We continue scaling our impact: Our first river barrier in Lombok is here!

We're taking our mission to regenerate the planet to new locations, and Lombok is the next stop. Home to pristine beaches, Lombok hosts the majestic Mount Rinjani volcano, and some of the warmest people you'll ever meet. Like its more famous neighbor Bali, this Indonesian gem has been discovered by the world, with tourists flocking to its crystal-clear waters, powder-white beaches and hiking its beautiful mountains. 

Why we choose Lombok

Along these beautiful views, one of the least expected but unfortunately common sights is waste. The lack of waste management infrastructure in Lombok is a major reason for this. The island lacks a proper system to handle trash, and much work remains in raising awareness about waste management. As tourism booms and events like the MotoGP draw more visitors, plastic pollution continues to worsen, with rivers carrying tons of waste into the ocean daily. 

When looking for our next impact location, we found in Lombok the type of challenges and opportunities we have been gearing up to tackle through our work in Bali and Padang. It's a place where we can make a real difference, not just by cleaning up rivers, but by working with local communities. 

The first step: Installing river barriers

We’ve placed the first set of river barriers to stop waste from reaching the ocean in Buduk river. During the rainy season, when currents are strong and plastic flow is at its peak, our barriers work overtime to catch waste before it reaches the ocean.
Our previous river barrier projects, taking place in Badung, collected a total of 86,798.50 kg collected at the river barriers, with an average of 820.99 kg collected per barrier per month.

And here's where it gets interesting: about 30% of what we catch (specifically HDPE and PP materials) gets a second life in our City Collection Sunglasses and Hard Cases. This is how we turn trash into treasure! The rest? We responsibly handle it through pyrolysis or proper disposal.

With our newly installed river barrier in Lombok, we are taking the first step to remove a very significant amount of trash that would have otherwise reached the ocean. We also plan adding more barriers in the future and organising cleanup events to

Creating local jobs

Here's something we're particularly proud of: We're creating real jobs with fair wages for local residents. After all, who better to protect Lombok than Lombok's own people?

The ripple effect

Every piece of plastic we catch creates ripples of positive change:

  • Cleaner waters for fishing communities
  • Healthier marine ecosystems
  • Better livelihoods for local families

Follow our impact work in Lombok

This is just the beginning of our Lombok story, and we'd love for you to be part of it. Subscribe to our biweekly notes for:

  • Unfiltered updates from the ground (the good, the challenging, and everything in between)
  • Behind-the-scenes peeks at how we're making this work





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