Laut Kita: The Reality of Our Oceans

This year, for Eid, our family didn’t go visit the Grandparents. My beloved Grandma just recently passed away—we made two trips to visit her when she was in the hospital and when she was freshly buried, which left us with barely enough money for Eid. Long story short, we ended up staying in Jakarta for the last week of Ramadan—except for my Stepmom who went to Semarang to visit her mother and son. Anyway, that left my sister and I with enough time to roam about the city while we’re both off duty from work—specifically to visit the Laut Kita exhibition we’ve been wanting to visit for weeks.

This exhibition is brought to you by Sejauh Mata Memandang, not unlike the installation they did last year, and it highlights the rising urgency for action in the wake of our waste crisis—particularly considering its impact on our oceans. The exhibition takes up a total of four rooms, each showing us exactly how our incessant need to produce trash has impacted sea life. In fact, it turns out microplastics can be found in our own poop too. If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will.

Madjani hijab (old) // swapped shirt + pants (via Tukar Baju) // thrifted loafers // hand-me-down bag // outfit photos by my sis

Do you know that, here in Indonesia, by 2018 we have reached overcapacity of our landfills? Do you know what happens to our waste since then? There’s not much of a choice but to dump them into the sea, by way of rivers and canals. This plastic waste then goes on to terrorise our sea creatures, either killing them slowly or causing them unimaginable pain. The term, “put your trash where it belongs” no longer applies, because no matter where we discard our garbage, it will make its way to sea one way or another—I guarantee you. The best thing we can do, instead, is to really be conscious of the things we buy and cut down on our waste.

Here are some tips on how you, too, can cut down on plastic and find substitutes for them. Because—you know what?—if we don’t start now, by 2050 there will be more plastic waste than fishes in the sea. If you don’t believe me, try swimming in the sea or walking along the beach yourself and see if you can’t find a single trash. We need to get rid of the out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude and really take responsibility for our waste—lest we should drown in them.

This year, for Eid, our family didn’t go visit the Grandparents. My beloved Grandma just recently passed away—we made two trips to visit her when she was in the hospital and when she was freshly buried, which left us with barely enough money for Eid. Long story short, we ended up staying in Jakarta for the last week of Ramadan—except for my Stepmom who went to Semarang to visit her mother and son. Anyway, that left my sister and I with enough time to roam about the city while we’re both off duty from work—specifically to visit the Laut Kita exhibition we’ve been wanting to visit for weeks.

This exhibition is brought to you by Sejauh Mata Memandang, not unlike the installation they did last year, and it highlights the rising urgency for action in the wake of our waste crisis—particularly considering its impact on our oceans. The exhibition takes up a total of four rooms, each showing us exactly how our incessant need to produce trash has impacted sea life. In fact, it turns out microplastics can be found in our own poop too. If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will.

Madjani hijab (old) // swapped shirt + pants (via Tukar Baju) // thrifted loafers // hand-me-down bag // outfit photos by my sis

Do you know that, here in Indonesia, by 2018 we have reached overcapacity of our landfills? Do you know what happens to our waste since then? There’s not much of a choice but to dump them into the sea, by way of rivers and canals. This plastic waste then goes on to terrorise our sea creatures, either killing them slowly or causing them unimaginable pain. The term, “put your trash where it belongs” no longer applies, because no matter where we discard our garbage, it will make its way to sea one way or another—I guarantee you. The best thing we can do, instead, is to really be conscious of the things we buy and cut down on our waste.

Here are some tips on how you, too, can cut down on plastic and find substitutes for them. Because—you know what?—if we don’t start now, by 2050 there will be more plastic waste than fishes in the sea. If you don’t believe me, try swimming in the sea or walking along the beach yourself and see if you can’t find a single trash. We need to get rid of the out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude and really take responsibility for our waste—lest we should drown in them.