You Want a Bag With That?
The annual rains are coming and soon Bali’s beaches will be inundated with the mountains of plastic wastes that have accumulated in the island’s rivers since the end of last season’s rains. Every year after any major rainfall, the beaches along Bali’s coast are coated from high tide to low tide with a blanket of bottles, shopping bags, shoes, wrappers and all manner of plastic wastes. It is an eyesore and far, far removed from the outward image of the tropical paradise poster child that Bali portrays to the world.
Over the years industry and mass tourism and the adoption of western convenience have all contributed to creating a surplus of inorganic rubbish, overwhelming the ability of the Balinese to manage the mess. Wrappings and containers that were once made of banana leaves and biodegradable plant material have given way to plastic, Styrofoam and metal, and they are still disposed of in the traditional way by burning or dumping. It is all sent from the gods after all. Rivers and streams are the favoured dumping sites, and it is from here that most of the rubbish is flushed downstream during the rainy season and out to sea to end up on our beautiful beaches.
Many locals say that the problem comes floating over from Java on the tide, and maybe some of it is, but that is just avoiding the blame, for much of Bali’s waste is internally generated by tourist and Balinese alike.
In a way, Bali has been a victim of its own success. Many Balinese have not fully adapted to the modern Western lifestyle that has supplanted a largely agrarian way of life in just a few decades, particularly in the island’s densely populated south. A major problem is a lack of government-controlled collection and waste disposal sites. The problem is that there are a lot of areas not run by the government. Some NGOs are trying to tackle the problem and are slowly making local change but any long term sustainability must come from the government and through education. Sadly this does not seem evident.
It’s not only the visual pollution which is a problem ( admitedly a bit of a bourgeoisie affectation ) but the amount of poisons that leach from the low grade plastics including dioxins and PCBs that find their way into our drinking water and our food chain.
It is not tourists who will suffer in the long term, for they will always find a new place to play. It is the Balinese people who have to live with the clogged and polluted beaches and rivers, the poisoned fish and the mountain of waste left behind in the wake of a tourist dollar exodus.
The Bali economy is booming once more, and there are more luxury villas, five-star hotels, malls and spas than ever. This creates an overproduction of waste that goes straight into the ocean. Tourist numbers are up higher than ever with over a million tourists so far this year and the Indonesian government wants to see even more footprints on the sands of Bali. If they don’t smarten up their act those feet won’t be able to find any sand for the plastic.
