ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLINESS OR EFFICIENCY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF HANDCRAFTERS IN AN INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
Waste treatment is one of the issues faced by populous countries. The added value of waste treatment presents the society in a handcraft industrial center of a developing country with a source of living. From the economic activity perspective, understanding efficiency and environmental friendliness are essential in managing small and medium enterprises. This research sought to figure out the economic activities of handcrafters in an industrial center, mainly to find out whether the economic activities reflected the values of environmental friendliness or whether they attached importance to the efficiency of the product. The research employed a qualitative research method and the grounded theory approach. The research was conducted at a handcraft industrial center in East Java, Indonesia. The data analysis involved open, axial, and selective coding. The research results showed that handcrafters in the variety handcrafter, prayer aid handcrafter, household utensil handcrafter, and entrepreneur-handcrafter categories derived their understanding of the environmental friendliness values from local wisdom and the religion they adhered to. They engaged in economic activities by treating waste using the reduce, reuse, and recycle methods, from production to distribution and marketing, generating added value through green products, distribution, packaging, and marketing. The economic activity analysis in the scopes of efficiency and environmental friendliness showed that efficiency and environmental friendliness in the handcraft industrial center were integral to each other. This is because efficiency and environmental friendliness complement one another. Efficiency was representative of the economic pillar, while environmental friendliness was representative of the social and environmental pillars. Both efficiency and environmental friendliness belong under environmental sustainability
Efficiency, Environmental Friendliness, Green Products, Green Marketing