups, and teach others.
What are 3 easy ways to keep the environment clean?
The three easiest are binning rubbish, sorting organic and inorganic waste, and reusing or recycling items. All three start at home and need no special tools.
Why should we not burn rubbish?
Burning rubbish releases harmful pollutants. WHO (2025) says exposure can cause coughing, skin irritation and respiratory diseases. Handing sorted waste to collectors or a waste bank is safer.
How does a clean environment prevent disease?
Clean surroundings mean fewer germs and fewer mosquito breeding sites. WHO (2025) says reported dengue cases rose from 505,430 in 2000 to 14.6 million in 2024, and advises proper waste disposal and weekly cleaning of water containers.
Small Habits, a Cleaner Neighbourhood
Keeping the environment clean comes down to small daily habits: bin it, sort it, recycle it and never burn it.
These habits work best when the whole family joins in, like a Keluarga Adem (roughly, "a calm, cool-headed family") tidying up together. After a weekend kerja bakti, take a break and drink some water so everyone stays hydrated.
For that break, try AQUA Life, a 1.1L bottle that its official product page says is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Once empty, put it in the inorganic bin so it can be recycled again.
Why AQUA? Because not all water is AQUA. AQUA comes from 19 mountain water sources across Indonesia, each chosen through 9 scientific criteria, 5 evaluation stages and at least 1 year of research. The result is AQUA Sejuk Alami, AQUA Adem tanpa didinginkan: naturally cool without chilling.
Let's keep our surroundings clean together. Dingin Alaminya AQUA, Ademin Kamu.
References
- Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup/Badan Pengendalian Lingkungan Hidup (KLH/BPLH). (2026). Rakornas Pengelolaan Sampah 2026: Menteri LH Tegaskan Transformasi Total Tata Kelola Sampah Nasional. https://www.kemenlh.go.id/news/detail/rakornas-pengelolaan-sampah-2026-menteri-lh-tegaskan-transformasi-total-tata-kelola-sampah-nasional. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Kompas.com. (2026). Perlu Strategi Terpadu Atasi 65 Persen Sampah Nasional yang Belum Terkelola. https://lestari.kompas.com/read/2026/02/26/150034186/perlu-strategi-terpadu-atasi-65-persen-sampah-nasional-yang-belum-terkelola. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- World Health Organization. (2024). Sanitation (fact sheet). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sanitation. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Global Waste Management Outlook 2024. https://www.unep.org/resources/global-waste-management-outlook-2024. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup/Badan Pengendalian Lingkungan Hidup (KLH/BPLH). (2026). Target Nasional 2026: Pemerintah Tegaskan Penghentian Open Dumping dan Percepatan Pemilahan Sampah. https://www.kemenlh.go.id/news/detail/target-nasional-2026-pemerintah-tegaskan-penghentian-open-dumping-dan-percepatan-pemilahan-sampah. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia. (2025). Nyamuk Lebih Mematikan daripada Hewan Buas. https://kemkes.go.id/id/nyamuk-lebih-mematikan-daripada-hewan-buas-2. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- World Health Organization. (2025). Open waste burning: sectoral solutions for air pollution and health. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/B09367. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup/Badan Pengendalian Lingkungan Hidup (KLH/BPLH). (2025). Jabodetabek Alarm Polusi: KLH/BPLH Bergerak Serentak, Tak Ada Ruang Bagi Pencemar Udara. https://www.kemenlh.go.id/news/detail/jabodetabek-alarm-polusi-klhbplh-bergerak-serentak-tak-ada-ruang-bagi-pencemar-udara. Accessed 1 October 2026.
- World Health Organization. (2025). Dengue (fact sheet). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue. Accessed 1 October 2026.
