22 September 2017 – On Saturday, 16 August 2017, four IULI students and a staff member joined the International Coastal Clean Up in Bokor Island, which is a conservation island located north of Jakarta. Indonesia is the second largest plastic polluters in the world, creating tonnes of plastic waste a day. The plastic waste that enters the waters/rivers, is likely to end up either in the sea north of Jakarta or close to Bokor Island. A total of 107 youth from schools, NGOs (@greenpeaceid , @gpyouthid, local government and as individuals joined this event to clean up Bokor Island.
The participants combed the coastal area for two hours for debris. Glass, beverage bottles, construction materials, food wrappers and containers and plastic bags were among the debris items collected. The International Coastal Cleanup encourages people to remove trash and debris from beaches and waterways, to identify the sources of debris and to change the behavior that causes pollution.
Here is the testimony of participants:
“This is a very good and interesting activity because it teaches me not to be consumerist. Also, I learn that we have to take responsibility for what we consume as garbage in Bokor Island is difficult to decompose” – Lidia (IR’15)
Greenpeace’s activities are very eye-opening for the participants because we can see for ourselves the impact of our daily plastic waste activities. Hopefully, not only participants who are aware of the impact of plastic consumption but also the entire community can become increasingly in love with the environment. Nini (AVE’16)
“A normal plastic bottle takes about 450 years to break down completely, so the components of a bottle dropped in the ocean today could still be polluting the waters for our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren.” Epri (IULI staff)
