Activist & Co-founder | Bye Bye Plastic Bags / YouthTopia
Host
Isabel Sari Riyanto Wijsen
Bye Bye Plastic Bags / YouthTopia
Netherlands/Indonesia
Isabel Wijsen is a 23-year-old Dutch-Indonesian activist and co-founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags, which she launched in 2013 at age 10 with her 12-year-old sister Melati after learning that less than 5% of plastic bags in Bali were recycled. Their campaign organised beach cleanups, distributed alternatives and engaged communities, businesses and government, including a 20,000-person beach cleanup in 2018 and a petition that gathered 100,000 signatures. Following a hunger strike, the sisters secured a meeting with Bali's then governor, leading to an official ban on plastic bags, straws and styrofoam in June 2019 — the first such ban by an Indonesian province. Bye Bye Plastic Bags has since grown into a youth-led NGO with more than 60 teams in over 40 countries, and Isabel was named to Time's 30 Most Influential Teens in 2018. She is also co-founder of the Youthtopia movement, which empowers young people to drive change in their communities, and has spoken at the United Nations General Assembly and on multiple TED stages. She now works as a chef, training across kitchens and countries with the aim of building a more sustainable food industry.
