The palm-fringed Kuta beach in Bali has long been a favorite with tourists seeking sun and surf, but nowadays its golden shoreline is disappearing under a mountain of garbage. The island’s garbage dumps are reportedly overflowing,. This makes solid waste management a pressing issue. Some 60% of Bali’s water catchment are drying up, threatening freshwater resources, writes Thomas Wright for The Conversation. The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is the world’s second biggest contributor to marine debris after China, and a colossal 1.29 million metric tons is estimated to be produced annually by Indonesia.