For the launch of the new 1 L Dopper Insulated, we wanted to make sure that its outsized impact was partnered with outsized people. To do this, we’ve joined forces with Melati and Tijmen, two young changemakers from Bali and the Netherlands who’ve done more than most to protect our world’s waters from single-use plastics. Aside from an awesome photoshoot together, we sat with both Melati and Tijmen to learn more about what started them on their journeys, and what inspires them to keep going.
At age 22, Melati has done more than most to fight single-use plastic. As the founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia, Melati’s journey as a changemaker began ten years ago.
‘Growing up on the island of Bali, plastic was everywhere. At 10 and 12 years old we said: Enough.’ Along with her sister, Melati started a campaign to bring together young people from across Bali to make their island home plastic bag-free. As Melati describes it, their efforts were focused ’on education, because as students and young people, we already knew that we needed to understand the problem first, before getting involved in the solutions.’
Through Melati’s work with Bye Bye Plastic Bags, and the efforts of many like-minded people and organisations, Bali ‘implemented a ban on single-use plastic bags, straws, and styrofoam,’ proving that change is possible and achievable when people come together to make it happen.
When asked about the partnership with Dopper, Melati’s excitement stemmed from the Dopper Bottle working as both a driver of change and as a solution. In her own words, ‘we [often] ask people to create change and be part of the solution, [but] we don’t know where to start.’ Solutions like the Dopper bottle provide a trendy and tangible solution for ‘people to just take action and start today.’
‘Being a changemaker to me means someone who wakes up every day and actively decides to do something to make the world around them just a little bit better. It’s about finding what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing and contributing that to the movement of change-making. Because at the end of the day, everyone equals a changemaker.’
– Melati, Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia
For most of us, backpacking conjures images of palm trees, perfect waves on a secluded beach, and ancient temples buried deep in tropical forests. For Tijmen, it offers a way to create change and combat single-use plastics where they’re most prevalent: on the beach.
Between 2017 and 2019, while backpacking through Asia, Tijmen organised beach clean-ups wherever he could, often while being filmed or photographed by curious locals.
As Tijmen tells it, one day after cleaning a beach in Malaysia, ‘I walked into a restaurant and this girl came running up to me and said “is this you?” showing me her phone. I saw myself cleaning up the beach in the video.’ That same video earned over 250.000 views in a single day, creating the momentum that Tijmen needed to launch Trashpackers on social media.
Before he knew it, Tijmen’s inbox was flooded ‘with people who wanted to help,’ giving him an opportunity to start his ‘trash pack tours.’ Tijmen used his social network to get people involved, asking them where he should clean up next, as well as giving them the opportunity to join him on the adventure. Before he knew it, Trashpackers was operating across several countries around the world.
To date, Trashpackers has collected over 400.000 kgs of trash, however, Tijmen insists that this isn’t the most important part of what Trashpackers has achieved. ‘What is most important is the inspiration that comes from these clean-ups, which can […] produce responsibility, [and push] governments to improve their waste management, or reduce single-use plastic in general.’
When asked what it was about the partnership with Dopper that most appealed to Tijmen, he said that ‘Dopper and Trashpackers are the same in that they are both using clean-ups and inspiring campaigns to inspire the behaviour change that is needed for a clean and sustainable world.’
While Melati and Tijmen have set a high bar when it comes to protecting our world’s waters and fighting single-use plastics, there are small steps we can take in our daily lives that make a big difference. The easiest is to join our community and ban single-use packaged water from your life and make a commitment to drink from the tap whenever possible.
Additionally, you can grab a 1 L Dopper Insulated – or another Dopper bottle – and take it with you whenever you leave the house. Did you know that we’ve marked every public water tap in the Netherlands on Google Maps, and we’re working to add taps across France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain as well? Simply type ‘water tap’ into Google Maps and just refill.
Get your own Dopper Insulated 1L
