• Natalie Bla-Fe
  • ScandinavianExplorer
  • Natalie Bla-Fe
  • ScandinavianExplorer

Save the Ocean in Indonesia

Together with Trash Waste Solutions NGO we are working on finding solutions against plastic pollution in Indonesia. Read more
  • Trip start
    January 11, 2020
  • We are ready!

    January 12, 2020 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    We are ready! Ready to go and fully motivated to work together for a cleaner and healthier environment! The next 3 months we will be in Manado, Indonesia, to help finding solutions against waste entering the oceans. Let’s do it 🔱!Read more

  • Arrived well at Mapia Resort in Manado

    January 14, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    🇩🇪Wir sind gut in unserem neuen Zuhause für die nächsten 3 Monate angekommen.
    Vielen Dank an @celebes.divers.sulawesi für die grossartige Unterstützung, die Unterkunft und dafür, ein Teil der Lösung dieser grossen Herausforderung zu sein!
    Zusammen können wir es schaffen!

    🔱🐳🌊🐟

    🇬🇧We have arrived well at our home for the next 3 months.
    A big thank you to @celebes.divers.sulawesi for the great support, the accomodation and for being part of the solution to this big challenge!
    Together we can do it!
    Read more

  • First impressions

    January 15, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    🇩🇪Unsere ersten Eindrücke der Situation. Das Ausmass der Verschmutzung ist beeindruckend. Bisher haben wir vorwiegend Einweg-Plastik gefunden und schon ein paar Eimer voll aufgeräumt.

    🇬🇧Our first impressions of the waste situation. The scale of the problem is impressive. So far we have mostly found single-use plastic and already cleaned up a couple of buckets.
    Read more

  • University Meeting

    January 16, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    🇩🇪 Wir hatten ein sehr produktives Treffen mit Prof. Lasut von der Universität Manado (UNSRAT), Experte für Meeresverschmutzung und Mitbegründer der No-Trash Triangle Initiative. Er konnte uns einen sowohl wissenschaftlichen, als auch lokalen Einblick der Situation verschaffen. Ausserdem gab er uns viele wertvolle Kontakte, mit denen wir unsere Arbeit fortsetzen können. Vielen Dank, Prof. Lasut!

    🇬🇧We had a very productive meeting with Prof. Lasut from Manado University (UNSRAT), expert for marine pollution and co-founder of the No-Trash Triangle Initiative. He could give us both a scientific and local insight of the current situation and provided us many valuable contacts to continue our work with. Thank you, Prof. Lasut!
    Read more

  • Meeting Waste Bank

    January 18, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Waste Bank Manado = CELLS

    We are very happy! We had 3 days meetings with the motivated people behind the Waste Bank in Manado, CELLS. They showed us how they work and their dreams of keeping the environment clean by simultaneously creating a circular economy with positive social impact.

    Today, 17 different WasteBank points in North Sulawesi-Indonesia are collecting paper, metal and most important for us, PLASTIC!

    How does it work?
    1. The material is personally delivered by local people to the Waste Bank point.
    2. The material is classified (38 subclasses), weighted and then recorded in an Smartphone App by assigning it to the user. Here, the person receives automatically the correspondent amount of money to his account, which can be claimed back in cash. (Yes, they can earn money!!!)
    3. When the amount of material is enough to at least fill one 40feet container, it gets shipped to Jakarta for recycling. Then the recycling company pays the material back to the Waste Bank.

    Future work together? Yes! We are already working together to see how our strengths and potentials can soon deliver good things. We have already many ideas where we can do things to protect our ocean together!

