This last few days, the Bali Ecobrick team and I are off on an expedition to Bangiwani, West Java. We’ve been meeting community leaders and just regular folks who have no idea about plastic’s dangerous properties. This part of Indonesia reminds me of the Philippines– lush, green, rich culture– and no waste management at all. The folks we are meeting are thus super receptive.
Yesterday at the ‘Makarya’ Festival (which aptly means “let’s do something!”), we did an open air workshop. The whole area filled up with over a hundred people.
People were super interested– they don’t know much about plastic and want to learn. My observation here as as in other places is that plastic pollution here is a direct consequence of simple ignorance. When I asked the crowd what plastic is made of, not one person could answer. When we asked how people disposed of their plastic, they answered with a chorus of “Bakar!” (Burn!)
I was fascinated to observe the crowd — teenagers, men, women– all in rapt attention as Ani talked about how burning plastic creates dioxins that are bad for us. I shared how plastic baby bottles are banned in Canada. We discussed how the sun breaks plastic into smaller and smaller toxic particles. This was all a revelation to them.
When we started ecobricking the great big pile of plastic from the festival disappeared as young and old jumped in to learn how to Ecobrick. Several schools, government and women’s group had sent delegations.
Ecobricks will now be spreading in Bangiwani! 🙂
