Published on : Monday, June 23, 2014
Bali continues to receive international attention for its alarming waste problem. Last March 2014, Huffington Post published an article called, “Why You Should Take Bali Off Your Bucket List”, highlighting the growing amount of rubbish on Bali’s famous beaches and referring the situation as an environmental disaster.
“We all should be very concerned,” says Nita Sofiani, Miss Earth Indonesia 2013, who joined ‘Bali’s Big Eco Weekend 2014′ to bring nation’s awareness to the situation faced by Indonesia’s most favoured island. “As Indonesians, we’re all proud of Bali and we enjoy what the island has to offer. Therefore it’s our responsibility to advocate its image to the rest of the world by helping to keep it clean.”
Along with thousands of visitors, Nita and Yossico Stephanie, Miss Earth – Eco Tourism Indonesia 2013 rolled up their sleeves and picked up the waste in Padma Beach, Legian-Bali, as part of Bali’s Big Eco Weekend 2014, held by Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, Quiksilver, and Garuda Indonesia. The annual eco festival is held for its 7th time this year in an effort to bring more attention to Bali’s environmental state.
“We are very happy to be part of this great initiative,” says Yossico Stephanie, Miss Earth – Eco Tourism Indonesia 2013. “At the end of the day, this is not just Bali’s problem, but a problem for all of us as Indonesians. I always love going to Bali, the world loves coming to Bali, and I’m sure you do too. So you just have to protect what you love.”
A number of world’s famous surfers – Mark Richards, Jake Paterson, Craig Anderson, Matt Hoy, Freddy Patacchia, Sally Fitzgibbon, Kalea Moniz, Rosy Hodge, and Bruna Schmitz also took part in the event, hoping to inspire other surfers around the world who represent a big chunk of Bali’s tourists. The three companies also shared their eco innovations in the event; such as Coca-Cola’s environmental packaging stewardship, Quiksilver’s most eco-friendly board shorts, and Garuda Indonesia’s eco books.
Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia and Quiksilver started ‘Bali’s Beach Clean Up’ (BBCU) program in 2008, inviting Garuda Indonesia to join the initiative in 2012 after realizing that the problem demands more hands to create bigger change. Since its inception the program has employed 75 beach clean-up crews, 4 tractors, 3 rubbish trucks, 2 barber surf rakes, and has provided over 1,200 waste bins to help remove the trash along Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Jimbaran, and Kedonganan beaches.
In January 2013, the program collected 373,500 kg of waste from the five beaches, and in January 2014, the number jumped 45% to 540,000 kg. This became a reason for taking this year’s ‘Bali’s Big Eco Weekend’ (BBEW) to a higher level, inviting more local participations and international influencers to Bali to pick up the waste together.
Aside from the Beach Clean Up agenda, Bali’s Big Eco Weekend 2014 offers a series of eco activities to inspire others to have fun while still keeping the beaches clean. Many sports activities such as a Surfing Competition, Coke Kicks, and Volley Ball were open for visitors to try while enjoying an eco talk show from Bali’s famous community bloggers Bale Bengong and a range of eco food stalls to choose from.
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