Tips for recycling and reducing plastic use in Thailand

[laphanphon]

They don't dump in the sea .... that's funny. I did link an article stating quite the opposite. If not dumping at sea.....

... then where are those 'mysterious', discovered 'trash islands' coming from ?

Not a mystery to me.

[Pleng]

I read somewhere that by 2050, 60% + of the world's population will be living in urban areas. To me that means high rise condos and apartments.

I would think that anything over four floors have garbage chutes and pose a completely new set of problems.

Composting is out of the question which means all wet garbage and everything else just gets bagged and thrown down the chute. I would hope each building has staff that sorts things at the bottom but reality is that it probably all goes into a truck and to a land fill.

Any high rise dwellers here or abroad can tell us what rules/steps are in place regarding sorting and recycling?

At least somebody is taking the issues I raised seriously.

In my condo block, and the one I lived in prior to this one, there is no garbage chute; simply a "garbage room" on each floor. In the garbage 'room' there is a bin lined with a big black plastic bag into which all waste goes. There are no official provisions for recycling, however many of the residents bag up their plastic and card separately and leave them on the floor in the garbage room, and the cleaning staff take it for recycling to earn a bit of pocket money.

A garbage chute would actually be better than this system as there'd only be the need for one big bag at the bottom, or even a skip maybe which wouldn't need lining with a bag. Well, you'd need 2 chutes; one for dry/recyclable and one for wet/food waste.

Of course I could sort out my own trash arrangements and not make use of the provided facilities at all but I'm not going to do that because I'm too lazy. Again, to affect any big change, you're going to need to legislate.

[buksida]

They don't dump in the sea .... that's funny. I did link an article stating quite the opposite. If not dumping at sea.....

... then where are those 'mysterious', discovered 'trash islands' coming from ?

Not a mystery to me.

I've already explained that to you but obviously need bigger letters and maybe a picture or two.

[laphanphon]

You're not going to trust the 'bullshit' numbers, as you say, that TAT / tourism authority spew out, but you're going to believe someone that says, they don't dump in the sea.

https://goo.gl/W12jk2
We'll have to agree to disagree

Thailand is among the world’s worst. It is the sixth worst offender for dumping plastics into the sea, according to the 2015 Stemming the Tide report by the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Centre for Business and Environment.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30344702

[buksida]

You don't need to show me the pictures, I clean the beaches every week and most of it has come off the land, discarded by people.

Those blaming governments are just looking for a way out to justify their own laziness and ignorance of the problem.

[buksida]

The wet food waste isn't the problem - its the plastic that is doing the damage and the only solution to that is to use less of it. Why should a meal that takes 10 minutes to eat come in a package that takes 400 years to degrade - its utter lunacy.

Only change will make a difference and that comes from the bottom up. Sadly too many are too lazy or too willing to put the blame elsewhere.

People burn plastic because they are uneducated, people litter because they are lazy, and people blame others because they are ignorant. People are the problem, but then that applies to a lot of things on this planet!

Edit: I sound like a bloody eco-warrior so will leave it at that!

[Dannie Boy]

I would guess that the majority posting on this subject are old enough to remember when milk came in bottles, fizzy drinks came in glass bottles, food was wrapped in paper etc, etc. The solution to the problem isn’t rocket science, simply a return to more environmentally friendly ways of producing and delivering what we consume - then there’s very little harmful waste to dispose of.

[NOKYAI]

I was offered a brown paper bag for B5 rather than a plastic bag bag in Family Mart yesterday. I declined both as it was only a bag of ice......but it’s a start!

[HHTel]

It wasn't too long ago that all drinks were in glass bottles. Some still are in Thailand, in fact probably more so than the west. Singha, for example, still sell their water in glass bottles, and many fizzy drinks are still in glass bottles. Maybe there'll be a slow return to the way it was.

[STEVE G]

I was offered a brown paper bag for B5 rather than a plastic bag bag in Family Mart yesterday. I declined both as it was only a bag of ice......but it’s a start!

I've just been given my shopping in a brown paper bag in Tesco's in Mon Mai.

[buksida]

To get this back on track and away from denial and blame. I can't see how this cannot be a good thing ...

Supermarket ban sees '80% drop' in plastic bag consumption nationwide
The ban on single-use plastic bags by Australia’s two largest supermarkets prevented the introduction of an estimated 1.5bn bags into the environment, and the retail industry is hopeful this is only the beginning.

Coles and Woolworths’ decided to stop offering single-use disposable plastic bags midway through the year after years of campaigning by environmental groups and consumers.

Some shoppers objected to the change at the time but many others were strongly in support and three months on the change has translated to an 80% drop in the consumption of plastic bags nationwide, according to the National Retail Association.

“Indeed, some retailers are reporting reduction rates as high as 90%,” the NRA’s David Stout said on Sunday.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... nationwide

[Big Boy]

It has to be a good thing, but since beating my phobia of taking reusable bags past security at Tesco, I've taken a step back and looked at the crap we still bring into our home.

Only this morning my daughter bought breakfast for my wife. Irrespective of the food, it came in 2 single use carrier bags, 1 styrofoam tray and 1 plastic (sticky rice) bag.

Then my daughter-in-law produces her breakfast. A cellophane wrapped cardboard box (recyclable) containing a plastic tray segregating some Thai treats.

Every little helps, but it's going to take a long, long time to solve this problem. OK, we try to dispose responsibly, but is there really any responsible disposal of this waste?

I know people keep saying we should refuse such packaging, there has to be an alternative that was used before plastic came along. The only way my daughter could have bought my wife's breakfast would have been to take dishes and have the food served on them (OK, I can remember taking a bowl to the ice cream man and asking him to fill it with ice cream), but then how does she transport my wife's breakfast on her motorcycle without spillage? The only answer I can see is ban street food, and only sell raw ingredients, making people cook their own. Problem with that is many Thais have lost the ability to cook because street food is easy.

[Dannie Boy]

What about the snap-lock plastic containers - they come in various sizes?

[Big Boy]

Yes, that would work. Still plastic, but multi-use. I don't see it catching on while there are less favourable alternatives though.

[laphanphon]

Think they need to change their policy on what you are allowed to carry into Tesco Lotus, as not allowed to carry backpack in, or bags that have something in it already. So I'm glad my local T/L is still bagging w/plastic.......for now.

The way their conveyor belts at check out designed, isn't helpful for bagging your own. I don't want cold items put in a paper bag, so now I'll be putting them in the plastic bags provided at veggie / fruit section, and actually be using more single use plastic bags.......LOL... if they start using paper bags here.

Still 3rd world. Last time in states, I self scanned, paid and bagged my purchases. No humans required.