Kota Kinabalu: Community-led environ-mental work can lift some of the country’s most marginalised people out of poverty by turning plastic waste into jobs, infrastructure and tourism opportunities, according to environmentalist Michelle de la Harpe.
“It does not matter what race you are or what level in society, the ocean belongs to every one of us, and the responsibility is ours,” the Meraki Daat Initiative founder cum president told the Soroptimist International South East Asia Pacific Conference of Clubs, here.
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Her flagship project, Project Picasso, targets water villages in Pulau Gaya, the largest island in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, home to some 20,000 to 50,000 residents spread across five villages.
“Many are stateless Bajau Laut who had long been excluded from formal waste collection services.
“When you live on water, you do not pay taxes, which means the local authority is not responsible for collecting your waste.
“We taught the islanders environmental stuff on the island itself, that we are improving their lifestyle and getting them to take care of the environment as well, because we all share the same ocean,” she said.
Following Meraki Daat’s advocacy, the local authority now collects waste daily from collection points placed every 10 metres throughout each village.
The initiative turns collected marine debris into eco-bricks by mixing plastics with cement and sun-drying the result.
Michelle said the method was deliberately kept simple to ensure the coastal communities could sustain it independently.
“We wanted to keep it simple and sustainable,” she said, adding that by using materials available on the island and avoiding industrial melting processes, the project also kept its carbon footprint in check.
The eco-bricks have already been used to build a 130-metre walkway and a volleyball court on the island, completed in October last year, which Michelle described as the first pathway in Malaysia made entirely of marine debris.
The project, which draws its name from the colourful Taiwan Rainbow Village concept, is designed to make the water village visually striking enough to attract tourists, creating an ecotourism economy around the community’s existing skills.
Michelle noted that Bajau Laut freedivers can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes without equipment, a natural talent the initiative hopes to package into tourism experiences alongside floating restaurants, homestays and craft workshops.
“Women in the villages are currently producing coasters and beads from recycled bottle caps and plastic bottles, items that tourists can purchase and take home,” she said, adding that a bracelet-making workshop using the same materials is set to launch this year.
Meraki Daat, whose name combines the Turkish and Greek words for ‘passionate effort’ with the Kadazan word for ocean, was registered in 2022 and won the United Nations Development Programme Malaysia Island Waste Innovation Challenge within two years of operating.
The initiative is also backed by the Sabah Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment.
Across its programmes, the local NGO has trained more than 20 schools including two water villages, engaged more than 484 students and over 1,500 volunteers, worked with more than 100 villages and collected more than 20 tonnes of waste, selling close to five tonnes of it to generate community income.
Michelle said the eco-bricks are now being tested with the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia with a view to commercialisation, particularly for small rural roads in Sabah.
“We are also in discussions with relevant ministries to advance that goal,” she said.
Among the next steps, Meraki Daat plans to work with Nuklear Malaysia to produce plastic timber using nanotechnology as a sturdier alternative to wooden walkways.
A mobile health clinic targeting water village residents and a recycling facility revitalisation programme in Perlis are also in the pipeline.
Michelle, who was named one of Wiki Impact’s 100 Malaysian Changemakers in 2025, said the initiative’s early days were shaped by a founding member’s experience diving in Semporna, near Sipadan Island.
“He said, ‘Let’s give them back their dignity because these people have been forgotten, have been neglected because of their statelessness’,” she said. That conviction, she added, remains the foundation of everything Meraki Daat does.
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