From Small Awareness to Collective Movement: RTL Joins Bangga Membumi Pop-Up Exhibition in Surabaya

Bangga Membumi Pop-Up Exhibition brought together eco-creators, communities, practitioners, academics, businesses, and members of the public who share a common concern for a more sustainable future. Organized by PT Kreasi Karya Raya through Dus Duk Duk, the exhibition created a space where sustainability could be explored not only as a concept, but also as a set of everyday practices that can be understood, tested, and shared by wider communities.

This year’s programme carried the spirit of collaboration under the theme “Synergizing for Nature, Collaborating for the Earth.” Through curated exhibitions, public discussions, educational activities, and hands-on circular workshops, Bangga Membumi encouraged participants to see sustainability as something that can be built collectively across sectors, disciplines, and communities.

In the “Sustainable Fashion & Textile” talkshow, Rahayu shared her perspective on how sustainability in the fashion and textile sector needs to be understood beyond the act of buying or choosing eco-friendly products. Her session, titled “The Tipping Point,” invited the audience to look more closely at the everyday decisions that often remain unseen, but still contribute to the environmental and social impact of clothing.

One of the key reflections raised in the session was the idea of “hidden impact.” In fashion, discussions around sustainability often focus on production, materials, brands, or consumer purchasing behavior. While these aspects are important, Rahayu emphasized that the impact of clothing does not stop after a product is bought. The way clothes are washed, dried, maintained, repaired, stored, shared, reused, or discarded also plays an important role in shaping the overall footprint of fashion.

Through this lens, sustainable fashion is not only about what enters our wardrobe, but also about how long a garment stays in use, how well it is cared for, and how responsibly it is handled at the end of its use phase.

Rahayu encouraged participants to find their own point of awareness. For some people, it may begin with buying less but choosing better. For others, it may start from learning how to care for garments properly, repairing clothes instead of discarding them, understanding material composition, or becoming more curious about where their clothes come from. These small moments of awareness can become a tipping point toward more responsible fashion behavior.

For Rantai Tekstil Lestari, this conversation is closely aligned with its commitment to strengthening collective action in Indonesia’s textile and fashion ecosystem. Transforming the sector cannot be achieved by one actor alone. It requires collaboration across the value chain, from producers, brands, designers, recyclers, solution providers, educators, communities, policymakers, and consumers.

Public conversations such as Bangga Membumi are important because they help translate sustainability from technical discourse into knowledge that is more accessible to wider communities. They also create space for people to connect their daily choices with larger issues in the textile and fashion system, including resource use, waste generation, product longevity, and responsible consumption.

Rahayu’s message in the session was simple yet essential: the tipping point toward sustainable fashion may begin from something small. It may begin from a question, a habit, a repair, a conversation, or a new awareness of how our clothes are connected to wider environmental and social systems.

Small awareness can lead to collective movement. And from there, a better textile future can begin.