Trash Hero Amed | Trash Hero World

Trash Hero holds zero waste workshop in Bali

by Rima Agustina on 13/12/2021 4 comments

Entering its eighth year, new challenges have emerged for Trash Hero Indonesia. No longer do we wonder how to get people to join our clean ups, but how to prevent the trash from existing in the first place. With the increasing recognition of Trash Hero Indonesia as an organisation advocating the concept of zero waste, we are receiving more and more requests to educate the local communities.

And so the Trash Hero Communities workshop in Bali was born. The local Trash Hero leaders were eager to do something more than cleanups and to get practical ideas to tackle the waste problem in their local neighbourhoods.

The full-day workshop took place in Ubud on 16 November 2021, and was attended by 17 chapter leaders from villages all over Bali. Unlike our previous zero waste communities training, which was held online, this in-person workshop allowed us to teach the material in a more interactive way, using simulations, field observations, discussions and role playing. It was also specifically tailored to the local culture and context.

We included a visit to a community composting site, as well as a session on public speaking to build participants’ confidence when sharing their new knowledge. The workshop closed with a sharing session, discussing existing false solutions to the plastic crisis in Bali, what scenarios lie behind them, and how the participants should respond appropriately as Trash Heroes.

I Wayan Apple, representing Trash Hero Payangan, was grateful to attend this workshop, saying “I feel more confident and secure in choosing this ‘less-waste’ life path, as the knowledge I gained today has justified my decision.” Another participant, I Made Sukerta from Trash Hero Batubulan, said that “the teaching methods in this workshop helped [him] understand zero waste much more easily compared to one-way teaching.” Sukerta added, “I hope Trash Hero Indonesia develops more workshops like this in the future.”

The Trash Hero Indonesia chairman, I Wayan Aksara, who hosted the workshop, stated: “it is essential for our leaders to understand the zero waste concept not only in the technical aspect, but also the reason behind it: the fact that there is no Planet B. Thank you to Trash Hero World for conducting this workshop for our leaders.”

Trash Hero Indonesia will follow up with the participants to make sure they are supported in their efforts to take this knowledge back to their communities. And the live workshop format will be offered to other chapters both within Indonesia and beyond, as part of our new “Trash Hero Communities” programme in 2022, where circumstances allow.

Update: Trash Hero Indonesia Accomplishments

by Leslie Finlay on 04/08/2017 2 comments

As we make our way through another successful summer, we want to pause to acknowledge some of the achievements and collaborations that have contributed to such a robust year to date.

Trash Hero Indonesia is stronger than ever – and still growing! In May 2015, Gili Meno and its 172 heroes collected 1,000 kg of trash, kicking off Indonesia’s involvement with Trash Hero. By May 2016, participation had ballooned to seven chapters. This May 2017, 10 chapters represented 8,000 heroes, together collecting more than 50,000 kg of trash. Active chapters include Ubud, Amed, Gili Meno, Lombok (Tanjung), Sanur, Komodo, Saba, Bandung, Jimbaran, and Candidasa.

Last year Trash Hero partners Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Ecobricks visited to discuss future collaborations, and this past May representatives from Indonesia’s 10 active chapters met to put plans into action. Bye Bye Plastic Bags could reach a general ban of plastic bags on Bali as early as 2018, and many chapters have demonstrated the efficacy of Ecobricks already.

Ecobricks on Gili Meno. Photograph Adina Malveklint

Other current projects in Indonesia include the promotion of Trash Hero @Work, a program launched in December 2016 through which companies ban plastic water bottles in the workplace and provide free water to employees, and the importance of up-cycling. Many local heroes also demonstrated huge amounts of creativity making items out of recycled materials – from speakers to chairs, beanbags to entire homes. There are even plans to release a Trash Hero children’s book, written in Bahasa for local children about marine life eating garbage. The project is in partnership with Green-Books, an environmental NGO promoting ecological literacy to children.

Trash Hero on Gili Meno. Photo Adina Malveklint

Trash Hero Indonesia on Czech TV

by Amelia Meier on 18/12/2016 No comments

18 December 2016 – Trash Hero Indonesia

Trash Hero Indonesia has just been reported on in an extended segment on the Czech news: watch it here. Awesome team (led, among others, by longtime hero Jan Bares) doing awesome work!

Trash Hero Indonesia Chapters Rock

by Amelia Meier on 21/11/2016 No comments

21 November 2016 – Trash Hero Indonesia Chapters

Trash Hero Indonesia has just added up all that they have accomplished: Altogether, the Indonesian chapters have cleaned up 36 Tons, creating and educating 6’250 people in the process. Trash Hero Indonesia is getting stronger and stronger.

A huge thank you to all the chapters involved in this amazing effort: Amed, Sanur, Gili Meno, Ubud, Candidasa, Komodo, and Canggu. You guys rock!

