enough of it
and are always running out of it we are
running against time we cannot wait
until we are grown up or old enough to
vote to make a difference we do not have
that luxury it is about time we start
listening acting changing everything is
happening right now in our lifetimes our
childhoods are disrupted by subtle
earthquake tremors rising sea levels
hurricanes tidal waves melting ice
we are constantly hearing stories about
whales washing up on shore z’ their
entire bellies filled with plastic or
what about the pictures of that one
polar bear on a tiny block of ice or
that albatross bird cut up with
microplastics inside now having said
that it is not all gloom and doom we are
also living in a time where the
innovation is here technology is here
solutions are just around the corner
ready to be seen and heard so ladies and
gentlemen adults sorry for being so
direct but for us youth it is all about
time nobody wants to lose Mother Earth
as we know sea smell and love her today
and already we are starting to hear the
good stories to think about what’s
happening right now with the indigenous
people with all their unique differences
standing together to protect our waters
and fight against the Dakota pipeline
young changemakers creating technologies
to clean the world’s oceans from marine
debris another youth group suing the
government for not taking care of our
environment for future generations and
our own bye-bye plastic bags it has not
only become a message by kids to say no
to single-use plastic bags but has also
become a movement of youth
Powerman us kids may only be 25% of the
world’s population but we are 100% of
the future
our names are miletti and sevel we are
sisters born and raised on Bali and we
stand here today in front of you partly
dressed in our traditional clothing
called kebaya in combinations with jeans
and we have chosen to wear the kebaya
today as we want to pay our respect and
love for all indonesian women today here
on stage the jeans underneath it
represent the change four years ago when
we were 10 and 12 we were inspired by a
lesson in class of significant people
people like Nelson Mandela Lady Diana
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King
and later that day we started
brainstorming how we as children could
give our contribution to a better world
we looked at all of the issues Bali was
facing such as over development
infrastructure water issues garbage now
that was the one thing that stood out to
us the most but we know that garbage is
a huge problem so we decided to look
into it was a realistic target for us
kids making the people on the island of
Bali say no to single-use plastic bags
became our mission and through these
four years of campaigning we have gone
on a crazy journey with many lows and
many highs and today bye-bye plastic
bags has become a well-known youth
movement in Bali Indonesia we have
become the inspiration of the Bali
airports to become a plastic bag free
zone within the next 12 months and we
are the force behind the commitment of
the government to make Bali plastic bag
and we have become a global wave of
positive change often people ask us how
do you do this or how did we get to
where we are today and looking back now
it has a lot to do with commitment hard
work lots of challenges but also lots of
fun successes and thinking outside the
box and of course education is the key
for everything we go to the best school
on earth green school green school is
not only different in the way that it is
built out of bamboo but also in the way
that it teaches we’re taught to become
leaders of today but back to vai vai
plastic bags and how we got to where we
are in 2016 within our team we carry
four main pillars of focus now we
already mentioned that education is key
as we believe that this is where the
change will happen we have created an
educational booklet of 25 pages in the
Indonesian language in which elementary
students can learn about the plastics
problem and solutions on the note of
inspiration we have spoken to over
15,000 students in 10 different
countries in five different languages
raising awareness in the public and
government this is what most of our team
members like doing here we go to the
markets the festivals we sell our shirts
hand out stickers organize beach
cleanups and a lot more we also attend
meetings on a regular basis with
stakeholders and government bodies to
make sure that they do not forget their
commitment and to remind them that 2018
is coming soon we also run a pilot
village and every Saturday we go into
our pilot village and distribute
alternative bags to the local shops and
weddings going global is next and this
is a personal favorite because this
shows and proves all the more that kids
can do things we can lead the way young
people from all corners of the world
were the ones reaching out sending
emails saying hey I want to bring bio
plastic bags back to where I come from
so today you can find bio plastic bags
in nine different countries from
Australia New York Myanmar Nepal China
hua de la Jara Philippines Tenerife and
even re bukata of Indonesia Jakarta all
driven by youth and so you can imagine
we have learned a lot things that a
normal textbook can never match such as
teamwork and leadership patience and the
importance of breathing in and out
planning communication logistics a lot
more about politics in Bali and the
Balinese culture so change is already
here
in fact the timing for change has never
been better than right now we are more
than ready to start listening acting
changing because we are shaping history
today all we have to decide now is what
side of history we want to be a part of
we know and you do too thank thank you [Applause]