Museum of Plastics as an Environmental Advocacy tool

 

"Art is a vital tool in mobilising and strengthening movements worldwide as it enables people to communicate innovative ideas and issues quickly and powerfully for positive change"

The plastic museum

Ecoton is beginning to use art for their campaigning, in particular installations and documentaries. They have been organising different manifestations. One of the eye-catchers is the Plastic Museum, a twelve-meter-long hallway filled with thousands of used plastic bottles, which were hung in nets.

The museum was supposed to educate the public on how rivers are polluted with plastic, about the dangers of plastic waste, single-use plastic, and microplastics. At the end of the tour, people were asked to write down their hope for the future. The museum targeted the public, motivating people to stop using single-use plastics. But it also attracted local government officials and the media. One of the impacts was, according to Arisandi, that the government made a regulation about plastic. In the same area, a dead tree, found by volunteers during a river clean up, was wrapped in plastic waste.

Ecoton also organises ‘theatrical actions’ during demonstrations. One of those actions was organised in April 2021, when a number of residents from the Gerakan Peduli Lingkungan (GPL), Nguter sub-district, Sukoharjo complained about alleged river pollution by a company (PT. Rayon Utama Makmur, or PT.RUM)) that channelled liquid waste directly into the Bengawan Solo River.

The theatre play accompanied an action at the Balai Besar Wilayah Sungai (BBWS) Bengawan Solo, a government entity, responsible for the management of water sources. It was carried out during ten action periods. Photos of rivers and rocks affected by PT RUM’s liquid waste were shown, as well as samples of water and land affected by PT RUM’s liquid waste. The theatrical action was carried out as a form of community annoyance over PT RUM’s liquid waste polluting and emptying the small river around the community’s residence. It called for the BBWS to take its responsibility to maintain the river, to not be silent on the pollution by the company.

Ecoton also organises so-called expeditions. “We go around Indonesia and do research in and around the rivers. We take samples and measure levels of and airing the message on youtube. Take sample in few points of the rivers, measure for example acidity levels. We bring these samples to our own laboratory in our office. We have a PhD to support us with this.”

The organisation mobilises people to join these expeditions, to help collect these samples. It’s a form of participatory research, and a backbone of the organisation’s work. “We want to help the people to become a hero, from the position of a victim, by informing and engaging them.”

Ecoton uses these sources for their campaigns. These organise demonstrations, send letters to the relevant government and use social media to air their messages, on for example YouTube or through documentaries. “Many people have a handphone now and they are googling on the internet. Our works also attract journalists, as we believe in media as an important pillar of democracy

From a victim to a hero

Ecoton mobilises the people in its campaigns, to join them in these expeditions. But people have also been engaged in several court cases. They involved for example around forty women in one lawsuit. Ecoton trained this “river defender women’s group” in understanding the laws that are supposed to protect people against pollution, but also trained them to speak out in public. They organised a sailing trip on the river to identify and count dump sites.   

“The first thing is to entertain people, to joke and make them smile”, says Arisandi. “And art is a very effective medium,” says Arisandi. “Art is translating the message to a broader audience, as these topics are difficult to understand. We try to translate it to the grassroots. Our language is more acceptable.”

“I believe the visuals, the images, can make people more aware about environmental issues and climate justice and let them take care. Art is attractive and has more effect than a seminar or focus group discussions. People are not familiar with that and find it difficult to understand, even the title of a seminar is already hard for them. We don’t want to break hearts, that’s why we do our work with happiness. We refuse complex theories, that would be difficult for the people.”

 

Still from the documentary REVOLUSI POPOK - Ekspedisi 3 Sungai #01. Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yxaou55Uo

Seek the momentum

The momentum is key for these messages, says Arisandi. “You must know the culture, but also know the right time and period is most feasible for, for example, women to take part, but also for government officials to tell your message. Don’t speak about human rights when we are in the dry season, when people have no money.”

A tiny stone

Ecoton encounters a few challenges in its work. Whereas the work is growing, the organisation is still small, “compared to the producer campaigns and advertisements promoting single use plastics”, says Arisandi in an interview. It is difficult to find people to enjoy working on this topic. Ecoton lacks funds and people to do the work. And art is expensive as well.

That’s why he does not want to talk about impact. “We are not talking about the impact. Environmental change needs a long time, and our program is always limited. It is never enough. We cannot solve it, as the problem is big, and we are only a tiny stone. But small is beautiful.”

At the same time, they have high number of views of their documentaries. And their actions attract not only people but also media, and have resulted in some government initiatives including river clean-up actions.

 Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation

Life in Indonesia is already tough enough. Messages about climate change should be delivered with happiness and art plays a major role in that. That is the clear message of Prigi Arisandi, one of the founders and director of Ecoton, Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation, in East Java, in Indonesia. “In developing countries, life is difficult. Our life is about survival, but also about happiness. Art is to make people to happy and to entertain them. We want to deliver our message with happiness.”

Ecoton was established in 1996 as a Biology Study Program Wetland Conservation Group, as both Arisandi and his wife Daru Setyorini are trained biologists. They started with a project to study how well protected mangroves can protect river communities. Out of huge concern about environmental problems in East Java, especially river pollution, they expanded their work to industrial pollution.