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My closing statement read: "There is only one real effective and incentive
method to encourage environmentally sound collecting of beverage one-way
containers and it is deposit in combination with High-Tech R&D resulted
Reverse Vending Machines! |
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Everyday of the two months I spent in Bali/Gilli Islands was an adventure.
I was surrounded by an extremely rich culture ~ rich in spirituality,
grace, color, kindness, and ecological wonder. It is a trip that continues
to echo through my mind, body, and spirit. There is one thing from that
journey that continues to haunt me ~ plastic. Cruising on my
motorbike through the beautiful green blankets of rice fields, I was
saddened to see plastic being burned with the rest of the garbage. I was
even more saddened to see the local farmers hovered around these blazing
chemical bonfires inhaling God knows what. I wondered if or how these
chemicals could be affecting the surrounding rice fields not to mention
the air pollution hazards going on.
The western world has
given the third world a weapon without teaching them its dangers. A
culture that still uses banana leaves as plates I imagine to be at a loss
when it comes to disposing of plastic.
Hanging out on Gili Air in awe of the local people, the kingdom that lived
under the waves, and the incredible sunsets, I was horrified when I awoke
one morning to find the beaches on the East side covered with plastic. It
was everywhere. I literally dropped to my knees. Where did all this come
from? Why? How Come? All I could think of was - What in the hell are we
doing to this planet? Maudi - one of the local boys explained to me that
Lombok drops their garbage into the ocean. When the tide shifts it washes
up on the beaches of Gilli. They clean it up and attempt to deal with it -
but we are talking about an Island you can walk all the way around in 1
1/2 hours. I was able to see what it was doing to the beach I hung out on,
but wondered what damage was happening to the underwater kingdom I had
been swimming with the day before.
I had a similar experience in Thailand. One day I ventured out to the
beach I had spent many a days prior and found it covered in various kinds
of plastic (wrappers, bottles, etc.) What made it even more disgusting was
that the travelers had merely moved the mess over, spread there blankets
and laid among the mess as if it didn't exist. I wanted to cry. I stood
there with a guy I had met from Norway and said how can they do this? How
can everyone just sit and ignore this horror; this rapping of our planet?
His response - this is not our problem. We are visitors here. I
turned to him and said - we are in big trouble if everyone here is
thinking like you. This is our problem. This is our backyard. This is our
responsibility.
There was no way I could sit on this beach and ignore what was going on
around me. I immediately walked over to one of the restaurants on the
beach and asked for a garbage can, bag, box - whatever. I informed my
friend from Norway that I could not lay down and relax on this beach until
it was cleaned up. He thought I was crazy, but helped me anyway. Within 5
minutes a girl came up to me and asked if she could help. She too had
noticed the mess, but didn't know what to do about it. Before you knew it,
we had about 10-15 people helping us clean up the beach. Within a few
hours it was done. The beach looked a lot better and everyone felt
awakened and empowered by what they had done - It was beautiful. A
reminder that one person can make a difference.
Now, back in California one year later, the events of that trip in
relation to the plastic are still on my mind. Especially when I see the
plastic companies advertising all the marvels of plastic - of coarse they
are not going to show us the destruction that also comes along with it. I
want to do more. I want to help educate people (including myself) all over
the world about plastic/recycling. I felt called by all three of those
incidences, but I am not sure which way to go or how I can help make a
difference. I would love to go back to those places I had been and educate.
I would like to teach travelers/backpakers about their responsibility to
the world they are exploring. I am writing to you with hope. Hope that you
might be able to guide me in the right direction. How can I educate myself
about waste and the world? This is an amazing planet - how can help it
heal?
Any words of wisdom you can pass my way would be greatly appreciated.
My e-mail address is
travelingkelly@yahoo.com.
I look forward to hearing
from you and applaud your efforts to educate and make a difference.
Cheers,
Kelly Greenwell
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