Sisters help ban plastics in Bali.

Indonesian Sisters Campaigns "No to Plastic Bags"

All over the world, usage of plastics is out of control. It has a negative effect on our environment. 

Luckily, there are some people who have enough love and care for our planet, to come up with solutions to these massive plastic garbage problems.

"Trash season" on Kuta Beach, Bali.

If you've traveled to Bali Indonesia recently, you might have received this peculiar greeting at the airport.

"Welcome to Bali! Do you have any plastic bags to declare?"

It would have come from Melati and Isabel Wijsen who have been campaigning for four years to get plastic bags banned from their island. They started when they were 10 and 12 years old.

Melati and Bel Wijsen

Growing up on Bali, Melati and Isabel were surrounded by the negative impact of plastic.

"The plastic problem is so in your face, and we thought: 'Well, who's going to do something about it?" A typical day at school gave them the motivation they were looking for. "We had a lesson in class about positive world leaders, change makers like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Lady Diana, and I remember at the ages of 10 and 12 we went home thinking about what we could do as kids from an island.

"We didn't want to wait until we were older to stand up for what we believe in." So they founded an organization called Bye Bye Plastic Bags, a non-government organization driven by young people determined to get the population of Bali to say no to plastic bags.

Sisters playing with plastic bags.

That was the start of an incredible journey that has taken the sisters around the world, including to London where they delivered a TED talk and made an appearance at the United Nations in New York City.

In their bid to get the local government to get in action and pay attention, they started a petition. They obtained permission to start collecting signatures behind customs and immigration at Bali's airport and, eventually, got over 100,000.

Melati and Bel Wijsen raiding the beach.

The girls have been promoting on Bali the use of reusable bags and highlighting shops that have stopped selling plastic bags on their social channels.

They believe the voice of the youngest generations will have the greatest impact on their campaign.

Sisters in action

"If we could meet with world leaders and speak to them, we would tell them to listen more to the youth, consider us as more than just inspiration. 
"We are the future, but we are here now, and we're ready. We've learned kids can do things. We can make things happen."

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”

- Joseph Campbell