The lack of a centralized waste management system in Bali, as in much of Indonesia, has led to most trash being dumped on land, rivers, and in the sea.Indonesia is the world’s No. 2 contributor to the plastic waste in the oceans, behind only China.In Bali, the fight against plastic waste is being spearheaded by local organizations, communities and youth groups, who have already convinced the local government to ban single-use plastics.The groups are pushing for a greater role by the government, particularly to centralize the waste collection and processing system. BALI, Indonesia — Waves roll in over the black volcanic sand on Sogsogan, a beach in southern Bali. Further out, surfers prepare to master the swell. Bali has long been a tropical paradise destination, but the waves, long beaches, palm trees and party lifestyle associated with the island are overshadowed by an intruder disrupting the idyll. Plastic bottles, single-use containers, and plastic straws are scattered across the beach. “I paddle through waste when I’m on my board in the water, and on land there are piles of garbage,” says French tourist Lula Marie Seureolu, a regular visitor to Bali since she was a child. Some days she goes to the beach just to join cleanup activities. “There is plastic everywhere,” she says. The problem peaks during the rainy season, between December and February, when rivers heaving with waste spew it out into estuaries and the ocean. Bali and other Indonesian islands lack sufficient waste disposal plants and collection systems, which means that half the generated trash ends up polluting the land, waterways and sea. Indonesia is the world’s second-largest ocean plastic polluter, after China. Volunteers gather trash from a beach in Bali. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay. ‘We get nowhere by pointing fingers’ Although the outlook is dire, there have been some recent positive changes. Civil society groups and the private sector are on the front lines of the fight. A number of organizations hold daily beach cleanups. The effect is temporary, though, because the next tide will bring in more plastic trash. Any long-term solution will require greater involvement from the government, and that’s what local sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen are trying to get. Inspired by a lesson at school seven years ago, when they were 12 and 10, respectively, they started the organization Bye Bye Plastic Bags. It has since grown to become a global movement of predominantly adolescents, who not only want to prohibit plastic bags but have also started a number of other environmental projects. Getting the government of Bali to take action required appealing to its bottom line: the island’s all-important tourism industry. Tourists drawn here in search of pristine seas and colorful fish were instead encountering schools of plastic trash — and uploading photos of filthy beaches to social media. The Wijsen sisters, together with a number of organizations, held discussions with the local government, leading to a ban on plastic bags, Styrofoam containers and single-use plastic straws, which took effect in July 2019. “Together we want to make a change,” says Isabel Wijsen, now 17. “It’s all about changing people’s attitudes, to think outside the box.” That mind-set is spreading to other areas, including beyond Bali. Since 2013, the Bye Bye Plastic Bags network has grown across 29 countries. Melati and Isabel have become famous young motivators, and they want to continue to inspire young people globally. “We get nowhere by pointing fingers,” Isabel says. “We must take slow, transparent steps to bring change.”
