It's Getting Better All the Time . . . .

[macantidur]

I am delighted. My parents have just arrived in Bali after six years without a visit to our magical isle. Well . . . . they have been commenting nonstop about how much better the trash situation is compared to six years ago!

They have been to Bali many times over the past fifteen years, but for the past six, hadn't the time to come. And now here they are, astute observers, global travelers, and they are proclaiming loudly and jubilantly about how much better the plastic trash situation is now than it was six years ago (when it saddened and concerned them deeply).

All I can say is . . . please let us all give credit where credit is due, and celebrate small victories with the hope that greater ones will follow in the wave of enthusiasm and jubilation. While we expats are not able to assess the microscopic improvements from one day to the next, Bali observers who check in a few times a decade can see how things do change!

They got me thinking and looking, and yea verily, there is less trash hither and thither than there was a number of years ago. Let's salute the trash collectors, and the regular folk who have taken it to heart to try their best to keep Bali a bit cleaner to the best of their ability!

And they have succeeded to some degree, to a noticeable degree, and that deserves kudos, reinforcement, and continuted encouragement.

It really is getting better, trash-wise . . . let's salute steps forward in the hopes that the progress continues on this and many other fronts.

Bravissimo to all of Bali . . . indigenous, foreign, sama-sama . . . we are all in this together after all, and all want to see a future grow out of our shared present that manifests a shared vision of well-being for as many people as possibly can be embraced in that vision.

 

[Anton]

Could you elaborate :?









Nantiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

 

[bolli]

Have you got stuck into your mummy's duty free??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :roll:

 

[JohnnyCool]

I read "sleeping tiger" or "tiger's sleeping" post a few hours ago and thought to myself, is this person and his parents totally blind, <MOD EDIT> or simply incorrigible optimists?

Re-reading it, I still can't believe the rose-coloured <MOD EDIT> that's there. So, macantidur, are you serious (as in "for real")?

I don't know where you live in Bali but it's a long way from where I am in the South. Rivers, streams, creeks, laneways, are full of plastic debris. I'll grant you that a few places have possibly "improved" slightly in the last ten years, but I don't think that's anything to do handstands over.

<MOD EDIT>

:shock:

 

[sydneymike]

Hey, JC

As usual, I'm with you buddy. Problem is, rose tinted specs dont actually help solve problems. I would suggest OP to go down to the beaches in the South after a high tide.

I'm not being negative because the issues involved are complex, poverty and cleanliness dont make good companions. But to pretend all is OK when its not doesn't help. And IMHO it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[DCC]

Is this topic authored by the same person who not long ago went off on how bad things are here?

 

[Markit]

Was sitting outside my bungalow on the Candi Dasa "beach" - stony up-ramps for the ocean with T- quays going off into the surf every 100-150 meters and pretending not to see all the washed up plastic refuse, old flipflops, bottles, well just sh*t that seems to be the standard feature of all Bali shorelines, when to my surprise a moderately over-weight, middle aged Dutch tourist (I asked later) jumped up from his Bale and grabbed the nearest plastic bag (he had a choice of colors) and proceeded to put all of the refuse he could find along the beach and up both sides of the quay into it.

This took all of 15 minutes and we all then had a shite-free beach front!

I just had to congratulate and thank this guy and so then proceeded to introduce myself and confess, to my shame, that I had been looking at the same garbage for over a month and wondering why nobody picked it up

It had not occurred to me to do what this Dutch fella did - don't know why? It really only took 15 minutes to do and as he said himself, he had only been laying around with nothing to do

Well I have decided to take this simple lesson to heart and will now be picking up the garbage where ever I go and hope maybe to be a good example to the locals too - they just laughed at the Dutchman...

 

[aquaman]

Shame Markit Shame :roll:

When you see how much crap is on the beaches it' is a bit daunting...where do you start to clean up? Good on you for atleast realising it aint hard to do you little bit Must admit as a tourist there I haven't done much in the way of garbage collection but If I lived there I'd have to I can't stand the garbage on some of the beaches. One of the biggest hurdles for me to actually live in Bali is deciding wheter I can leave where I am which is sorrounded by pristine white beaches, national parks and few people to moving to the tourist and garbage infested beaches of Bali. Some of the Amed beaches were quieter and cleanish though.

