Plastic waste reduction:
Every year we make a simple but effective plastic pollution report that shows how much plastic we prevented from being used and ended up in our environment. As tour guides in Indonesia, avoiding plastic waste is a constant battle, on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we are not yet 100% successful in our attempt to avoid ALL possible plastics because not everything is in our control. It is an interesting learning process for us and our guests.
# days | # people | plastic bottles | plastic straws | plastic bags | |
Averages | 2.14 | 0.34 | 1.92 | ||
Trips | |||||
Bali complete experience April 2024 | 12 | 10 | 257 | 41 | 230 |
Java complete experience July 2024 | 16 | 18 | 616 | 98 | 553 |
Java complete experience August 2024 | 16 | 16 | 548 | 87 | 492 |
Java complete experience August 2024 | 16 | 16 | 548 | 87 | 492 |
Bali complete experience December 2024 | |||||
Totals | 60 | 60 | 1969 | 313 | 1767 |
As you can see we prevented 1969 plastic bottles, 313 straws, and 1767 plastic bags from ending up in our precious environment. The above calculation is made with a reference that is not even based on the tourism sector but more on daily use, so expect the actual numbers to be even higher.
The sources used for our references can be found here:
Average use of plastic straws per person in Indonesia: 0.34 per day
This is calculated by the estimated daily use of straws which is 93,244,847 divided by the population of Indonesia which is 274,000,000.
Average use of plastic bags per person in Indonesia: 700 per year
Plastic bags/person/day = 1.92
https://makingoceansplasticfree.com/hidden-cost-plastic-bag-use-pollution-indonesia/
Average use of plastic bottles per person while traveling: 30 for 2 weeks round trip
Plastic bottles/person/day = 2.14
https://goodtourisminstitute.com/library/reduce-plastic-practical-guide/
Some golden advice from the last website!
On a concluding note, our efforts are only a drop in the ocean of worldwide plastic pollution. We will not save the world by doing this but our goal is to pursue our values and set an example to the tourism sector. Imagine if other travel companies start to follow, that’s when we will create a difference!