Beach Cleanup at Geger Beach

May 3, 2022 | Beach cleanups, Waste Management, Recycling and Upcycling

The temple is one of the most sacred places in Bali, especially the Hindu community. Unfortunately, not everyone is concerned about plastic waste. One of them happened at the Geger Beach Temple. On  the 13rd of December, R.O.L.E. Foundation did a beach cleanup at Geger Beach.  A team of 32 participants consisted of R.O.L.E. Foundation staff and the Bali Wise students. The beach cleanup took one hour and a total of 238.8 kg of non-organic waste was collected. After the cleanup, we opened the 3nd Waste Exchange to Product Bazaar at the ZeroWaste Center, where beach cleanup participants and the local community who had been saving waste vouchers for the last three months could exchange their vouchers for fresh vegetables, rice, chocolate, school materials, clothes and more. 

Location and condition of the beach

The beach is located at the Dalem Geger Pemutih Temple. There’s a beautiful temple and parking place in front of the beach, and the beach itself has a short shore with white sand,  and clear blue water. The cleanup was done on the beach, but also around the temple,  the parking lot, and also along the drive away to Geger Beach. Interestingly enough, the biggest contributor of the waste we picked up was glass, making up almost 59.5% of the total waste.

Waste collected and Separation

The cleanup took about an hour and we collected 238.8 kg of non-organic waste. After the cleanup, the waste was brought to the ZeroWaste Center, where it was separated for specific recycling and upcycling purposes. The biggest part of the waste was glass (59.5%), followed by soft plastic (13.6%), and rubber and slippers (9.3%).

What is the Waste Exchange to Product Bazaar about?

After the beach cleanup, the beach cleaners and the people from the surrounding villages came to the ZeroWaste Center to exchange their waste vouchers for fresh vegetables, rice, chocolate, school materials, clothes and more. The bazaar’s goal is to spread awareness about waste and its polluting effect on the environment, but also on people’s health. Besides that, we want to show that waste has an economic value.