“Fighting the Microplastic Threat: Bawean’s Youth Take Action to Clean Plastic Waste from the Coast”

Thirty students of SDIT Al Huda Clean Up The Lebak Beach from
Single use plastic waste. Monday (12/15/2025)

Following the detection of plastic polymers in the blood of women on Bawean Island, SDIT Al Huda has taken mitigation action to address the growing microplastic threat by leading a clean-up at Lebak Beach, a site heavily polluted by single-use plastic waste. The initiative is part of a broader school-based movement to reduce plastic use, including a zero-waste canteen policy, mandatory reusable tumblers, drinking water refill facilities, and environmental education on waste separation and the health risks of microplastics.

Bawean, Gresik (15 December) — As the tide receded along the shores of Lebak Village on Bawean Island, dozens of children stepped carefully across the sand, lifting sacks heavy with plastic waste—silent evidence of a pollution crisis that has lingered for decades. The scene marked the Children’s Environmental Action: Beach Clean-Up Activity, a grassroots effort led by SDIT Al Huda Bawean in collaboration with Ecoton and the Human In Love Foundation (Korea), with support from the Lebak Village Government.

Thirty students from SDIT Al Huda Bawean joined 15 local residents and village officials to clean Lebak Beach, a coastline that serves not only as a tourist destination but also as a daily playground for children. What they uncovered was more than scattered debris: it was a layered record of human consumption, carried by currents and time.

“This activity is about building environmental awareness through direct experience,” said Rissky Wahyu Saputra, Principal of SDIT Al Huda Bawean. “We want children to understand that environmental damage is not an abstract concept. It is something they can see, touch, and take responsibility for—together with the community and the village government.” By the end of the day, participants had collected 945 kilograms of waste—70 sacks of organic material and 80 sacks of inorganic waste. Single-use plastics dominated the findings, particularly food sachet packaging. Some items were estimated to date back to 1989, underscoring the extraordinary persistence of plastic in coastal ecosystems. Even discarded medicine packaging was found, raising concerns about chemical exposure to both humans and marine life.

“Our assessment shows that about 60 to 70 percent of the waste originated from local activities, while the rest likely arrived from outside the island,” Rissky explained. “The most alarming discovery was the age of some plastic waste. It demonstrates how long plastic can remain in the environment, accumulating and posing risks across generations.”

The risks are not merely ecological. Lebak Beach is a place where children swim, play, and grow. Without proper waste management, harmful substances from degraded plastics can come into repeated contact with skin or enter the body through food and water.

“This is why coastal cleanliness cannot be treated as incidental,” Rissky added. “We hope every coastal village can develop routine monitoring and long-term management systems to protect children’s health.” Lebak Village Head Fadal acknowledged that the problem exceeds local capacity. “Waste management in coastal areas cannot be handled by villages alone,” he said. “We need stronger support, especially in infrastructure and services, so waste management can be effective and sustainable.”

From a policy perspective, the findings point to deeper structural issues. Alaika Rahmatullah, Advocacy and Policy Division Manager at Ecoton, emphasized that sachet waste along Bawean’s coastline reflects systemic failure.

“Under the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, producers must be accountable for the entire life cycle of their packaging, including collection and take-back,” she said. “Without real corporate responsibility, plastic pollution will continue to burden communities and village governments.”

Beyond the numbers and policy debates, the clean-up carried a powerful message. By placing children at the center of environmental action, the initiative reframed pollution not just as a waste problem, but as a question of intergenerational responsibility.

On Lebak Beach, each sack of plastic lifted by small hands became a reminder: protecting the coast begins not only with cleaning what is already there, but with changing the systems—and habits—that allow plastic to endure far longer than the people who use it.

Contact Information:
Alaika Rahmatullah (083114966417)