Nick
Another thing that breaks my heart in Bali each year is the plastic problem. Until recently Bali had no waste management problem because they hardly had anything inorganic to throw away. I.e. they wrapped food in banana leaves, and they'd throw the banana leaves onto the ground. This of course was fine.
But then plastic was introduced very suddenly and in great volume. Bali does not have a waste disposal system, and neither does the rest of Indonesia, or most of the developing world for that matter. Most people can't afford to have their trash collected, and many don't understand that plastic takes thousands of years to biodegrade, or why that is a problem. So lots of plastic is thrown on the ground, or the side of the road, or into the rivers. This is a huge problem for the environment and for human health!
Fortunately there are finally some projects to start changing the situation. One of the local NGOs is IDEP. Community waste management is one of their major focuses and they are teaching village women how and why to collect and dispose properly of their waste, and of course why they should reduce use of plastic in general.
So, to make a long story short we've given $500 to IDEP to help Bali address the plastic situation!
