Ocean Pollution In Indonesia

With 3.22 million metric tons of plastic waste disposed of every year, Oceans in Indonesia are getting dirtier, which means that Indonesia's oceans are not in a good condition. The impact of plastic waste affects several rivers in Indonesia, such as Brantas, Solo, Progo, and Serayu rivers. Those rivers were ranked among the world's top 20 most polluted rivers.

Pic source: https://theaseanpost.com/article/indonesias-plastic-waste-problem

This is one of the river conditions of the four rivers.

The Brantas River is one of the longest rivers in Indonesia. The river is located in East Java, Indonesia. The length of the Brantas River reaches 320 kilometers with a watershed area of 12 thousand square kilometers. But, regrettably, the level of plastic waste pollution is very alarming, not only causing river sedimentation but also being degraded into microplastics that endanger river biota and residents. Here are photos of the Brantas River in 2017 and 2020.

Brantas River 2017                            

Pic source: https://news.okezone.com/read/2017/09/06/519/1770670/sungai-brantas-tercemar-ini-bahaya-senyawa-pengganggu-hormon-bagi-manusia

Brantas River 2020

Pic source: https://poskota.co.id/2022/02/05/setu-citongtut-di-kabupaten-bogor-tercemar-limbah-dlh-panggil-23-pemilik-pabrik-di-lokasi-sekitar

Indonesia's oceans are not in good condition, especially because of plastic pollution. So, activists in Indonesia decided to build a museum with over 10,000 discarded bottles, bags, straws, and single-use food packaging in Gresik, East Java.

A statue of Dewi Sri, the goddess of prosperity, stands at the heart of the museum. Her skirt is made of discarded food and drinks packaging over the past few years.

Pic source: https://m.medcom.id/nasional/daerah/GNG78adN-yuk-intip-museum-sampah-plastik-di-gresik-yang-instagrammable

In addition, we can find the 4444 tunnel exhibit, made by activists from Indonesia's Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation Group and took three months to build.

Pic source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/06/indonesia-plastic-waste-museum/

Let's take care of the ocean in Indonesia so that it becomes even better and we can avoid ocean pollution.

References:

Arifin, Z. (2020, September 13). Saatnya menyelamatkan Sungai Brantas dari Racun Mikroplastik. liputan6.com. Retrieved August 24, 2022, from https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/4355335/saatnya-menyelamatkan-sungai-brantas-dari-racun-mikroplastik 

The ASEAN Post Team. (2018, July 6). Indonesia's plastic waste problem. The ASEAN Post. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://theaseanpost.com/article/indonesias-plastic-waste-problem

Hassan, J. (2021, October 6). Indonesian activists build museum out of 10,000 items of plastic waste. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/06/indonesia-plastic-waste-museum/