Paradise LOST?
Everyday we are fortunate to wake up on the beautiful island paradise of Bali.
Bali has always been a land of contrast.
Shallow ocean reef and endless terraced rice fields; Ancient culture and new development; Forested volcanic mountains and hipster coffee shops.
The beauty is being drastically contrasted by the ever growing trash problem affecting us globally and now locally on our beautiful island.
Every time we buy plastics we adhere to the systems corporations have established as our now normal. Big Players like Coca Cola produce 200,000 bottles per minute and 3 million tons of virgin plastic every year.
This past Saturday, Feb 15th we came together to try and do something about it.
A collective of 12,500 Women, Men, Children; locals, expats, business owners and tourists; coming together in 115 locations to collect over 20,000kg of waste in one day.
For the past 4 years in a row, Bali’s Biggest Beach Clean-up has been lead by: One Island One Voice, Bye Bye Plastic Bags, Liina Klaus, Potato Head and Indosole for a truly localized global initiative.
We spent our morning at the beach with Liina Klauss, an artist, environmentalist and a true Good Human. She has made it her life’s work to try and shed some light on what is happening on the beautiful island she now calls home.
“I’m only making this horror look good so that you pay attention. Plastic in its single-use cannot be justified. Not with a rainbow, not with ignorance, not with convenience, money or time. We must not avert our gaze any longer. We need to stop the flow at the source. It is the only way and the time is now or never.” - Liina Klauss
That morning at our beach alone, our group of 32 Ocean heroes collected:
1200 flip flops
240 toothpaste containers and brushes
330 styrofoam pieces
400 plastic straws
37 PET bottles
310 plastic spoons and forks
There is still lots of work to do to change industry, policy and way of life but these significant gatherings of people are moments to celebrate.
Paradise not Lost, just a bit hidden.
We will do our best to get you back.
#balisbiggestcleanup, #oneislandonevoice, #byebyeplasticbags, #potatoheadbali, #greenschool, #tidakplastikdibali, #liinaklauss, #indosole