Let’s STOP Plastic Pollution

by Amelia Meier on 20/11/2016 No comments

20 November 2016 – Trash Hero World

There is no way around it: We need to Break Free From Plastic. Today our team in Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia was saddened to find the above picture when they went to the beach. This is worse than what it usually is.

Let’s all be a part of the change and contribute to stopping plastic pollution!

We are collaborating with the following organisations on this:

Plastic Soup Foundation International
Plastic Change
Let’s do it World
ROLE Foundation Charity Auction
Marine Conservation Society
Zero Waste Europe

Sponsor Update 2016 (Part II): Community Waste Management in Amed

by Amelia Meier on 26/09/2016 No comments

September 26, 2016 – Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia

Another project we discussed in our newsletter to sponsors released this week is the community waste management that Trash Hero World supported with 1’200 USD in Amed, Indonesia. Historically, in small and rural communities trash and other waste is burned – but this system is no longer viable in many areas of the world. The system simply cannot cope with the never-ending volume and the amount of plastic and other toxins in modern waste makes burning and burying this garbage potentially dangerous for animals, people and the environment.

As a region, effective waste management is a challenging process, but locally communities are taking it upon themselves to preserve their paradises. Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia has been actively cleaning the community weekly for over a year.

They’ve collaborated with a local non-profit, Peduli Alam, who has developed a collection system for non-organic waste, a service provided to the community free of charge. Peduli Alam has built and installed more than 200 public rubbish bins and another 350 individual bins across 700 families, local restaurants and schools. The waste is collected almost daily and transported by Peduli Alam to a regional sorting station and a landfill site. Trash Hero World supported Peduli Alam to finance a new truck so they can continue the waste removal service for the Amed community.

Sponsor Update 2016 (Part III): T-Shirts for Indonesia

by Amelia Meier on 26/09/2016 No comments

September 26, 2016 – Trash Hero Indonesia

A third project Trash Hero World communicated to its donors was the T-Shirts that were purchased for Trash Hero Indonesia, which cost USD 1’500.

Before communities can be properly educated about the importance of waste management and recycling, awareness must already be there. 6 Trash Hero chapters (Komodo, Amed, Sanur, Ubud, Candidasa, Canggu) from Indonesia are now selling t-shirts, at no profit, in both the local language and English – all in an effort to root and spread this message. An excellent advertising tool in the Southeast Asian market, Trash Hero World has provided 500 shirts and it’s become a fashionable item of pride among many local people. Once the chapters sell the shirts they have enough money to order a new lot.

Collaboration with Peduli Alam

by Amelia Meier on 03/06/2016 No comments

Meaning “Protect Nature” in Indonesian, Peduli Alam was created in 2008 by French citizens and Bali lovers Charlotte Fredouille and Laetitia Girouxas as an NGO specialising in waste management and collection in Amed, on Bali’s beautiful East coast. Among its many activities, the organisation organises awareness campaigns at schools and villages educating about waste management. The Balinese nature suffers from over-use of plastics, and locals – often poorly educated villagers (farmers and fishermen) – are not aware of the consequences of burning plastics and/or throwing these away carelessly into rivers or the ocean.

Outside cities and developed tourist areas (that represent only 10% of the island), there is often no garbage collection organised by the government. The objective of Peduli Alam therefore is to raise awareness of the results from incineration or disposal of garbage in nature. For this, Peduli Alam provides simple solutions: they build big trash bins along the coast so locals can dispose of their inorganic trash. Peduli Alam’s team then collects trash several times per month, and bring the trash to a sorting station.

Peduli Alam has collaborated with the Trash Hero Amed chapter from the very beginning in May 2015. They’re an indispensable, loyal and highly effective partner: Trash Hero Amed organises the beach clean-ups and collects rubbish with volunteers, and Peduli Alam does everything else. They supply trash bags, sticks, and gloves and, most importantly, transport the trash collected to the sorting station. Beyond that, Peduli Alam keeps part of that trash to transform it into ecobricks (see here for additional information) as well as bags made of recycled plastic.

Follow Peduli Alam here on Facebook.

1-year Anniversary for Trash Hero Amed

by Amelia Meier on 23/05/2016 1 comment

23 May 2016 – Trash Hero Amed (Indonesia)

Happy Birthday Trash Hero Amed! This Indonesian chapter just celebrated their 52nd beach cleanup. 49 volunteers joined for this anniversary beach cleanup, gathering 103 kg of trash on the beach of Pupuan (better known as Bunutan). Music was playing while they sorted trash, deciding what to keep for the ecobrick workshops run by Trash Hero partner Peduli Alam, and what to bring to the sorting station. They even produced a video about this milestone, which you can watch here.

Several local business owners contributed to this special occasion, providing ice tea for the volunteers, as well as two delicious birthday cakes to celebrate with. A big thank you for helping to make this happen!