Plastic Beach: Bali's Growing Trash Problem

BALI, INDONESIA - JANUARY 27 : A woman with two boys stand on some wood which is covered by plastic trash brought in by the strong waves during the northwest monsoon season at Jimbaran beach on January 27, 2021 in Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia. In Bali, famed among tourists for its beaches and sunsets, the northwest monsoon brings a different kind of arrival - vast amounts of plastic waste. From December to March, so much trash washes up on the beaches that the local government struggles to keep up and clean up. Locals and workers have together been collecting 80 tonnes of waste a day as it washes ashore at world-famous beaches from Seminyak to Kuta, the local government said. Almost 75 percent of it is plastic, according to a study by the Center of Remote Sensing and Ocean Sciences at Bali's Udayana University. In the absence of tourism due to Covid-19, the trash problem has become obvious on beaches almost entirely devoid of visitors. Indonesia is part of the U.N.'s Clean Seas campaign, which aims to halt the tide of plastic trash polluting the oceans. As part of its commitment, the government has vowed to reduce marine plastic waste by 70 percent by 2025. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images)