A Bali-based chef is looking to launch a holistic education program and Bali’s first single-use-plastic-free refillery to help alleviate the island’s monumental rubbish problem.

Bali, Indonesia — At the end of 2017, Bali declared a garbage emergency as the island reached crisis point after struggling to get on top of its rubbish management issues. Penelope Williams, executive chef and owner of Bali Asli, a cooking school and restaurant on the foothills of Mt Agung in East Bali, decided she had to do something. Working alongside the chiefs from the villages surrounding Bali Asli, she’s found a hands-on solution that she believes will inspire the government to take action.

Today, she launched a crowdfunding campaign ‘East Bali Rubbish Education & Eco Refillery’, an initiative that focuses on strategies based around education, discussion and action. Unlike rubbish-clean up projects, the program will take a holistic approach by targeting the heart of the problem; educating the locals on why proper waste disposal is important and the ways in which effective waste management can become part of their daily lives. The initiative will put key tools in place to then empower the community to apply their learnings to real life. “It will be a project-based learning approach that doesn’t merely rely on textbooks, it’s about involving people, and empowering them, so that they are able to learn and lead through experience”, said Williams.

In addition to educating and providing the tools for change, Williams will also launch a single-use-plastic-free refillery in Bali’s Amlapura market. “The refillery will sell shampoo, shower gel, washing liquid and other household goods from bulk purchased containers using recycled refill bottles. The locals would come to these stations with their own bottles and fill/refill them with whatever daily essentials they require”, said Williams.

One only has to Google ‘bali rubbish’ to get an idea of the severity of the problem. It’s got to the point where the paradise island’s dark underbelly has surfaced for everyone to see.

A regular tourist to Bali, Alex from Melbourne, Australia, said that the problem brought him to tears: “Our first experience with the plastic pollution was at Seminyak beach, it was shortly after a storm and the beach was completely strewn with plastic bottles and bags. I had tears in my eyes at seeing such a beautiful part of the world tarnished”.

Environmental foundation R.O.L.E. (Rivers, Oceans, Lands, Ecology) states: “Every 24 hours, 15,000 cubic meters of trash is disposed of along Bali’s roadsides and at illegal dump sites, enough to completely fill six Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.”

It’s time for change. Individuals and organisations who would like to play their part in creating a cleaner, greener Bali are invited to visit www.indiegogo.com

Contact Details:
penelope@baliasli.com.au
or call +64 22 370 4369