The new year is just around the corner. Looking back to the beginning of 2021 until now, the ZeroWaste Center has managed to grow together with the communities by providing environmental education and awareness for a better future. Let’s look back at one of the things that the ZeroWaste Center accomplished this year.

Looking back…

The beginning of 2021 was rough for not only ZeroWaste Center, but also all the people in Bali and Indonesia. The pandemic has been a tricky foe to face head on and the media report isn’t really helpful in terms of keeping a positive mind. Nevertheless, with the help of our beloved supporters, the ZeroWaste Center has maintained and created some beautiful projects.

The project that astonished us the most is the ZeroWaste Bazaar: Waste to Product Exchange. Educating the local community about the value of waste is a tricky matter, R.O.L.E. Foundation has been trying to do this since 2007 and there seems to be no good zero waste solution. Nonetheless, we came up with the idea to do a ZeroWaste Bazaar, with the goal of helping the local community in Sawangan village who also has been hit hard by the pandemic. We discussed the project with the village chief and chose waste vouchers as the monetary valuta for the waste, as just giving money would be of too little value for each time waste was being delivered. With the waste voucher system, people could save the vouchers until the next Bazaar. The children from our English class were especially very active in bringing waste and saving up the waste vouchers, but the whole community responded very positively. 

Participating in the ZeroWaste Bazaar, the children are now aware of the value of the different types of waste, as they separated and cleaned the waste themselves beforehand. The children are also sharing their knowledge with their parents and thus began a sustainable teamwork between the parents and their children. In total, the local community has exchanged an incredible amount of 1,187.742 kg of waste, almost 300% more than our initial target! With the ZeroWaste Bazaar, we found a perfect solution to educate the local community about the value of waste.

Our Wish for the Future

We believe that 2022 will be the beginning of more great things not just for ZeroWaste Center, but for all of us. R.O.L.E. Foundation wishes that the ZeroWaste Center can educate more people about the importance of sustainable living, waste management, and taking care of the environment. We want to bring more children to the ZeroWaste Center to show them the joy that nature can give them for free. We wish to meet more like minded people so together we can tackle the waste problem.

But most importantly, we want all of you to be part of our journey next year. We are very grateful for your support and for believing in us. We will not let you down! Happy new year!