Melati & Isabel Wijsen

Melati (17) and Isabel (15) Wijsen are sisters born and raised on the island of Bali. Both Greenschool students and founders of Bye Bye Plastic Bags & One Island One Voice. Since the age of 10 & 12, they have been campaigning for the island of Bali to become plastic bag free. Since then, they have been on a journey around the world advocating about ocean protection and youth empowerment; talking to over 18,000 students, leaders at the United Nations, and even been selected as FORBES top ten most inspiring women in Indonesia.

OUR OCEAN STORY:

Being island babies, it’s kinda hard not to have the ocean as part of your everyday life. It’s kinda hard not to fall in love with it! Especially when the two girls were brought up sailing through Indonesia on the boat where their parents first met. Island to island, watching the blues turn into all different shades and the wonders it had to offer. “There was this one time we were so far from everything, so far out that when you would flush the toilet with the sea water in it…all the phosphorus and glow would shine like the most incredible treasure. Isabel and I would flush again and again. And the remote islands we would visit, their phosphorus glow riding on each wave poured onto the shores, we would race and watch as we cut through the magic.” The first time these girls saw a manta ray was with the IOP team – “OH! This definitely makes our love for the ocean so much stronger, what an experience to be so close with an ocean being.”

OUR OCEAN PRIDE:

“We love the ocean and all the wonders it holds. And we see so much bad stuff happening to it, it breaks our heart. It is not a garbage dump and it’s not an endless buffet. It is part of our home and it’s time the ocean gets the attention it deserves. There is still so much worth fighting for. And so that is what we will continue to do.”