Ocean Stewards

Getting a head start on environmental education

Working with social enterprise Plastic Bank, we’re helping to train the next generation of Indonesia’s sustainability champions through the Ocean Steward Educational Programme. The environmental curriculum has been developed in partnership with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.

Nearly 200 teachers from schools in Bali have been provided with training, as well as localised lesson plans, supporting materials, games, and ideas for out-of-classroom activities to help them inspire thousands of students to adopt more sustainable habits.

This includes the responsible consumption of plastic. Students are encouraged to segregate waste at home and bring the used plastic to collection branches at their schools, where it is then collected by Plastic Bank. The collected plastic is recorded through the PlasticBank® app, powered by Alchemy™, a blockchain-secured platform that enables traceable collection, secures income, and verifies reporting.

It is then reprocessed by local processing partners into Social Plastic® feedstock for reuse in products and packaging – thus creating a new life for old plastic and substituting the need for virgin plastic.

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The programme is already well underway in Bali, where more than 5,000 students have taken the curriculum. The goal is for students to take their newfound habits home and spark change in their communities. As of 2022, Plastic Bank has been organising additional community activities with school partners, such as beach cleanups.

Currently, the Ocean Stewards Educational Programme pilot has both face-to-face and digital components. The aim is to evolve into a scalable and evidence-based digital model that can be extended across the country – and then around the world, to create even more young ambassadors committed to reducing single use plastics and empowering better plastic waste management and recycling.