[Unpad Media Channel] In an effort to reduce used cooking oil waste, which is often discarded when no longer in use, Group 72 of Universitas Padjadjaran’s KKN students organize a training on the process of making and processing used cooking oil into a home care product called “Jelita” (Used Cooking Oil Soap Paper Innovation). The training is held at the Transit Apartment in Ujungberung, Bandung, on Friday, January 31st, 2025.
The training, themed “Utilizing Used Cooking Oil and Citronella Oil as Home Care Products,” iss attended by 23 participants, including residents of the Transit Apartment in Ujungberung and representatives from the PKK (Family Welfare Movement) of Pasir Endah Village, Ujungberung Subdistrict, Bandung City. The goal of the event iss to raise awareness among housewives about converting used cooking oil waste into home care products that could benefit their families.
The event involved 20 KKN students from various faculties, with Field Supervisor Dr. Asri Widyasanti, S.TP., M.Eng., and is held in collaboration between the Faculty of Agricultural Industrial Technology (FTIP) at Unpad and the Housing and Settlement Service of West Java Province. Rifki Cahya Ibrahim, S.TP., a representative from the UPTD of Housing Management and Service of West Java (P3JB), expressed appreciation and positive feedback on the event. He mentioned that the soap paper-making training using used cooking oil was very beneficial for the residents of the Transit Apartment to clean their homes and creatively manage household hazardous waste.
Before making the soap paper, participants take a pre-test to assess their initial knowledge of utilizing citronella and used cooking oil. The results show that most participants were still unfamiliar with how to utilize these materials. The organizers then provide a presentation, distributed training modules, and showed tutorial videos to build enthusiasm among participants for processing used cooking oil into home care products.
Participants then engage in hands-on practice, making home care products with the natural scent of citronella essential oil. After making the soap paper, the team conduct a post-test to assess how well the participants understood the material covered during the event. The participants expressed great enthusiasm throughout the process of utilizing used cooking oil to create soap paper and hoped similar events would be held in the future to expand their knowledge. (SA)*
