FIGARO TOMORROW – Arrived in Indonesia with only a backpack, these six young French people have been accompanying the local population for more than a month in the collection of waste.
July 4, 2022. Backpacks on their shoulders and smiles on their faces, six students from all over France set off for Indonesia. The project is clear and everyone has prepared psychologically: six months, three countries and three tons of waste to collect.
Almost a year ago, Louise, Nina, Ewan, Bérangère, Thibault and Alexandre created the MOICA association (Marine & Ocean Initiative Cleaning Action) as part of their business studies. An ambitious project, based on their indignation at the discovery of the “seventh continent of plastic” in the northern Pacific Ocean, a vortex of polluting debris occupying six times the size of France. Arrived in Bali on July 4, they accompany the local association Sungai Watch by cleaning the rivers and installing floating barriers to stop the spread of waste.
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The objective is also to raise awareness among tourists and locals, while communicating their results with Europe via social networks. Of their time zone, the six young people tell the Figaro the start of their journey.
“We succeeded, but not without stress”
It all starts on social networks, with an idea that Bérangère relays via groups of young students. In September 2021, the team is determined and complete. Before leaving, you still had to cover all the costs: “we had to reach a very specific amount with the help of sponsors and we succeeded, but not without stress“, she explains.
With the Covid-19 pandemic,it was hard to trust us. Donors were hesitant because it was a destination abroad and we weren’t sure we could leaveresumes Nina, but we never gave up“. After months of work in parallel with their studies, the team benefits from the financial aid of eight French structures, including Crédit Mutuel and Rotary International. The young association also seals collaborations with the local associations Sungai Watch (Indonesia), Preciousplastic Bangkok (Thailand) and Mealdei (Cambodia), which take care of collecting, sorting and reusing waste.
Finally, passports in hand at the time of departure, “only joy remainssays Nina. On the spot, they say,the rivers are so covered with waste that you can’t even see the surface“. All of them sink waist deep into the water of the Balinese mangroves and begin their mission.
Once the feet in the marsh of Denpasar (south of Bali) surrounded by mangroves – tropical trees -, “we realize that we did not work for nothing“, she continues. This first collection of waste, says “cleanup(cleaning, in French), was done without concern and with great pride.
Plastic 30cm underground
«We all took a slapsays Bérangère. For Thibault,the most shocking is the depth of the waste. We first pick up one or two, then while digging we still come across plastic 30cm underground“. In the collection, plastic bags, straws, clothes of all kinds, sandals with bow ties, and sometimes a suitcase bearing the image of Paris and its Eiffel Tower.
“In the collection, plastic bags, straws, clothes of all kinds, sandals with a bow tie, and sometimes a suitcase bearing the image of Paris and its Eiffel Tower. »
«We also see animals creating their habitats in the middle of the wastehe continues, it’s impressive to see how pollution is an integral part of the landscape“. Around them, plastic bags are stuck in the trees of the fragile ecosystem, enough to almost forget the hundreds of kilometers that separate them from Asian metropolises.
Despite these scenes of desolation, the six students will bring back with them beautiful stories of sharing. “As our approach is not accusatory, the population is very open and takes our initiative very well.“, explains Bérangère. “There is a good atmosphere in the cleanups and then we are made to develop a resistance to the little beasts of everyday life“, she adds, smiling. Pythons, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches and “mosquitoes !exclaims Louise.
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Individually,we pay much more attention to our wasteadds Bérangère, we say to ourselves that in France zero waste is really achievable because there are alternative solutions, infrastructures, whereas here the culture of plastic is still anchored».
On August 30, head for Thailand for a series of awareness-raising workshops with locals and internationals because, underlines Bérangère, “if we don’t get to the root of the problem, nothing will change. We want to show Europe what is happening on the other side of the world».