The Plastic Exchange (now known as Bali Xchange) is an initiative founded by Balinese local, Janur Yasa in May 2020, to combat the increasing hunger in Bali, thanks to the pandemic and resulting lack of tourism. The idea was to help clean up Bali's beaches and jungles that had become overrun with plastic waste in recent years, and empower the local community to 'earn' rice for the cleaning efforts. Locals were invited to collect plastic trash and bring it along to an organised event in their local 'Banjar' (village) where the trash would be weighed and then a corresponding amount of rice given in exchange. I was aware that the island of Bali relied on tourism for up to 80% of its GDP at that time, so when I came across the initiative, I wanted to help however I could.

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The initiative had been set-up based on utilising a central fund to buy rice and Janur was doing a fantastic job arranging donations to support the events he was co-ordinating in his local area of Ubud. However, many other areas of Bali were in dire need, particularly in the north and the west of Bali, so I suggested to him that I could introduce the first events to those areas myself. I found a local host to partner with, and rather than use the central fund, instead I reached out to local expat-run businesses like hotels or restaurants, to ask if they would be willing to donate bags of rice instead. Given that the initiative would ultimately support the companies' workers and their families, I felt sure that the business owners would be happy to take part. In exchange, we agreed to promote the businesses as supporters to the initiative, through social media, and printed event flyers.

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It turned out that more businesses were willing to help than I could ever have hoped for, and during the second half of 2020, several hugely successful events were hosted in the areas of Lovina in Singaraja, and Nusasari in Jembrana. I also arranged for all the plastic waste that was collected to be bought by local waste management companies to be reused and recycled, providing yet more funds to buy rice for future events. 

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The initiative continued to expand across Bali throughout 2021, resulting in Janur receiving a CNN Heroes Award for Innovation. As a highly competitive award, the idea was up against 5 other fantastic initiatives around the world, but at a star-studded event in December 2021, the Plastic Exchange came out victorious. Through 2022 and 2023 there were thousands of events every single month around the island, until Bali airport reopened and the need for the event was lessened. However, the educational impact on the island is still felt, with locals now much more aware of how to manage their trash more effectively, and being more conscious to pick up trash when they see it.