Beach Clean Up On Lombok Island
- Flora Hugon
- Apr 15, 2017
- 4 min read
If you are island-hopping in Indonesia, the next logical stop after Bali is the island of Lombok. First of all, I would like to say that Lombok Island is an amazing island, a must-see in my opinion and, to be perfectly honest, I even prefer it to Bali.
Contrary to Bali, Lombok's inhabitants are predominately Muslims and because the island isn't as tourist as its neighbor, it has a more relaxed vibe to it.
We are 4 travelers at this point, we head south to Kuta. This is the place to go if you want to surf, enjoy the beach and listen to reggae music all night. There is a party every night in Kuta, in a different bar every night, where all the tourists and some local men acting like Bob Marley meet to dance, drink and smoke (careful, drugs are still illegal here and punishments for drug use are heavy!).
We stay at the "Honeybee Homestay" (which I highly recommend). It is easy to rent a motorcycle here and very useful to explore the many dreamy beaches around. White sand, turquoise water, postcards pristine image.
But the reality isn't always that pretty.
Indonesia has a huge problem: plastic and waste products pollution. This is something you immediately notice when visiting the world’s second biggest plastic polluter. Everywhere you look, trash on the side of the road, in cities and in national parks, tons of plastic in rivers which inevitably end up in the ocean. With more than 17 000 islands located in the middle of the "Coral Triangle", Indonesia has the world's highest levels of marine biodiversity, thus the importance of doing something to prevent the destruction of its unique ecosystem.
Unfortunately, Indonesia is also a very poor country, the infrastructure necessary to recycle waste is quasi nonexistent, people just burn their garbage on the side of the road or behind their houses. And the truth is, a lot of people don't even know throwing plastic in nature is harmful for the environment. A lot of products are individually packaged, plastic bags are used everywhere for absolutely everything (if you order a smoothie for example, they will put the plastic cup inside a plastic bag for you to carry around!).
Back on the beautiful beaches of Lombok, today the tide is bringing all the trash back on the white beach. I can't just lay here doing nothing, I start picking up bottles of coca cola, plastic bags, straws, etc...
The tourists laying in the sun notice me, and suddenly I find myself with an army of volunteers, ready to help and clean this beach. Even surfers around pick up some trash and drop it back to us. Everyone is shocked to see so much garbage floating around, getting stuck on your legs.
A local man selling corn on the beach gives me a cardboard box to pick up the trash. I find noodle packs, shampoo individual packages, plastic forks, many plastic bags, some plastic cups, some random things you wonder how they ended up here.
It gets overwhelming, it keeps coming, with each wave a new batch of trash. And the worse part is: there is absolutely no place to put this garbage! Local people just trow it somewhere underneath a tree, 3 meters away from the beginning of the beach.
We all know it, they will burn all of this tonight and some will disappear back in the sea soon... But we are optimist, I believe if everybody was doing a little effort, it will benefit us all.
Beach clean ups are organized regularly here in Lombok or in Bali, by local people and by tourists. They are not completely useless of course, they are important but without a proper garbage management system and systematic education in Indonesia, the trash will keep piling up.
As I write this post, Indonesia just announced a $1bn pledge towards reducing the amount of plastic and waste products polluting its waters. Indonesia’s target a 70% reduction by 2025. This is a really great news and I can only applaud the government for this decision. It will not be an easy task, but it is worth it.
Indonesia is an amazing country, tourism is an important source of income for many people in some islands, but if nothing is done the incredible biodiversity will be lost and tourists will stop coming. It isn't only a tourism problem, many people there also largely depend on the ocean in Indonesia: marine fisheries production (second major producer after China) and major producer of aquatic plant (farmed seaweeds) in the world.
But this isn't only Indonesia's problem, we all live on this planet, it affects all of us. Today the terrible state of our oceans is deeply concerning, it is important more than ever to act and pressure our governments to do something.
Technologies are available nowadays to help curb the problem but I truly believe educating people on the importance of recycling and reducing their use of plastic is fundamental. While traveling in Indonesia, I had the opportunity to talk to people about this issue and many responded positively, they agree, something needs to be done, they know it.
And some local people start awesome initiatives like "Bye Bye Plastic Bags" created by two teenagers in Bali aiming to reduce the use of plastic bags or "Avani Eco" and their biodegradable bags made of cassava. These are inspiring solutions to an overwhelming problem.
What can you do to help? Donate to an organization, reduce your own consumption of plastic, educate your children and inform your friends, participate in beach clean ups, bring awareness and share the info on social medias.
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