    Thank you Marlon and team for the great spirit! We are looking forward to our next actions! We are positive of the outcome, as our ideas, vision and passion for nature are synchronized. 🙂
    Read more

  • Meeting SeaSoldier

    January 20, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Excited to meet the young and motivated members of @seasoldier_sulut. They teach young children about the incredible local ecosystems (coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass) and are raising awareness about the problems of #plasticpollution. We are happy to #teamup and seek solutions together!Read more

  • Tourism & Sustainability

    January 23, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    How can tourism contribute to a sustainable development? We know that tourism has a huge impact on the environment. But not only negative! Here at @celebes.divers.sulawesi, we see how tourism can do good:

    🚯create an awareness of #sustainable practices in customers and staff by giving information and training

    🍽 #reduce the amount of plastic consumed by customers e.g. by offering free water in reusable bottles or offer a plastic free breakfast

    ♻️correct disposable of their produced waste

    💡offsetting of the carbon emissions to support sustainable projects

    🔱 support local and international NGOs like @trashwaste.solutions 😊

    🌴 offer tours to national parks who contribute to #conservation efforts and #respect nature

    Thank you Celebes Divers for your efforts and support! Now - we travellers are required to demand those aspects from our travel agents. It really makes a difference, which tourism company you choose and how they worry about our common home 🌏
    Read more

  • Marine debris monitoring

    January 24, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today, we accompanied University students from Manado to take samples on a heavily polluted beach near Manado. This science-based monitoring of marine litter was conducted according to the #UNEP guidelines on survey and monitoring of marine litter and is supported by the ministry of environment of Indonesia. These data are essential for measuring the scale of the problem and the effectiveness of management systems. Standardised international methods are crucial to measure and tackle the problem on a global scale. To solve the problem, you need to understand it first!

    Thanks to the sympathetic students for letting us participate!
    Read more

  • Second Anniversary - Date under water

    January 27, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Because not everything is work, we also like to enjoy our beautiful planet🌎. More if it is our wedding 💍anniversary. Following the tradition of our honey moon, this year we went into a special underwater date 😍🤿 on Nain Island 🏝on Bunaken National Park Indonesia, in the heart of the Coral Triangle!
    We couldn’t see the hammer sharks, but we dove with a black tip shark, eagle spotted ray, turtles, colorful corals and a lot of funny nudibranchs.
    But, we could not be blind and not react to the plastic pollution. 🔱Even here, on this remote incredible island, plastic was there. Look at the final pictures.
    That‘s why we are giving our best 💪🏻today, to have beautiful tomorrow for our kids and all living beings on earth. 🌎

    #RegenerationExpedition #trashwastesolutions #diveagainstdebris
    Read more

  • Siladen Resort

    January 28, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    🇬🇧Thank you to Ana and Miguel from Siladen Resort for receiving us with an open heart and for being so active in finding solutions for a cleaner environment. We had a great talk which helped us a lot to understand the current situation.

    🇨🇭🇩🇪Vielen Dank an Ana und Miguel vom Siladen Resort uns mit einem offenen Herzen zu empfangen und so aktiv an einer sauberen Umwelt zu arbeiten. Wir hatten ein super Gespräch, das uns viel dabei geholfen hat die aktuelle Situation zu verstehen.
    Read more

  • Bunaken Oasis Dive Resort

    February 1, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We went to visit Bunaken Oasis dive resort to find out what they are doing to solve oceanpollution. Through sorting out their organic waste, they have their own #compost which they use to grow a beautiful fruit and vegetable garden. Thinking about that >50% of the household waste in Indonesia is organic, this is a great way to reduce waste going to the landfill and to make use of this resource!

    Besides that, they sort and recycle their waste and are very engaged to support and educate the locals about the waste problem.
    A big thank you to Roby for showing us!

    Also, we very much liked that their guests can plant their own mangroves 🌱 trees.
    Read more

  • Getting to know the recycling in Manado

    February 8, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Thanks to Amelia for meeting us and showing us her waste collection for recycling business. This redirects a lot of valuable materials from the landfill to the next recycling plant. But she also works with a mall, hotels and resorts, who also send their recyclables collected from clean-ups there.Read more

  • Landfill Manado

    February 17, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    🇨🇭🇩🇪Wenn man aus einen Land kommt, in dem man diesen Anblick nicht kennt, ist es wahrhaft überwältigend eine solche #Mülldeponie in echt zu sehen. Hier wird unser Abfallproblem wirklich greifbar. Und eine Deponie ist eine gute Art von Abfallentsorgung, wenn man es mit unkontrolliertem Abladen vergleicht, bei dem der Müll oft letztendlich im Meer landet.
    Wir mussten daran denken, dass der produzierte Abfall pro Kopf in westlichen Ländern noch viel höher ist und dass auch dort der Müll nicht einfach verschwindet, nur weil wir ihn nicht mehr sehen! Was für ein unangenehmer Gedanke.
    Wir müssen damit anfangen, Müll als Rohstoff zu sehen und die Materialien zurückholen, die aktuell für immer verloren gehen.