 

[VincentOG]

Well done to Miss Johnston for offering a positive view of Bali.
But I have to say to other contributors who think they can intervene to (partially) solve the problem, well, frankly, what a load of rubbish.

What A Load Of Rubbish!!
Is it really the role of tourists or expats to clear trash from Candi Dasa beach or any other garbage-strewn place in beautiful Bali?
I think not.
Besides, what’s the point in anyone cleaning the beach when, upriver, the locals continue to throw their trash into the waterways?
What’s the point in anyone cleaning the beach when school children are guided by their teachers to sweep their school yard and to carefully drop the detritus into the nearest stream?
With the current generation being “educated” in such ways of waste management, it will probably take another 30+ years to change this behaviour.

My Opinion on Waste Management in Bali
1. Waste Management in Bali is a problem for the Balinese, not outsiders, to solve
2. This will only happen once the Balinese themselves recognise this and take the necessary steps to ameliorate it
3. Bali has had mass tourism for 30+ years
4. Bali derives most of it’s income from tourism
5. A significant aspect of Bali’s tourism appeal is the expectation of natural beauty
6. A rational and common sense response to this would to be to keep Bali clean and tidy
7. But such “common sense” is sometimes not so “common” here

This is all the more difficult to understand when you consider the Balinese Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana" (harmony with God, nature & fellow man).

My Experience in Implementing Good Practice in Waste Management in my part Bali
I live on a biggish piece of land in a particularly beautiful part of rural Bali - seriously remote and only for serious refugees from 21st century bullshit.
I have sought to inculcate good practices in waste management in the house and garden staff.
I have used a combination of attempting to set a good example, polite requests, impolite coercion etc.
After a few years it has pretty much worked but only within my space.
Once beyond the front gate, their old Balinese habits return.
It is hardly surprising when you consider what they are taught at school.
I have given up mentioning this to my neighbours.
I am tamu and, as a mere guest, it’s not my place to place to tell Indonesians how to behave in their own country.
Locals from all walks of life, from the humble to middle class civil servants, come to my kebun.
They ooh & aah at the wonderful trees, the beautiful view.
As they do this they casually toss their cigarette packet or aqua bottle to the ground.

It’s Bad (But It’s Not All Bad)
This problem seems particularly acute in impoverished rural east Bali.
I have noticed that, generally, some places such as Ubud, Renon etc are quite clean and tidy but they are the exception rather than the rule.
Moreover, I have noticed more of an effort by vendors and the banjars to clean up Kuta & Legian beaches.
But, such efforts are only good for one day and are pretty futile so long as other Balinese use rivers as waste disposal opportunities.
When I visit Zanzibar or La Luciola, I have to hold my nose to block out the stench of raw sewage that is flowing into the sea.
Hardly, the makings of a tourist Paradise.
Bali get real!!

And Finally
If anyone is bothered enough to respond to this rant please don’t patronise with the often-heard opinion that the Balinese are used to wrapping everything in banana leaves and don’t realise that discarded plastic just does not go away.
The crassness of this belief is only exceeded by the well-meaning expat teacher from a posh Seminyak school who once told me Bali’s garbage problem was not the fault of the Balinese as the nasty Dutch colonialists had robbed them of their initiative.
The words “What nonsense!!” came to mind!!
(Actually, it was “What bollocks!!” that I found myself thinking).

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Right!

 

[Markit]

My point in picking up the garbage was not to "teach" the poor, benighted Balinese how to do it alla "monkey see, monkey do" but just not to have to look at it myself. :shock:

As I said in my post the locals just laughed at the Dutch fella and carried on lying comfortably in their Bale waiting for who knows what.

Hell the only "monkey see, monkey do" was me, it really didn't hurt me at all and the beach was actually clean for about a week.

