Adopt-a-Street
A New Approach to Inspiring Community-Led
Waste Management Practices in NW Bali
A Yayasan Biosfir Indonesia (YBI) project with Pur Projet.
The Objective
The main goal of this program is to implement waste management in Bali Barat National Park (BBNP) and five villages from Pemuteran to Gilimanuk. The aim is to arrive at a comprehensive program for trash management within 5 years. 
Map by K. Currier. 2017. Data sources: Esri, openstreetmap.org, gadm.org,
http://cees.columbia.edu/current-programs/rfs-website/rfs-home-page
Adopt-a-Street Overview
- Streets or neighborhoods in NW Bali can be adopted by potential sponsors or businesses in the area. This funding will pay for a pair of trash bins, one for recyclable material and one for non-recyclable trash. The bins will serve the people passing through, the local people living on the adopted street, and the few homes on the same road.
- Local businesses will pay for their own bins to keep in front of their facility.
- Hotels, resorts and other companies will be encouraged to set up their own recycling center and cover their costs for trash pickup and disposal depending on the infrastructure in the village or the area of the street adopted.
- BF will work with the village authorities to commit to the program and gain the support of the Indonesian Government to provide staff and the vehicles to pick up the trash and to secure a responsible disposal.
Adopt-a-Street Pilot Project – Pejarakan Village!
Our first pilot project will be in the Batu Ampar Banjar neighborhood which is very important both to the local community and the tourist industry in the area. In this Banjar, there are the Banuweydang Hot Springs which are mostly visited by the local community; Pasir Putih (white sandy beach),which is the only public beach in the area; and Banyumandi dock which is one of the most popular gateways to Menjangan Island. Many dive companies from the whole region drive to this area to get boat transportation to the island.
The Problem
Currently in the villages, most people burn their trash outside of their house and /or throw it in the backyard or into a drainage system. Some trash is collected and this is either dumped on the side of the road or into river channels, or it ends up in ‘landfills,’ which are a big dumping place that is exposed to the wind and blown around. Even when managed correctly, a landfill pollutes the soil and groundwater and eventually makes its way to the oceans.
While the landfills are not an ideal solution in Bali – particularly because the demand for land is increasing, which means more land is going for construction and less land is preserved for wilderness or agriculture – neither is burning trash. The smoke is a known cause of cancer and reduces overall air quality. However, the Balinese traditionally burn wet organic waste, like grass or the leaves of intaran, to keep the flies away from their domestic animals, so it has become an easy solution for them to burn all of their trash including plastic bottles, along with the organic waste.
Thus, our efforts must include education – how to manage trash, sort it and where to recycle it – as well as to provide infrastructure to enable the community to take care of their trash and learn about toxic waste. Together this plan will be implemented within the community and with the objective of changing their habits to include the recycling of plastic bottles and other valuables that can be reused, recycled, upcycled or refunded.
Fortunately, the Indonesian Government provides the villages with equity to build facilities and equipment for trash management. However, they need guidance to implement it, make a budget to manage it and hire people to carry out the tasks. Because of this lack of knowledge and/or basic information about sound trash management practices, Biosphere Foundation has been invited to develop a comprehensive plan and an educational program.
Trash Bank
A community-based trash bank will be set up by the villages to sort and store trash. It will be a facility where the local people can bring their own recyclables. In return they will get a receipt for the trash they bring that can be reimbursed once a year for its value. This is a program that has worked well, for example, in Jambangan, Surabaya (photo below) and we believe it is the most effective way to make people sort and recycle.
Trash Brokers
Trash brokers and other nearby trash banks will be alerted about this new trash bank so they can organize a schedule to pick up the refundable material. Thankfully, there are some trash brokers in NW Bali based in Gilimanuk and Negara who would welcome receiving our trash bank waste.
The Education Program
We will teach key Coordinators for each area who will visit the homes and businesses along the adopted street or in the adopted neighborhood to educate people about:
- What are the health risks to landfills, burning, and general trash mis-management,
- What is the risk for wildlife – ‘river to reef,’
- What is responsible trash disposal,
- What can be recycled,
- What is refundable, and
- Provide information about the community program and how to become part of the solution.
Our aim is to make the Waste Management Program in NW Bali sustainable; the Coordinators will be trained by BF and hired by the village or interested partners to create a larger NW Bali trash network. Starting locally (our backyard) will give us the key to expansion and eventually a working comprehensive program that can be replicated. Towards that end we will
- Provide teaching materials about how to reduce, reuse and recycle,
- Create a NW Bali trash team through the leadership of our local Coordinators, and
- Link up these action-oriented and passionate leaders to become part of a larger NW Bali trash program, and
- Represent their community efforts within the larger Indonesia – Southeast Asia – and Worldwide movement to clean up trash.
How You Can Help
We are working with the head of the village, leaders of other community-based programs and stakeholders and invite you to join us. Please Adopt a Street, make a donation to support the program here, and/or let us know how you wish to partner!
Together, we can make THE difference.
Rósa Björk Halldórsdóttir
Yayasan Biosfir Indonesia, NW Bali Waste Management Ambassador
e-mail: rosabjorkh@gmail.com