Your trash for our books

Tommy Ardiansyah

A librarian in Indonesia's Java island is lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect in a novel way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.

Each weekday Raden Roro Hendarti rides her three⁃wheeler with books stacked（使成堆）up at the back for children in Muntang Village to exchange for plastic cups, bags and other waste that she carries back.She thinks she is helping the kids read more and making them aware of the importance of protecting the environment.As soon as she shows up, little children, many accompanied（陪同）by their mothers,surround her“Trash Library”and ask for the books.

They are all carrying trash bags and Raden's three⁃wheeler quickly fills up with them as the books fly out.She's happy that the kids are going to spend less time on online games as a result.“Let us build a culture of literacy（读写能力）from a young age to ease the harm of the online world.We should also take care of our waste in order to fight climate change and to save the Earth from trash,”Raden says.She collects about 100 kg of waste each week, which is then sorted out by her colleagues and sent for recycling or sold.She has a stock of 6,000 books to lend and wants to take the mobile service to neighbouring ar⁃eas as well.

Kevin Alamsyah,an avid 11⁃year⁃old reader,keeps searching for waste lying in the vil⁃lage.“When there is too much trash,our environment will become dirty and it's not healthy.That's why I look for trash to borrow a book,”he says.

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According to Raden Roro Hendarti,what's the benefit of her“Trash Library”?