Indonesia is the 2nd largest polluter of plastic to oceans in the world, with up to 15% of all ocean plastic originating from the archipelago*.
An estimated 83% of Indonesia’s waste is mismanaged*, with much of this going into rivers and seas around the country’s 6000 inhabited islands**. Finding sustainable solutions for waste management infrastructure in Indonesia is critical if we are to protect our oceans globally. With plastic set to equal the weight of fish in our oceans by 2050, this is not an issue we can afford to ignore***.
Indonesia has an excellent opportunity to turn this situation around and develop a world-standard approach to dealing with waste management sustainably.
Creatively Linking Environment, Art & Resources
CLEAR offers a unique strategy to help Indonesia achieve this goal through empowering communities at a local level to self-mobilise. We are applying a low-cost, replicable measures which can be implemented by any village to achieve lasting and widespread change.
CLEAR was conceived by a collection of local people in a coastal fishing village called Batukaras.
Batukaras is also a popular destination for Indonesian tourists, surfers and backpackers. CLEAR is now supporting Batukaras to become renowned as a ‘cleaner greener’ best-practice example to inspire other communities. Most of our activities involve voluntary action, driven by the passion of people who care. This approach is achieving significant shifts in public awareness and behaviour at very low costs.
Over 4000 volunteers have contributed to our events and activities, over 3000 of which have been assisting with ‘Beach Clean Ups‘ which are organised by CLEAR on a regular basis. We have established an environmental learning centre called ‘Bale Tau’ which is a mixed use community space and permaculture gardens where free learning activities take place to support sustainable development. As Indonesia does not have comprehensive waste management infrastructure, one of our key objectives is to support implementation of an exemplary waste management system working towards ‘zero waste’, managed at a local level.
OUR MISSION
CLEAR supports communities in responding to environmental challenges through creative and awareness-raising activities. We are sharing knowledge and ideas across cultures to inspire change.
*According to research published in journal ‘Science’ 13 Feb 2015 – ‘Plastic Waste Input from Land Into Oceans’; **Approximately 6000 inhabited Islands in the Indonesian Archipelago as stated in http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/asia/indonesian-political-geography/indonesia; ***World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey & Company, The New Plastics Economy — Rethinking the future of plastics (2016, http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications)