Indonesian Islanders Try to Turn the Tide Against Trash

Residents of 'Lucky Java,' Swamped With Garbage From Jakarta, Heed Push to Turn It Into Treasure

All Photos Source: Wall Street Journal

By ERIC BELLMAN

UNTUNG JAWA ISLAND, Indonesia—Used diapers, plastic bags, foam mattresses and tons of other garbage wash daily onto the shores of Untung Jawa Island, posing a monumental trash problem. Island leader Eko Suroyo prefers to see it as a trash opportunity.

Untung Jawa—literally "Lucky Java"—lies five miles across the Java Sea from Jakarta, one of the world's biggest cities. Because greater Jakarta can't handle all of its waste, some of its 20 million residents dump their debris into canals that flow through the city and into the sea—putting much of their trash on a crash course with the beaches and mangroves of this half-mile-long island of 2,000 inhabitants.

Having failed to turn back the tide of trash, Untung Jawans are taking another tack.

Read rest of Wall Street Journal article HERE.