Melati and Isabel Wijsen

25% of the population, 100% of the future

Meet Melati and Isabel Wijsen, sisters and co-founders of Bye Bye Plastic Bags, an NGO in Bali that drove the government to ban single-use plastic bags and sparked a global movement.

Melati was 12 and Isabel was 10 when they started their mission. The sisters grew up witnessing the plastic waste accumulating in rice fields and along their beloved beaches. On a fateful day in 2013, they were given a lesson at school about significant changemakers like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, and decided they didn’t want to wait until they grew up to do it.

That night, after brainstorming all the issues facing Bali and what they could realistically do as kids, the sisters set themselves a goal to eliminate plastic bags, and Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) was launched.

Despite their youth, BBPB was no school project. By 2014 Melati and Isabel had created a plastic bag-free pilot village, a social media following and volunteers. Ready to expand their mission, they started a petition to get the government on board but despite their innovative approach to reach 100,000 signatures by standing behind the customs desk at Bali airport, they failed to get the government’s attention.

Frustrated, the sisters looked to Ghandi for inspiration and pledged a hunger strike until they were granted a meeting. Thanks to their social media following, they secured a meeting with the governor within 24 hours. Their efforts resulted in the Bali government banning plastic bags in 2019.

Melati and Isabel, who are now 21 and 19 years old, have brought their anti-plastic message to the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. There are BBPB teams in over 50 locations around the world and the sisters have gone on to create the 'Mountain Mamas' a social enterprise for women to make cloth bags and 'Youthtopia,' a platform to help other young changemakers pursue their goals.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you’re too young or you won’t understand. We’re not telling you it’s going to be easy. We’re telling you it’s going to be worth it. Us kids may only be 25% of the population but we are 100% of the future.