It's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh. Today's speaker made a measurable impact by pressing for policy change in her home country of Indonesia before she was even 16 years old. In her talk recorded for the countdown summit in 2021, youth activist and social entrepreneur Melati Weissen shares the lessons she learned

about pushing for lasting, sustainable social change. Given how much she's already done,

I can't wait to see what she does in the next decade. Do you remember when you were 12 years

old? I do. I was on a mission, convinced that I could change the world around me.

In 2013, together with my sister Isabel, I started a movement in Bali because I saw a problem that I thought had an easy solution.

We wanted to do something about the growing problem of plastic pollution on our home

island of Bali, Indonesia. Now, when I first started, I had never heard of the word changemaker

or activist. Today, I introduced myself as a full-time changemaker and movement builder. But it was not

always delivered with such confidence.

There is this saying, if I only knew back then what I know today,

sounds familiar, right?

I started full of passion and excitement,

believing that I would achieve this change

of making Bali plastic bag free

before summer was over and the school year started.

And everywhere I went, I was met with,

oh, so cute, so inspirational.

And, yeah, I guess two little girls and a bunch of friends trying to make a difference is pretty special.

But you know what?

Cute wasn't really what I was going for.

I slowly learned to build a team, to gather evidence, create campaigns, develop a movement,

to stage beach cleanups, collect signatures, speak in public, and meet politicians.

...