5 MIN READ
07-14-2025
Refusing to Give Up: Fighting Coastal Waste, One Sack at a Time
Dika, 4ocean Indonesia Content Correspondent
The team returned to a familiar shoreline once again overwhelmed by plastic and mixed debris. This particular stretch of coast, shaped like a natural basin and located near a river mouth, has become a hotspot for ocean-bound trash—swept in by floods, currents, and poor waste management practices upstream. It’s not the first time we’ve been here, and it won’t be the last. But every cleanup matters.
On this mission, the 4ocean crew got straight to work: removing, sorting, weighing, and hauling waste to our base. We collected 35 sacks in total, removing 1,758.1 pounds of trash—644.6 pounds of plastic waste and 1,113.5 pounds of mixed debris. Among the usual culprits—plastic bottles, straws, and discarded fabric—we also wrestled with nets and branches entangled in trash, requiring tools like claws and cutters to dislodge. With no road access for trucks, the team carried every load by hand.
Each step was slow and heavy, but no one backed down. The farther we went, the more it felt like a calling—not just a cleanup, but a refusal to look away.
These cleanups aren’t glamorous. They’re hard, hot, repetitive—and they’re the only reason this beach hasn’t fully disappeared beneath layers of waste.
As Captain Krisna Iza Rabindra shared, “This beach should be a refuge for marine life. Instead, it’s a warning sign. We can’t solve this by cleaning alone—real change means educating the public and holding polluters accountable. But until that happens, we keep going.”
Because cleanups are more than just one-day efforts. They’re acts of care. Of responsibility. Of hope. And that day, soaked and smiling, we left knowing one thing for sure: we’d do it again tomorrow.
