Two schoolgirls ask Bali to say goodbye to plastic bags
Sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen started Bye Bye Plastic Bags in Bali in 2013, campaigning with petitions and clean-ups until the province restricted single-use plastic.
The small thing
After a school lesson about change-makers such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, the young sisters decided to start a campaign against plastic bags on their island.
The problem
Plastic bags littered Bali's beaches and waterways, wrapping around swimmers at the sisters' childhood beach. Isabel Wijsen told audiences that very little of this plastic was recycled.
Why Melati and Isabel Wijsen started
According to NPR, the sisters were inspired by a school lesson on significant people who changed the world, and decided they did not need to wait until they were older. Seeing plastic on the beaches they grew up on gave them their cause.
What they did
The sisters founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags in 2013. They ran an online petition, beach clean-ups and workshops in schools and communities. Inspired by Gandhi, they announced a food strike; NPR reported that within a day the then governor invited them to his office and signed a memorandum of understanding to work towards reducing plastic.
The group later started Mountain Mamas, a social enterprise in which village women make reusable bags, and organised annual island-wide clean-ups.
What changed
The governor's promise of a plastic-bag-free Bali by 2018 was missed. In December 2018 the new governor issued Regulation No. 97/2018 limiting single-use plastics, which Indonesia's Supreme Court upheld in 2019 after a challenge by recyclers and businessmen (The Jakarta Post). The ban followed years of pressure from many groups; the sisters' campaign was one widely reported part. According to the Asian Development Bank, their annual clean-ups had mobilised over 60,000 people and kept over 130 tonnes of plastic from the ocean over five years (the organisation's figures).
What they learned
Melati has described working with politicians as slow and uneven, likening it to taking three steps forward and two steps back, again and again.
“Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're too young or you won't understand.”Isabel Wijsen, as quoted by EcoWatch
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- Single-use plastic in your school, market or town.
- What to do
- Start with a clear, specific ask (such as ending free plastic bags), then combine clean-ups, a petition and talks with decision-makers.
- Materials and resources
- Petition platform or paper forms, clean-up kit, simple information materials.
- Approximate cost
- Very low
- Skills
- Public speaking, organising, patience with officials.
- Time
- Months to years.
- People needed
- A small core group with wider supporters.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Risks and limitations
- Young campaigners need adult support and safeguarding; avoid protest tactics that put health at risk.
- How to adapt it
- Can target a single school canteen, market or local council.
- Lessons learned
- Policy takes persistence; offer alternatives such as reusable bags alongside the ask.
Why it matters
A regional bag ban does not end plastic pollution, and enforcement is a separate challenge. But this campaign shows how young people can use petitions, persistence and public attention to move a policy debate.
What didn't work
The original 2018 deadline promised by the governor was not met, and the sisters had to keep pressing officials at several levels. The eventual regulation faced a legal challenge from a recyclers' association before being upheld.
Editor's note
Bali's single-use plastic regulation (Governor Regulation No. 97/2018) was upheld by Indonesia's Supreme Court in 2019. ADB reported in 2021 that Bye Bye Plastic Bags continued clean-ups and education; Melati Wijsen also founded YOUTHTOPIA.
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Documented. Supported by reliable published sources such as UN agencies, award bodies and reputable journalism. Not yet independently re-verified by our editors. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- reputable journalism
How teenage sisters pushed Bali to say 'bye-bye' to plastic bags — NPR, January 2019Supports: 2013 start; school lesson inspiration; petition; food strike; governor MOU; missed 2018 deadline; Melati on politicians. - reputable journalism
Find out how these two sisters convinced Bali to ban plastic bags by 2018 — EcoWatch, 6 February 2016Supports: Founding in 2013; petitions, beach clean-ups, hunger strike; Isabel quote. - reputable journalism
Bali wins plastic ban battle in court, steps closer to being plastic-free island — The Jakarta Post, 15 July 2019Supports: Governor Regulation No. 97/2018 issued December 2018; Supreme Court rejected challenge. - un agency
Here's how a young change maker got Bali to ban single-use plastic bags — Asian Development Bank (SEADS), 26 May 2021Supports: Mountain Mamas; clean-up participation and tonnage (organisation figures); YOUTHTOPIA.