Pulau Plastik (Plastic Island): Behavior Change Campaign for a Cleaner Bali
Summary:
Pulau Plastik is a collaborative campaign to tackle the issue of single-use plastic in Bali and across Indonesia. The project was developed in early 2018 after seeing the growing problem of plastic, especially after a garbage emergency was declared in November 2017. In response to this growing problem, Bali has some great examples of community responses and a number of ongoing local initiatives providing alternatives to plastic packaging, and recycling facilities. However, there remains much to be done in improving local communities understanding of the issue and getting them actively engage in both partaking in and advocating for solutions. Pulau Plastik is created by Bali-based organization Kopernik and production house Akarumput specifically for local communities in Bali, using a behavior change approach to enable a shift in attitudes and behavior towards single-use plastic reduction. This project utilizes key strategies in addressing the plastic waste problem - prevention through reduction and mitigation through establishment of better policies and infrastructure - in developing the content for its campaign tools, one of which is the educational video series. A video series of four-episodes has been developed for community screenings targeting Balinese audiences. The series covers key issues surrounding single-use plastics, including microplastics, household sorting and disposal, government policy, the food and hospitality industry, as well as Balinese philosophy and its relationship with single-use plastics. All episodes feature practical solutions and calls to action for individuals to change their behavior so they refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle single-use plastics.
Background/Objectives:
Single-use plastic packaging is very popular in Bali. It is estimated that Bali alone generates 110,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. To address the issue of plastic pollution, the Pulau Plastik series has been created as an engaging educational tool, developed specifically for local communities in Bali using a behavior change approach. The main objectives are (1) to change peoples behavior so they refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle single-use plastics, (2) to support the implementation of government policy in Bali concerning single-use plastics, (3) to encourage the adoption and implementation of this policy at a national scale.
Results/Lessons Learned:
Since January 2019, the series has been distributed through community screenings and events. As of end of October, it has been screened to more than 60 communities through events across Indonesia, reaching at least 5,000 people. As the core desired impact of this project is behavior change, we measure the impact that our series content and messaging has on peoples behavior. We've conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with the attendees of the community screenings in Bali, before and after watching the series. While the full surveys will be completed in December 2019, we've analyzed our initial findings around behavior inhibitors, personal changes, and advocacy. The most interesting findings thus far are how the series has increased the respondents motivation to reduce single-use plastics and their willingness to push the related stakeholders to improve their waste management practices, specifically for companies to provide more sustainable packaging for their products.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
While there is a lot of new international media and educational content about the importance of plastic waste management, there is no such content available for Indonesian audiences in the Indonesian language using the relevant local context. By catalyzing a greater understanding of the plastic waste problem, Pulau Plastik as a behavioral change campaign creates transformational change in people's behavior to further reduce single-use plastic consumption, improve waste separation, composting, and disposal by households. We see this as an important step in bolstering community engagement to take action in protecting the planet and advocating for policy change.
Abstract submitted by:
Sergina Loncle - Kopernik
Ewa Wojkowska - Kopernik
Pulau Plastik is a collaborative campaign to tackle the issue of single-use plastic in Bali and across Indonesia. The project was developed in early 2018 after seeing the growing problem of plastic, especially after a garbage emergency was declared in November 2017. In response to this growing problem, Bali has some great examples of community responses and a number of ongoing local initiatives providing alternatives to plastic packaging, and recycling facilities. However, there remains much to be done in improving local communities understanding of the issue and getting them actively engage in both partaking in and advocating for solutions. Pulau Plastik is created by Bali-based organization Kopernik and production house Akarumput specifically for local communities in Bali, using a behavior change approach to enable a shift in attitudes and behavior towards single-use plastic reduction. This project utilizes key strategies in addressing the plastic waste problem - prevention through reduction and mitigation through establishment of better policies and infrastructure - in developing the content for its campaign tools, one of which is the educational video series. A video series of four-episodes has been developed for community screenings targeting Balinese audiences. The series covers key issues surrounding single-use plastics, including microplastics, household sorting and disposal, government policy, the food and hospitality industry, as well as Balinese philosophy and its relationship with single-use plastics. All episodes feature practical solutions and calls to action for individuals to change their behavior so they refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle single-use plastics.
Background/Objectives:
Single-use plastic packaging is very popular in Bali. It is estimated that Bali alone generates 110,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. To address the issue of plastic pollution, the Pulau Plastik series has been created as an engaging educational tool, developed specifically for local communities in Bali using a behavior change approach. The main objectives are (1) to change peoples behavior so they refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle single-use plastics, (2) to support the implementation of government policy in Bali concerning single-use plastics, (3) to encourage the adoption and implementation of this policy at a national scale.
Results/Lessons Learned:
Since January 2019, the series has been distributed through community screenings and events. As of end of October, it has been screened to more than 60 communities through events across Indonesia, reaching at least 5,000 people. As the core desired impact of this project is behavior change, we measure the impact that our series content and messaging has on peoples behavior. We've conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with the attendees of the community screenings in Bali, before and after watching the series. While the full surveys will be completed in December 2019, we've analyzed our initial findings around behavior inhibitors, personal changes, and advocacy. The most interesting findings thus far are how the series has increased the respondents motivation to reduce single-use plastics and their willingness to push the related stakeholders to improve their waste management practices, specifically for companies to provide more sustainable packaging for their products.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
While there is a lot of new international media and educational content about the importance of plastic waste management, there is no such content available for Indonesian audiences in the Indonesian language using the relevant local context. By catalyzing a greater understanding of the plastic waste problem, Pulau Plastik as a behavioral change campaign creates transformational change in people's behavior to further reduce single-use plastic consumption, improve waste separation, composting, and disposal by households. We see this as an important step in bolstering community engagement to take action in protecting the planet and advocating for policy change.
Abstract submitted by:
Sergina Loncle - Kopernik
Ewa Wojkowska - Kopernik
Source
Approved abstract for the postponed 2020 SBCC Summit in Marrakech, Morocco. Provided by the International Steering Committee for the Summit. Image credit: Kopernik