15 Jul Turning Trash Into Art to Inspire Ocean Conservation

Close to a hundred school children and volunteers gathered in Sanur to transform waste materials into useful and creative products at the Coral Triangle Center’s “Trash Art Competition” on June 11, 2016.

The competition highlighted creative ways to reduce and re-use waste products. Most often, waste that is not properly disposed of gets washed into the sea, killing corals reefs, and endangering the lives of marine animals.

The activity was organized as part Coral Triangle Day celebrations, an annual, open-sourced event to shed light on ocean conservation and the numerous ways to protect and conserve the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity – the Coral Triangle.

Coral Triangle Day is celebrated every year on June 9 in the six countries of the Coral Triangle – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. This year’s theme is “Save the Coral Triangle, Say No to Plastic.”

Participants in the “Trash Art Competition”, which included children from Pusat Pengembangan Anak (PPA), high school students from SMP Wisata and SMP Negeri, and several adult groups from the Sanur community, took the theme to heart.

“We made tissue boxes and pencil cases out of plastic bottles. Our message is: Save Our Sea Animals. Many peoplecatch fis
h illegally.  We hope that what we have made will inspire people to stop illegal fishing practices and protect Indonesia’s rich marine biodiversity,” said one of the participants from PPA.

Out of the 10 participating teams, the first prize went to participants from PPA, the second prize to SMP Wisata, and the third place went to the team from Starbucks. All winners received gift vouchers for educational supplies.

The judges included artist Made Bayak, Coral Triangle Center Executive Director Rili Djohani, Trash Hero Indonesia founder Branden Hallick and Yayasan Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup Executive Director Catur Yudha Hariyani.

“After all the information shared today about conservation and recycling, we must think about what we are consuming and what we are throwing away,” said Bali-based artist Made Bayak, who also uses waste products for his creations.

Other partners also supported the event such as Bottle for Botol, Kopernik, and Starbucks.
“We joined this activity because it is very inspiring. Converting waste
materials into reusable objects can help to preserve the environment and our planet. Go green!“ said Fensilia Agustina, District Manager of Starbucks in Bali.

CTC’s Rili Djohani noted that all sectors must work together to help solve the issue of plastic waste. “We need to work together to increase awareness and forge stronger
collaboration among different sectors so we can protect our oceans and all those who depend on it,” she said.