Meet Wayan – our Eco Club Manager

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Hellen Keller

Nothing would happen without people that show their every day  engagement in saving  Bali and share their recycling knowledge with those around them.

Meet WAYAN – our Eco Club Manager

“Hello everybody, My name is Wayan Kawenuh. I live In Bali. I love this island. Today trash is becoming a big problem in our land. Many people throw away their trash after they consume food and beverages. Sometimes I see people do not throw their waste at the dump or trash can in public places – they just throw it wherever they want.

One day I met an American who cares a lot about our island, and wanted to help us make Bali clean again.  His name is Dave M Fogarty. He started small by teaching my friends to separate the waste. We separate the waste into four criteria including organic, plastic, glass and metal.

When I became the president of Eco Club I was in the twelth grade. The story begun when Pak Dave asked me about the way my school throws away the trash. I told him what the reality looks like at my school. He gave me a great solution to do one program that could solve the trash problem in my school. I felt very happy at that time and I discussed it with my principal. He accepted the program and the next thing was to create a small team that we called Eco Club. My principal appointed me as a president of the team. At first, I was having difficulties in finding members so we decided to recruit our close friends from tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade. We managed to gather 25 students in one team!

We now have a program that includes: teaching our friends how they separate the trash (we provided 3 trash cans), collecting the trash into the “rumah sampah or trash home”. Pak Dave’s friend from Ubud gave a hand and helped build it. Every member of Eco Club is required to teach their brothers and sisters to recycle at home. Sharing knowledge with those around us is the first step to maintain the beauty of our island. We also cooperate with the waste management system in Mas, Ubud, Bali. They take the trash from our school once per month.

This opportunity is very valuable to me, because for the first time I could learn to be a leader of a small group that is engaged in the business of saving the environment. And as long as I became president of Eco Club I became more respectful to the environment where I live and learn. I hope this program can help Bali in the future. Thank you guys.”

Wayan