“Plastic Tourism” is more than a documentary; it challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths. It is a call to action and testament of the delicate balance between human leisure and environmental responsibility.

Review by Victoria Angelique:

The documentary film, PLASTIC TOURISM, showcases people that are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the plastic waste that floods their coastal shores. They want the rubbish to stop, but in the meantime have to find a way to repurpose it in an attempt to clean up their land. It seems like a never ending cycle that as more is cleaned, more trash is washed ashore. 

The locals are innovative with the solutions to the plastic that is constantly washing up on their beaches from the ocean and filling their landfills. The children craft creative toys and artwork from the rubbish collected, using hot glue and the materials to connect the pieces together. Women repurpose plastic bottles to build what they call “ecobricks” for home foundations by using dried out pieces of plastic stuffed inside that other locals have separated by weight and material, then prepared for the foundation. The people of Gunung Sewu live by the motto “anything can be sold”. 

The most remarkable thing about this documentary is not the fact that this land is covered with rubbish, but that the locals remain happy and still consider life a blessing. They don’t complain about what the world is doing to their land, but find a way to repurpose the materials and set an example to the rest of the world. They clean up as best they can, longing for the day their beaches will be clean again, but continue to use what washes ashore to build their land. The people of Gunung Sewu show that anything can be reused, though it would be better to take care of the Earth.