⁍ Sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen set up ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags’ initiative seven years ago.

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⁍ The campaign has grown internationally, with Bali leading the way in Indonesia banning single-use plastic bags.

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⁍ Tackling climate change is now among the world’s most pressing issues, they say.

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– When Melati and Isabel Wijsen were growing up on the Indonesian island of Bali, “we could see that no matter where we went there was plastic constantly surrounding us,” Melati, now 19, tells Reuters. So when they were 12, 10, and 12 years old, respectively, the sisters started the “Bye Bye Plastic Bags” campaign to get people to stop using plastic bags. Since then, the campaign has spread worldwide, with Bali now banning single-use plastic bags, per the BBC. “We know the urgency, we have to take action now,” Melati says. “We need to see the bar set a lot higher and a lot sooner.”