Made Bayak
Plasticology
a tale from the island of the gods
Written by Wayan Jengki Sunarta Translated by Rebekah Moore
Since the invention of plastic in the early twentieth century, this material has been a practical, pragmatic, and cheap commodity serving hundreds of purposes. But behind its advantages, plastic has also spread terror, horror, anxiety, disease, and the destruction of nature. Ground soil takes thousands of years to biodegrade plastic. When it is burned, the smoke poisons the air and our lungs. Unimagineably, styrofoam, that ubiquitous substance used to package food waste, causes cancer when burned, and it cannot be broken down in nature. To this day, plastic waste continues to wreak ecological havoc at the local, regional, national, and international levels. In Bali, plastic waste management was made a special agenda for Bali’s provincial government. On May 25, 2011, under the auspices of the Environment Agency of Bali (BLH), the government held a waste management seminar entitled "Plastic Waste-Free Bali 2013" in the Ksirarnawa Building, Taman Budaya. The government also created the “Bali Green Province,” guided by three basic campaigns, namely “Green Culture,” “Green Economy,” and “Clean & Green.” Green Culture aims to