On Saturday 13th September 2014, PADI 5 Star Dive Resort AquaMarine Diving – Bali and Kerobokan Kelod Elementary School, joined forces with 2 of Bali’s leading environmental organisations – Bali Sea Turtle Society (BSTS) and Eco Bali Recycling (EBR) to get down and get dirty cleaning up the rubbish along the Batu Belig beachfront.
The idea was seeded and manifested by Devina from AquaMarineDiving – Bali who led the charge alongside Wayan, representing Bali Sea Turtle and Dwi, from Eco Bali Recycling. They took 32 students, under the supervision of 2 teachers, as well as 2 mini buses and drivers supplied by AMD-B. The 40-strong team headed down to the beach to collect all the paper, plastic, glass, aluminium and steel they could find.
The team successfully collected over 50 kilos of recycling during the morning beach clean-up and school social event. That’s over a kilo per person! It came as no surprise that plastic bags formed the majority of the waste with cigarette butts coming in second place. The purpose of the event was not only to collect rubbish, but also to educate the participants in identifying the different types of recycling and separate it from the waste.
After the busy morning cleaning the beach, the team returned to the school for a well-earned lunch courtesy of AMD-B and then back to the classroom to continue the pro-active educational day with presentations from the three parties involved. Eco Recycling Bali focused their attention on the concepts of waste and recycling programs. The Bali Sea Turtle Society highlighted the effects of waste in the ocean and its subsequent consequences not only for the turtles but all marine life.
AMD-B rounded up the presentations with a special message to the children that it’s everybody’s responsibility to show our love for the ocean by taking care to protect its marine life and habitats.
“Although this has only been a small exercise”, says Annabel Thomas – Director, AquaMarine Diving – Bali, “it is a starting point to help create awareness in our children and hopefully, will create a ripple in us all that will grow into something greater”.
“We would like to thank Wayan, Dwi, the drivers, teachers and all the students for putting their energy into something positive for our beach and ocean life, as well as for the Bali residents and tourists.”
AMD-B will continue to support and organise Beach Clean-ups throughout 2014 and remind everyone of the three R’s – REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE.
For further information, visit:www.AquaMarineDiving.com – www.BaliSeaTurtle.org – www.Eco-Bali.com
Children from Kerobokan Kelod Elementary School in Bali were shown how to collect, identify and record the items of rubbish during their beach clean-up in Bali.
Congratulations to everyone in the successful team who successfully collected over 50 kilos of rubbish!