Oceans Care Project
A hydro-solar powered water wheel captures trash in international waters, a solution to pollution.
The Jangkuk River in Ampenan, filled with trash. Image courtesy of Zia Helmi.
The trash wheel in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo courtesy of Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.
Image of the Trash Wheel intercepting trash from flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Image courtesy of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.
Image of the spokes the gather the trash. Image courtesy of Inhabitat.
Aerial View of the Trash Wheel Installed in Baltimore’s Jones Falls River.
Aerial Google Map of Mataram, where Ampenan River Park is located.
Trash backed up at the existing net in the Jangkuk River – all of this waste was released into the sea after a major rainstorm. Image courtesy of Zia Helmi.
Plastic waste washed up on the beach. Image courtesy of Britta Slippens.
Children in the trash dump in Lombok. Image courtesy of Slam Jam Productions.
The stage created by SAMPAN & Sound of the River, at the proposed site for installation of the trash wheel. Image courtesy of Zia Helmi.
Clearwater Mills performing a site visit in Ampenan at the Jangkuk River, pictured (from left) Daniel Chase, Zia Helmi, and Tyler Gearhart. Image courtesy of Slam Jam Productions.
Site visit with Oceans Care Ampenan River Project Manager, Zia Helmi, also leader of the SAMPAN and Sound of the River Activists, and with Daniel Chase and Tyler Gearhart of Baltimore’s Clearwater Mills. Private Image.
Daniel Chase of Clearwater Mills motioning towards the future placement of the Ampenan’s trash wheel for the Jangkuk River. Private Image.
Photograph of the Oceans Care team behind the Ampenan River Project, (from left) Zia Helmi, Aubrey Roemer, Ebu under the bridge, and Britta Slippens – the old woman pictured lives with her family under the bridge. Private Image.
Britta Slippens, CEO of Bluewater Cruises and Director of Oceans Care, with Zia Helmi, meeting with the government in Mataram, Lombok – the regional district of the Ampenan River Park and Trash Wheel. Private Image.
The local police cleaning the river together – getting excited for the trash wheel! Image courtesy of Kick News.
Aerial shot of the police and community cleaning the Ampenan River together. Private Image.
The Oceans Care team in Lombok, pictured in the top row (from the left) Trev Chee-A-Tow, Morgan Harris, Dustin Chee-A-Tow, Zul Hakeem, Daniel Chase, Tyler Gearhart, Kyle Chee-A-Tow, and the bottom row – Aubrey Roemer, Zia Helmi, Britta Slippens, and Lia Zakiyyah.
Image of the front view of the trash wheel in Baltimore. Image courtesy of Inhabitat,
In Indonesia, Oceans Care and Bluewater Cruises are bringing a hydro-solar powered trash wheel to the Jangkuk River in Lombok- the island’s largest river located 200 meters from the Indian Ocean. The trash wheel was created by U.S. company Clearwater Mills and has proven to be a resounding success in Baltimore, Maryland – where it has intercepted over 354 tons of trash flowing in Jones Falls River from emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.
Our aim is to revitalize the riverbed in Ampenan, Lombok, into a natural river park – creating a community hub of recreation and business, using the sustainable technology of the waterwheel trash interceptor to clean the river and keep the trash from flowing into the ocean. We are modeling our vision off of the proven success in Baltimore, where their Inner Harbor has been revitalized as a place of community and tourism, while providing education, awareness, and stewardship of their waterways.
In addition to the implementation of a trash wheel, we will also be working to educate the local community in Lombok about the devastation of our oceans and working together to promote a working system of waste management. The wheel will collect the trash, in the most volume during storm surges, emptying it into a large dumpster. There is already a road at the projected site of Jangkuk River’s future trash wheel, which will allow for easy access of transporting the trash. Each container will be brought to a dump in Lombok, where it will be sorted and studied, just like in Baltimore.
We hope to take this project one step further by partnering with companies and artisans, who are focused on re-purposing this waste into raw materials for production of goods – fabrics, baskets, bags, lamps, etc. Although this project in based in a solitary river and town on a single island, we believe that this model can inspire the rest of Southeast Asia and the world to incorporate this system of technology and education to begin cleaning our collective waterways – deterring littering and catching the waste before it goes into the ocean.
We are using the money raised on Indiegogo for the developmental costs of the project. These expenses include vehicles for transporting the trash, land for the dump / recycling center, permits, research, web development, copy and design plans for the project, travel, video production, etc.
Although centered on the trash wheel, this is a multi-faceted project with a business infrastructure that includes an online store, boutique advertisement spaces, music and art festivals, and a repurposed plastics center, all supporting the costs of purchasing and maintaining the wheel.
The wheel itself is projected to cost us $750,000 on it’s own, we have secured initial investors and continue to field great interest in this endeavor. Up until this point, we have funded all of the work and all of the business overhead for development on our own – we need your help to see this through.
The risks we run in this project are minimized, because we are modeling our Ampenan River Project around Baltimore’s proven success. The hydro solar powered trash wheel has already proven it’s effectiveness in cleaning waterways.
We have already met with the necessary contingents to make sure we can install a trash wheel in the Jangkuk River and cleared it with the government – we are ready to go!
We know that there will be all kinds of challenges to this project, the installation, transport, and creation of our own waterwheel is sure to have a curveball or two, but we are dedicated to seeing this project through.
**If you would like to support us by PayPal you can donate here:
bluewatercruisesbali@gmail.com