BALI – Dompet Dhuafa organized the ‘Surround the Trash’ Action and conducted a waste audit on the trash collected during the Voluntrip Waste Summit, which took place in 11 provinces across Indonesia, including Bali. There, the action (Surround the Trash) was carried out in the Padang Galak Beach Tourist Area, Denpasar, Bali on Sunday (24/9/2023).
Approximately 200 participants from various sectors, including civilians, community groups, institutions, and government agencies, volunteered for this initiative. Dompet Dhuafa involved several of its units to ensure the success of the event, including the Dompet Dhuafa Volunteer (DDV) as the frontline, followed by the Disaster Management Center (DMC), and the Community Service Agency (LPM).
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Two days before the ‘Surround the Trash’ Action, on Friday (22/9/2023), the DDV and DMC teams held waste education activities for students in Bali, featuring Imelda Naomi, author of ‘Luftan and the Monster’. Additionally, health examinations were conducted for the students by a volunteer specialist doctor, Dr. Tsaqyla Sabansya.
On Saturday (23/9/2023), Dompet Dhuafa invited Andre Dananjaya from Kopernik to discuss the ‘Plastic Island’ film series, a documentary about the hazards of plastic waste. On the same day, a combined team from DDV, DMC, and LPM conducted a simulation of the ‘Surround the Trash’ Action and methods of conducting a waste audit.
“For organic waste types, we will send them to the landfill, while recyclable waste will be handed over to the waste bank in the Sesetan area,” explained Nur Kholis Abdillah, Chairman of the Voluntrip Waste Summit Bali Committee.
Dompet Dhuafa reported that volunteers collected a total of 287 kilograms of trash along Padang Galak Beach, with the most common types being organic waste, followed by plastic bottles, and then single-layer and multi-layer plastics.
“We collected a total of 287 kilograms. The most dominant waste was organic, followed by plastic bottles, then single-layer plastics. This plastic waste is challenging to recycle, as it is difficult for waste banks to process and takes hundreds of years to decompose naturally,” explained Ika Akmala, from Community & Volunteers of Dompet Dhuafa.
This data will later be compiled into a Public Report, detailing the types of waste found at various tourist destinations in Indonesia, providing a foundation for the government and organizations to develop pro-environmental waste management policies.
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Simultaneously, the ‘Surround the Trash’ Action was also conducted in two other provinces, North Sumatra and West Java, having previously taken place in Central Java, Papua, Southeast Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara, with future actions planned for Aceh, West Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku, and East Kalimantan.
In the ‘Surround the Trash’ Action and waste audit, Dompet Dhuafa focused on natural areas frequented by tourists, such as mountain climbing areas, beaches, and rivers. (Dompet Dhuafa/Muthohar)