During the monsoon season each year, large amounts of trash and debris wash up onto Bali’s Kuta Beach. The litter is a serious issue and draws attention to our mounting single-use plastic crisis, but the community’s response to the trash is also inspiring.
This year, locals got together for a New Year’s Day clean-up and removed 30 tons of plastic from the shore. To put this in perspective, 30 tons is equivalent to the weight of about 18 cars, making the clean-up no small feat.
To address the pollution problem in the long term, the Indonesian government announced a plan in April to reduce ocean plastic waste by 70 percent by 2025 and eliminate plastic pollution by 2040. The plan includes improving waste collection, redesigning plastic products, and reducing the use of plastic wherever possible.
Bali is one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations, but during monsoon season when the beaches are flooded with trash, there are not many tourists around to see the magnitude of the impact of single-use plastic. We hope the country’s new plan to reduce plastic waste actually manages to do so and applaud the locals’ commitment to keeping their beaches clean.
