5 MIN READ
06-04-2025
Mengening and the Recurring Battle Against Trash
Ucik, 4ocean Jembrana Content Correspondent
Some places seem destined to stay beautiful. Others seem destined to be in a constant fight to stay that way. Mengening Beach is one of the latter.
Despite multiple cleanups by the 4ocean team, this quiet stretch of shoreline continues to be overwhelmed by waste. The reason lies inland: Mengening sits at the mouth of three rivers. During heavy rains, these rivers swell and dump all kinds of waste—bottles, wrappers, old tires, fishing nets—straight onto the coast. Even a full cleanup is undone in days.
Still, our team shows up. This time, Agus (Captain), Ketut, Wayan Kariada, Putu Adi, Made, Dika Setiawan, Arya, and Nurul Huda took on the familiar challenge. It wasn’t just plastic they were dealing with—driftwood, particularly bamboo, made walking treacherous and covered much of the trash. Crews had to move wood piece by piece just to reach the waste underneath.
“This isn’t about effort. It’s about how the system flows,” explained one local fisherman. “We clean. The rivers bring more. Until people stop dumping trash upstream, this will never stop.”
Despite the challenges, the crew removed 518.25 lbs of waste, including:
- 325.6 lbs of plastic (bottles, wrappers, oil containers)
- 192.65 lbs of mixed waste (fishing nets, tires, foam, metal)
The beach looked transformed by day’s end—but everyone knew it wouldn’t last.
The fishermen in the area, who rely on clean waters for their livelihood, expressed deep gratitude. Many have begun speaking to their own communities about the harm caused by throwing trash into rivers. They understand now that what disappears upstream eventually returns to the shore—or into the fish they catch.
“We are thankful for what 4ocean is doing,” one elder fisherman said. “But to really win this fight, we need people in the villages to stop treating rivers like trash bins.”
Why This Matters
Mengening Beach is a frontline example of why coastal cleanups alone aren’t enough. Trash thrown into rivers upstream doesn’t disappear—it travels. It piles up. It comes back. To truly protect oceans, we must address pollution at every stage of the journey: from mountain streams to mangroves to sea.
Waste Collected
- Plastic bottles
- Fishing nets
- Plastic food wrappers
- Sharp debris (wood with nails)
Total: 978.6 lbs of trash removed
