Plastic garbage free schools on Banda Islands

With an es­tim­ated 0.5-1.3 mil­lion tonnes of plastic en­ter­ing the ocean every year, In­done­sia is the world's second largest pro­du­cer of mar­ine waste. As an is­land state, In­done­sia faces enorm­ous lo­gist­ical chal­lenges in the col­lec­tion, treat­ment and dis­posal of waste. Suc­cess­ful waste man­age­ment strategies come from the com­munit­ies them­selves, es­pe­cially if they are loc­ated on small and re­mote is­lands.

This is the case on the Banda Is­lands, a small group of is­lands in the middle of the Banda Sea. In 2012, a mu­ni­cipal waste man­age­ment sys­tem was set up there, which since then has in­cluded more and more vil­lages. Sup­por­ted by the Ger­man found­a­tion BandaSEA e.V., it has since been run by Magafira Ali, the Bandane­sian and former Eng­lish teacher and chair­man of the LuminoceanFound­a­tion.


Magafira be­lieves that only a change in life­style can per­man­ently re­duce the amount of plastic waste in the seas. The stu­dents of the Banda Is­lands are there­fore at the centre of this pro­ject, be­cause through school every single child of Banda can be reached, i.e. a com­plete gen­er­a­tion of fu­ture de­cision-makers. The chil­dren's know­ledge will also lead to be­ha­vi­oural changes in their fam­il­ies and hope­fully set an ex­ample for other com­munit­ies in In­done­sia.

The total cost of the pro­ject is 33,150 € for:

• Introductory event at all schools (3 teachers per school): 1.050 €.
• Training of "green mentors" € 2,350
• Mugs, plates, bottles and water dispensers: 9.550 Euro
• Printing of the teaching program for all schools: 300 €.
• Teacher grants for one year: 16.800 €.
• Invitation of other teachers from other communities to the end of the year: €3,100.

We count on your support!