Mother nature has suffered the biggest defeat in terms of pollution. We seem to throw rubbish wherever we want. We don't see the real impact these actions have on our environment until it's too late. Once we realize what has been done, the damage has already been done and becomes irreversible. The Citarum River basin, located in Indonesia, has suffered the most. Textile factories located along the coast have dumped toxic waste into the river causing illness and death, the Citarum River needs to be cleaned up. With all this, the Citarum river must return to being a place where people feel safe. Approximately thirty-five million people live in the Citarum River basin. Most of these people still rely on the river for food, water and bathing. However, this river is not just home to people. Dozens of textile factories are located on the river, some of which release toxic chemicals that are used to make clothes. According to Green Peace some of the chemicals include chlorinated solvents, phthalates, brominated chlorinated flame retardants, azo dyes, heavy metals: cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium, all of which have an adverse effect on the body. Some symptoms include adverse effects on the central nervous system, liver and kidneys, cancer and even death. Most chemicals are banned in countries with increased government regulations on textile factories, some of which include big brands like Adidas and Gap. But because of Indonesia's financial crisis in the late 1990s, the country ran out of funds, so there are fewer regulations and more laws broken by textile mills. According to a Daily Mail interview with a local fisherman living on the Citarum River he states that: “Textile mills illegally dump…half of paper…people of the Citarum River basin gather and demand textile mills for more regulations there will be a change. By educating locals about what factories are polluting in the Citarum, anger and frustration will be unleashed, and with this there will be a call for more regulations. The Citarum River is used by millions of people every day, and it has been that way since the beginning. By allowing factories to dump their pollutants into the river we justify pollution not only for this but for all future events similar to this one. Textile factories are poisoning people and killing their equipment of livelihood If we start dredging, we will allow natural life to return and educate the people of the Citarum River Basin The Citarum River Basin can go from being the most polluted river in the world to the cleanest in the world, but it all starts. from the first step.