Indonesian group dreams of trash barrier idea going global
Volunteers collect trash trapped by barriers, which are called 'trash boom', at a river in Badung, Bali, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer
Gary Bencheghib grew up on Indonesia's idyllic resort island of Bali and watched as plastic waste clogged up the winding waterways near to his childhood home, or found its way out into the ocean.
Bencheghib, 25, is now determined to change that, and on Environment Day joined an army of volunteers to recover masses of plastics caught by floating walls of wire and pipes, installed six months ago to keep it from reaching the sea.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, has one of the longest coastlines in the world and is the second-biggest contributor to ocean plastics, according to a study in the journal Science.
Houses are hit by a wave on a beach during tide in Indramayu, West Java Province, Indonesia, June 4, 2020, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture Taken June 4, 2020, Antara Foto/Dedhez Anggara/ via REUTERS
"Growing up on the island of Bali, plastic is something you can no longer look (away) from," said Benchegib, who founded the environmental group "Make A Change Bali" with siblings when he was only 14.
"We are picking up some plastic, on the beaches, on our rice fields even," he said. "So Bali is really choking on plastic."
East Asia is responsible for more than half of the plastic in the sea, with the largest volumes coming from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Vehicles move through a flooded road at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level, in Semarang, Central Java Province, Indonesia, June 4, 2020, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture Taken June 4, 2020, Antara Foto/Aji Styawan/ via REUTERS
Benchegib hopes that because the barrier idea is so basic, it can catch on beyond Bali.
"You don't need to be rocket scientists," he said.
"This is just the beginning. We are piloting here on Bali but our hope is we need to bring these guys all around the world," he said, tugging on the barrier while sat on a paddleboard.
Workers sit on trucks driving through a road flooded at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea levels in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
"Anybody can really build these so we want to make it simple, and hopefully we can start a global movement."
(Reporting by Sultan Anshori; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
A man rides a rickshaw carrying vegetables and other goods through a road flooded at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea levels in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaWorkers clean up trash at a beach during World Environment Day in West Aceh, Aceh Province, June 5, 2020, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Syifa Yulinnas/ via REUTERS Workers sit on trucks transporting them through a flooded road, at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaWorkers stand at the back of a truck driving through a road flooded at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea levels in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaA man carries baskets through a flooded road, at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaA vendor sits on the cart at a flooded area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaPeople wait for transportation through a road flooded at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaWorkers sit on a truck transporting them through a flooded road, at an area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaA child stands in a fish storage box at a flooded area affected by land subsidence and rising sea level in North Jakarta, Indonesia, June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
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