Thais are terrible polluters - using EIGHT plastic bags each per day, conference told

 

Picture: Naewna News

 

A conference in Bangkok was told that Thailand and its people must take responsibility for being among the worst polluters of the environment in the world.

 

The plastic bags that the Thais use and throw out each year would wrap four times around the earth.

 

And it was revealed that each and every person in Thailand uses a staggering eight plastic bags a day on average.

 

A meeting of environmentalists in Jatujak district was conducted under the banner: "What to do about the plastic?"

 

Leading environmentalist Khwanrudee Chotichonataweewong had no quibble with a University of Georgia, USA, assessment in 2016 that Thailand was the sixth worst polluter of the ocean in the world.

 

And it was high time that the issue and the root causes were addressed.

 

Khwanrudee said that the nation generated 26 million tons of trash per year or 73,000 tons a day.

 

Only 19% is recycled compared to 30-40% in more developed nations.

 

Plastic made up for around 30% of the trash in some areas.

 

Thais were using eight plastic bags each per day - hardly surprising when you see double thickness of bags for just a simple trip to the market, she said.

 

She said the quantity would easily wrap four times around the earth if laid end to end.

 

Much of the plastic bottles and bags ends up in the sea.

 

She called on the government to work with environmentalists to find a solution to the growing problem.

 

Source: Naewna News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-11-02

lies! heretics! blasphemers! arrest these people!

Edited November 2, 20178 yr by NCC1701A

A radical solution needs to be impemented. I would like to see major supermarkets and mini-marts making a charge for bags, but also making a available a "bag for life" replaced FOC when worn out.

Me and my missus always use canvas bags when we go to the supermarket. Not long ago they asked to take a picture of us after we had paid for all our stuff at Tops. Reason? Apparently we were the only customers to bring our own bags. 

Biodegradable doesn't do that much good either. If put into rubbish tips when breaking down they release a lot of methane. Even if left in the open they take a long time to disappear.

Plastic is probably one of the worst inventions so far.

Good for the Univ of Georgia for rubbing their face into the truth...its time to wake up, get off your self centered greedy lazy asses and do something to contribute to protecting and caring for the very land and water that provides for you

48 minutes ago, webfact said:

And it was revealed that each and every person in Thailand uses a staggering eight plastic bags a day on average.

Unless you specify that foreigners are "aliens" and not counted, I will happily distance myself to be among that demographic by a long shot, thank you very much.

 

 

11 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Plastic is probably one of the worst inventions so far.

Not at all, it's just us humans that are being crap about it. Every invention/discovery is a net positive that our human nature will misuse, abuse or in the case of plastic, don't take care of enough and make said invention/discovery look bad. Consider stupidphones, overall great invention but also look what we are doing to ourselves with it.

 

 

.....and here's me thinking they only used plastic bags to pull over their heads when it rains.

Ban Thais from beaches.

Or maybe have designated Thai booths. ???

It is long overdue for the Thais to be woken up to their polluting ways. Now that they are slowly becoming aware of the problem, it will be interesting to see what they actually start to do about it. Probably next to nothing for quite some time yet, I suspect.

maybe refrain from giving me a plastic bag in 7/11 for a <deleted> stick of gum too

I think plastic bag is one excellent innovation and should not be banned. Here is why.

- Plastic bags are very cheap. This means that each bag uses miniscule amount of material and making a bag requires very little energy.

- Plastic bags work as recycling bags. 

- After recycling, plastic bags can be burned to create heat and electricity

- Plastic bags are waterproof and don't damage the same way as the 'ecological' paper bags does

 

In my country of origin plastic bags has been charged since I can remember. The bags used there are very durable compared to the bags we are getting here. This means more material and therefore more energy had to be used to create those nuclear bomb resistant bags. Yet the usage of those bags is exactly the same as it's here. Bring stuff home, use it as trash bag and burn to get energy. Not very ecological.

Plastic is used for milk bottles, coke bottles and those hipster 'ecological shampoo' bottles. The amount of plastic used for each bottle is far more than the plastic bags we get from the shops. 

Now.. the real problem, as so often, is us humans. Make recycling easy and show the results to the general public might do the difference. Education is the key. Not in a year or two, but in the longer timespan. We don't have to go far, just to Singapore, to see how nature can be mostly clear from plastic and other trash.

I do want to live in a clean world, but to get there, we need to address the root cause and not just easy as it is, blame the plastic bags. 

If you have lived in China, you would probably find the Chinese first and the Thais possibly second.   Seen Thais, Chinese and Malaysians just throw crap on the ground expecting others to clean up after them.  In China, you can see people standing next to a garbage can littering.  It's hideous to watch.

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

lies! heretics! blasphemers! arrest these people!

What's your problem...?

Just stop producing this rubbish .

8, more like 80. 1 baht tax per bag would stop it in a day

Education, education, education and even more education.

I don't bring my backpack because the (Thonglor) police will think i'm a drugdealer.

 

Also those bags are all re-used for binbags, in the West we use huge binbags plus huge heavy duty plastic containers which also don't live forever.

 

Huge binbags will start stinking in Thailand so can't be used. Also the small bags show that you paid for your goods, so less chance for theft.

 

But i agree the Thai could use less plastic...also stop selling those very cheap buckets/bowls/screens made of plastic which can't stand UV-light...they are gone after 3 months outdoors. Same goes for those cheap plastic chairs.

 

And batteries can be recycled instead of burned..same for used cookingoil which goes in the drains.

And the beaches are in filthy state and getting worse, my son calls locals " pigs on two legs "

How about

- Put some rubbish bins around the place!!! 

- Stop giving bags, 5 straws for every drink and the like

- Create some facilities to deal with garbage. Places like koh larn don't have anything.

- Create a drinkable water supply so the entire population is not using plastic water bottles.

- Education

 

i remember when my local area back home banned plastic bags.  i bought a couple canvas bags and they were kept in the trunk of my car.  i don't remember anyone complaining about the change.  it was simple and easy.  no hassles.  where i lived you were 'chained' to your car (where the bags are kept) so other places might be a problem.

 

i can name a dozen things that get put in bags that don't need them.  i've seen a bag of cat litter double bagged.  when in truth it should just be carried as is.  too many others to list.

farangs invented the plastic bag = we are to blame. How dare the finger be pointed at the Thais!

Theres an outdoor area with chairs and tables downstairs at my condo. People like to sit and eat there. Theres also a sign warning of a fine for littering but no bin to be seen anyway.

I asked my wife why not put a bin in as opposed to making people take there rubbish home or hunting for a 7/11 bin or something. 

Her reply was that maybe if put a bin it would be more dirty and encourage litter.

Goes to show the backwards thinking they have.

Back home, I BUY plastic bin bags every month.  In Thailand, I bought some 6 years ago when I first arrived and haven't bought another pack in over 6 years.  BigC and TESCO bags are perfect to hold one day of kitchen scraps, reminding me to take them downstairs to the bin each morning, lest they go off in the Thai heat.

 

At 7/11, I rarely ever get a bag.  Saying "no bag, thanks" works a treat.  If you're getting too many bags (and straws) from 7/11, it's on you, not them.

As thin as the bags are, I suspect it takes about a year for me to use 2kg of them. I throw away more plastic used for packaging hard goods than that.  Definitely more water bottles, though they're more desirable for scavengers (a term I use with utmost respect for the work they do).

 

So it's really not the bags themselves, it's the lack of solid waste management that's causing Thailand's problem. 

Edited November 2, 20178 yr by impulse

2 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

I asked my wife why not put a bin in as opposed to making people take there rubbish home or hunting for a 7/11 bin or something. 

Her reply was that maybe if put a bin it would be more dirty and encourage litter.

Goes to show the backwards thinking they have.

 

What's to stop you from ponying up the 50-100 baht to put one there and prove who's right?  You may be surprised by the results.

 

50 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

It is long overdue for the Thais to be woken up to their polluting ways. Now that they are slowly becoming aware of the problem, it will be interesting to see what they actually start to do about it. Probably next to nothing for quite some time yet, I suspect.

Yes. I now see Thais in my village bending down to discard their garbage on the ground instead of just tossing it.

Thailand. Gotta be up near number one in all the best things ! Pollution and road deaths. Talking about shooting yourself in the foot when your number one industry is tourism ! 

In many civilized countries they have huge waste treatment plants to recycle as much as possible and burn the remaining collected garbage at high temperatures, which creates minimal pollution.  These plants can transform the heat from burning to energy as well.  Sadly in Thailand they only have landfills.  I believe that several waste treatment plants could have been built, for the price of 3 submarines or the high speed train projects.

Edited November 2, 20178 yr by Xonax

I would like a bag for a bag please.

If a test conducted on 7-11 stuff, and separate off all plastic and the stuff, Plastic 70% and stuffs inside only 30%.

 

You can see all the inside the packing are worthless items in shiny bottles with a fancy price. Except beer and some nuts, i stopped buying anything from 7-11.

 

Though you find convenient, you will find it is addition to walk into 7--11 and buy something, and it will become a daily habit i your life.