The Thousand Islands is known for its beautiful beaches, clean white sands, colourful coral plants, and lush mangrove plants. Each year, tourists and divers come to visit the Island to enjoy the Island’s natural beauty while being under the hot sun.
For people living on the Island, the incredible scenery and ecosystem of the Island act as their primary source of economic income, as tourists would visit the Island to enjoy its beauty. However, when COVID-19 hit, online shopping activity increased, causing more packaging waste that ends up on the shore of the Thousand Islands including plastic wraps, bubble wraps, and duct tape. As more waste disrupts the environment and tourists stopped showing up, this trend became a big problem.
“On an average week, as many as three deliveries to Kelapa Island can be completed, and in one delivery, there are as many as 400 packages sent there,” said Ms Rosidah, who works as a driver in a delivery service.
What’s concerning is that the citizen of the islands don’t even realise how increased waste could impact their lives. When asked about how the increased number of waste affect their life, most of them said that it didn’t affect their lives directly, but it’s clear that the environment is the one that takes all the damage. “The increasing amount of plastic waste on Pulau Seribu has polluted the environment and the surrounding marine ecosystem. For example, you can find turtles eating plastic waste, affecting the marine ecosystem,” described by Intan Syahriani, a resident of Pramuka Island who is also an environmental researcher.
In the hopes of gaining awareness and directly clean the environment, the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum with Lazada Indonesia, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, and supported by Divers Clean Action held beach, mangrove, and coral clean-up activities in the Pramuka Island, Thousand Islands.
The AIS Forum also held the Island Hackathon, which invites eight start-up companies and waste management organisations to address waste problems and find solutions for the greater good of the community.
“It is hoped that through this event, we can reduce the amount of plastic waste, which is mostly produced by the community and also garbage brought from the sea, then process them into materials that have a higher value. With the materials, it is hoped that it can also contribute towards the local’s economy by creating more jobs for local residents,” says Ami, a representative from Parongpong RAW Lab, one of the start-up companies participating in Island Hackathon, which focuses on reducing plastic waste and recycling them into a higher-value material.
For being one of the platforms for e-commerce in Indonesia, the Vice President of Government Affairs at Lazada Indonesia, Mr Budi Primawan, felt that it is essential for everyone to realise how damaging plastic waste can be. “Plastic has been with us since childhood. We’ve often interacted with plastic, but now we must build people’s awareness to use plastic wisely. If there’s an alternative, then it should be replaced. Lazada is also carrying this out, slowly we are working with our merchants so that there is an alternative packaging system”.
Continuing the AIS Joint Research, the drone made by a collaboration between the University of Philippines, Padjajaran University, and Robomarine Indonesia with support from the Archipelagic and Island States Forum with Lazada Indonesia and Coordinating Ministry Maritime and Investment Sector, called ARHEA and RHEA was also tested to check its capabilities for gathering informational data. “ARHEA represents a significant advancement in oceanographic measurement technology, and we hope this event could provide valuable insights into its potential applications in various industries,” said Zainul Walidatish from Robomarine Indonesia.
