Bali Activists Collect 10 Tons Of Garbage In One Month After Installing Barriers On Rivers

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Activists from Tabanan Sungai Watch have been collecting large amounts of garbage after installing trash barriers on their rivers.

The Coordinator of Sungai Watch for Kelating Village Kerambitan Tabanan, Made Suryani confirmed that 11 trash barriers have already been installed on 2 big rivers and 9 rice fields’ irrigation systems in the Kerambitan area. They have been installed to collect large amounts of household waste that has been dumped on the rivers which could lead to creating bigger problems for the ecosystem in and around Kerambitan.

“Apart from the waste of Kerambitan residents themselves, many people also intentionally come and dump their garbage in our rivers. So we decided to install these trash barriers to reduce the damage that might be caused to our environment here.” Suryani said on Tuesday (21/9). 

She explained that on a normal day, the trash barrier has been able to collect around 5 tons of rubbish, while the amount was doubled when the rainy season came.

“We were able to collect around 10 tons of rubbish that used to pile up on Kelanting Beach and in our rice field areas during rainy season, causing many baby sea turtles to die from eating plastics.” Suryani added. Suryani received all the trash barriers for free from Sungai Watch as part of their contribution to keep Bali rivers and ocean clean from plastic waste. 

However, she admitted that she has been facing some difficulties in educating the people about the importance of keeping the rivers clean, so she asked the local authorities to help her educate others on this important message. Meanwhile Suryani also said that she has been recycling the collected organic garbage into compost and even some crafts while the rest was transported to Badung region to continue their recycling process.