    🇬🇧Coming from a country, in which this is an unknown sight, it is truly overwhelming to see a landfill (more a dumpsite) in person. Here our waste problem becomes really tangible. And a landfill is considered a good kind of waste management, compared to uncontrolled dumping where the waste often ends up in the ocean.
    We had to think about, that the amount of waste generated per capita is even higher in western countries and that also there the waste doesnt just dissapear because we dont see it anymore! What an uncormfortable thought.
    We need to start seing waste as a resource and recover the valuable materials which are currently lost forever.
    Read more

  • At church

    February 23, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    🇨🇭🇩🇪 Heute hatten wir die Ehre während der Sonntagsmesse vor den Einwohnern der Insel Siladen zu sprechen. Wir erzählten von unserem Projekt, erklärten warum Meeresmüll und besonders das verbrennen von Plastik für uns alle schlecht sind und wie wir das Problem lösen können, indem wir in unseren eigenen Häusern starten. Wir waren beeindruckt davon, wie bewusst alle über das Problem waren und wie dankbar dafür, Unterstützung aus Europa zu erhalten.
    Vielen Dank an den Pfarrer und die Bürgermeisterin für die Einladung, und an Rio, dass er uns mit der Übersetzung geholfen hat.

    🇬🇧Today we had the honor to speak in front of the inhabitants of Siladen Island during Sunday Mass. We talked about our project, explained why marine debris and especially burning plastic are a problem for everyone and how we can solve the problem by starting at our own houses. We were amazed on how aware people are of the problem and how thankful they are receiving support from Europe.
    Thank you to the priest and the mayoress for inviting us and to Rio for the translation!
    Read more

  • Diving with Turtles

    February 26, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Many years ago, turtles were hunted and eaten in this place. Many stakeholders including governments, tourist sector and good people helped to prohibit this old tradition.
    Now, the population of green turtles and other species in Bunaken Marine Park is healthy and numerous again.
    If you dive here you have 100% chances to encounter a turtle, and they are huge! 😍

    Today, also @siladenresort is protecting or relocating unsafe turtle nests in order to ensure the turtles get born and go to the ocean. As these, play a key role on the health of the reef.
    @trashwaste.solutions @pahbarazzy @natalie.bla_fe
    Read more

  • CoralEye

    March 3, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    More networking, more amazing initiatives! This time getting to know the people from Hydra Marine Sciences and No-Trash Triangle Initiative. We talked about what they have achieved so far and what we can all do to work for clean seas. We are looking forward to more knowledge exchange!
    A big thank you to Marco from Coral Eye to facilitate this meeting at his amazing resort!
    Read more

  • Tropical paradise

    March 4, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    What an paradisiac place we got to know: Coral Eye on Bangka Island is a dream come true. Surrounded by the most biodiverse ecosystems, we enjoyed diving in the coralreefs, paddling through the mangroves and seeing fields of seagrass. As a marine research center, scientists from all over the world come here to study the life beneath the sea. Probably the best place to put knowledge into action to protect and preserve this unique place.
    We hope to be back!
    Read more

  • Suara Pulau

    March 6, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Meet the peoplebehind Suara Pulau Foundation. These motivated people do a great job in educating the kids from Bangka Island on environmental topics. Each year, they organize a fun event, the CoralDay, where they celebrate the coral reefs and install artificial coral constructions. We are excited to work with you!Read more

  • Manengkel Solidaritas NGO

    March 11, 2020 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Thank you for meeting us and discussing about our visions.
    We were overwhelmed by all the amazing activities that you are doing and projects you have already realised! Sometimes you feel in an instant if the spirit is right. This is the energy we need to work for the good!Read more