Our Commitment to the Community
From improving sustainability, community investment, poverty outreach and more, Floating Leaf gives back to the people of Bali. So can you.
Local Community Support
At Floating leaf, we’re always finding ways we can help improve the lives of our neighbors in Sukawati Village. It’s important to note that we first determine what the villagers want and need in order to make sure our contribution is accepted and appreciated.
- Education – Floating Leaf offers classes in yoga, English, sustainable agriculture, permaculture and more to the friendly people of our village and all Balinese free of charge.
- Organic Farming Subsidies – We subsidize local farmers so they can grow organic, nutrient rich food free of chemicals and pesticides.
- Sustainable Living Education – We provide learning opportunities both through educational programs and by demonstrating examples of sustainable living within our local community, Bali as a whole and all those that come to our eco-retreat.
- Donation Programs – Floating Leaf Eco-Luxury Retreat regularly holds events in which we can provide tangible assistance for important community needs. Through our donation programs, we are helping people in need in our community and throughout many villages in Bali.
- Eco-Tourism – efforts are aimed at conserving precious natural resources and diverting waste from the already overflowing landfills.
The Greenest Village Project
We created this community outreach program in 2016 and it has become the most successful to date and has gone island-wide. Combatting the waste problem on any tropical island is challenging. Through educational programs, eco-fairs, and friendly competition we help villages understand the waste and recycling challenges they face and how to overcome them. The highlights of The Greenest Village Program include:
- Placing recycling and waste collection bins throughout the village
- Providing sustainable and reliable waste management collection and recycling
- Beach clean up days
- Educational programs on green practices for all who want to attend
- Cash rewards per kilogram of trash and recyclables collected to all villagers who participate
- Implementation of the program to any village that would like to join the competition
- Prizes and recognition for the winners
Other Community Initiatives
Charity Partner – Muntigunung Community Social Enterprise
With an extreme 8 month dry season Muntigunung’s impoverished villagers struggle to grow enough crops to survive, and with the influx of tourism over the last few decades many have chosen to go begging with their children in Ubud and the large beach resort of Kuta. In an effort to provide a more sustainable future for the villagers, a Swiss backed NGO has constructed 11 buildings with expansive roofs to collect and store rainwater in specially designed tanks to provide a year-round water supply. These roofs also provide a place for the villagers to make handicrafts and process crops such as rosella tea and cashew nuts, which are sold to the large hotels on the south coast.
Clean Community Initiative (CCI)
Waste disposal is a major issue on the tiny island of Bali. Without sanitation services, garbage is often thrown by the side of the road or worse – burned. We seek to educate our community on how to properly dispose of or recycle their garbage and also provide the needed infrastructure to make that a possibility.
Floating Leaf is building large centralized cement garbage receptacles and will also manage the maintenance and emptying of these receptacles. Each one constructed can serve over 40 families! Our goal is to build as many as we possibly can and we seek your support to help us grow our footprint.
Free English Classes for Children
We are delighted to offer free English as a second language courses for all Indonesian children. Providing children with useful skills and helping prepare them for the future is a large concern for us and we do all we can to help our community. The classes are fun for all and the kids’ smiles are the very best reward.
Ways You Can Help
Would you like to help as well? Make your next trip much more than just a vacation. We can help arrange many types of community outreach efforts. Contact us and let us know your interests and desires and we can help create a memorable and compassionate event for you. Through village excursions, community outreach, charitable activities and cultural exchange, our guests are able to experience true Balinese culture.
Support Clean Community Initiative
Each set of a landfill and recyclable goods receptacle costs approximately USD$350. Your donations will go towards the construction of new units. Please contact us to find out how you can donate and help us keep Bali clean and beautiful.
Purchase Community Made Gifts
Our well-stocked gift boutique is full of beautiful items that make perfect gifts as well as memories of your trip long after you have returned home. All of our gift shop items are artwork, crafts and products from impoverished villages and all the proceeds go back to these villages.
Your purchase helps us to continue to support the individuals and communities from where we source these items.
Bring Desperately Needed Items
Our local community lives simply, happily, yet in poverty. You can help put a smile on a child’s face or support a family in need of the basics by packing your suitcase with needed items gathered from friends and family before you leave home. Don’t worry; you can use the extra space to bring home souvenirs!
Clothing, School supplies, Medical supplies, Art supplies, Children’s toys
Plan a Charity Trek
One of our favorite excursions is a trek in Muntigunung. This is a charity based in its namesake village with which we work very closely. Their local staff leads a beautiful and enlightening treks for our guests.
Retrace the steps of women in Muntigunung, an arid region of northeastern Bali, who, for centuries have walked over 15 km daily up a steep ravine to gather and carry water back to their villages. In the early morning, the trek will take you up a ridge with views of Mt. Agung and the Bali Sea. From there, follow your guide back to her village, where a new project, the Muntigunung Community Social Enterprise, is underway. Learn about how water-catchment buildings have helped empower the women and enable them to provide for their families.
The younger members of the community have been trained as guides to lead treks from the top of Lake Batur’s caldera down to the plains of the north coast. The trek starts with an ascent for around an hour to a vantage point with spectacular views of the entire caldera. The trail then descends towards Bali’s north coast with time to stop off at the villages to see the buildings where the locals are now working.
Not only does this employment provide a regular source of income, but it also ensures that the families stay in their village and their children can attend school. We will visit several villages and charity projects with the opportunity to purchase the goods made by these wonderful people. Its immensely rewarding for all involved and we end up at a nice beachfront hotel for a lunch before heading back to Floating Leaf Eco-Luxury Retreat. For more information, please visit the Bali Charity Trek page.