So the moral of the story to all those out there that don't like looking at Balinese garbage - stay away, or pick it up yourself :lol:

 

[mat]

I've often thought about the refuse problem on the beaches where I stay in the north and thought about solutions to the problem. The cost of imploying a Balinese at around 25,000 a day to clean an area of beach is minimal. I would happily pay that during the duration of my stays in Bali to improve my experiance of the place.
I find it amazing that in many areas where the rubbish and plastic are the worst on the beaches the locals and traders complain that there are not enough tourists. I came to Bali the first time for two weeks to visit a friend and his wife, loved the place and returned twice a year since. [ no thanks to the litter problem.] Don't they realise repeat visitors can be and are a major part of their revenue. A filthy beach will be remembered and many will avoid in future.

 

[spicyayam]

You see this problem everywhere in Asia, it's going to be hard to change bad habits, but why not start setting an example by picking up a bit of rubbish on the beach. When people start realizing where all of the rubbish is coming from, maybe people will start to think more about throwing it into rivers.

Idealistic I know, but why not everyone start trying to do something. The problem with employing other people to clean areas can make the problem worse.

I have seen a campaign going at Lake Toba to try and make it cleaner, so I am sure it wouldn't take too much to get a campaign going in Bali. Especially since most people's lives in Bali are dependent on tourism.

 

[mat]

The problem with employing other people to clean areas can make the problem worse.

How?
I would have thought it would be good on two fronts 1. Clean beach. 2. Much needed job for a Balinese.
I feel I must be missing somthing, if it can make the problem worse.

 

[Markit]

spicyayam wrote:The problem with employing other people to clean areas can make the problem worse.


How?
I would have thought it would be good on two fronts 1. Clean beach. 2. Much needed job for a Balinese.
I feel I must be missing somthing, if it can make the problem worse.

Call me cynical but if the local beach bums find out that the golden tourists are willing to pay to have their stretch of beach cleaned up it wouldn't surprise me if it got cleaned up every day and then replaced every night 8)

 

[spicyayam]

I would have thought it would be good on two fronts 1. Clean beach. 2. Much needed job for a Balinese. I feel I must be missing somthing, if it can make the problem worse.

It's just my feeling but if people are employed to pick up rubbish from the beach, the people using the beach don't feel like they need to take the responsibility to dispose their rubbish in bins provided, that is of course if they have bins. People would make a mess then expect the cleaners to clean up after them.

Perhaps it would be better to employ people to organize clean up days and a 'keep Bali clean' campaign. As someone else mentioned, its not just the beaches but you need to stop people from throwing rubbish into the rivers.

 

[aquaman]

Call me cynical but if the local beach bums find out that the golden tourists are willing to pay to have their stretch of beach cleaned up it wouldn't surprise me if it got cleaned up every day and then replaced every night 8)

I think you're right Markit. The locals will realise very quickly there's a ready made money making opportunity by generating more garbage just so they can get paid to pick it up!However waste manegement is a huge global industry is there not opportunity for this in Bali? Are there recycling companies operating there?

Bali/Indonesia and other 3rd world countries have more problems than just garbage it will take a ong time before things change. Change will only come through education at home by parents and at school and then it still needs government/community support through environmental planning and initiative. This will take generations. Any small step though is a step in the right direction.The thread title is "IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME". Is it? I wonder? For you guys that have been living in Bali for years do you really think the garbage problem has improved?? I would guess it's got worse?

 

[goldminer]

I am visiting Bali for the first time in 2 years and think it is better, or at least the locals are becoming more aware of the problem. A small example is that on kuta beach, most of the beer sellers now provide the smokers with small ash tray bins. Maybe a small thing but certainly a beginning IMHO

 

[chickchili]

I think you're right Markit. The locals will realise very quickly there's a ready made money making opportunity by generating more garbage just so they can get paid to pick it up!However waste manegement is a huge global industry is there not opportunity for this in Bali? Are there recycling companies operating there?

Recycling is very costly and consumes a lot of fuel and energy. Even relatively sophisticated countries struggle to make recycling possible and profitable. For example, there is no glass recycling plant in Western Australia so collected glass has to be transported to South Australia for processing.