According to a report from Al Jazeera TV,  my city, Jakarta,  is one of Asia's most  flood-prone cities. Every year hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the capital of Southeast Asia's largest economy brace for the loss of business, shelter and livelihoods.

Each year, as the rainy season approaches, like these days, the authorities insist 

they are ready to counter the tides of brown murky water, trash, and even animals, surging downstream. But the annual city-wide submergence continues.

This year's sustained downpour threatens to prompt the kind of flooding not seen since 2007 when 350,000 people were evacuated from water-logged areas and dozens were killed. Already, at least 100,000 people have been affected. Army personnel have been deployed to some of the city's poorest parts to clean up - a process likely to take weeks, if not months.

It's a very challenging situation, which inspired me to challenge my younger school children around me to discuss "what's the minimum role we can play to contribute to the solution?". The discussion ended up by deciding that we will keep reminding each other not to keep waste excessively. We believe that reminding each other not to waste should be a vital component of education both at home and at schools.