Plastic in paradise: Bali is struggling with mountains of rubbish

Trash Heroes, an activist group, helps clean up the beach at Sanur, collecting 60kg of garbage within the space of an hour. Photo: Carola Frentzen/dpa

A small army of activists clad in yellow T-shirts saying "Trash Hero" marches along the beach in the early morning, clutching tongs and reusable bags, ready to battle the scourge of this tropical paradise – garbage.

The night before, it rained heavily on Bali, the Indonesian island of the gods. The low tide and westerly wind deposited vast amounts of plastic and other waste along the entire length of the beach.