Ban Plastic Bottles!

[SamuiJens]

If Samui and KP both banned plastic bottles, we'd have a better enveirment and not have the trashy look on beaches as we have today. And kids can go collect the glass kind for the deposits. Anyone?

[angiud]

In KPG most of local people collect the plastic bottles to sell to recyclers. My restaurants (staff) collect glass, can and plastic to sell to recyclers.

I guess the main problems are the plastic bags and the lack of sewage systems.

Both KPG and Samui

[suegha]

It'll take more than action on plastic bottles - but it would be a start.

[bruceboy]

Good idea and good luck!

[BusyBee123]

india has been trying this for the last 20 years they even recycled and built plastic bricks from the bottles and bags to build houses. I noticed some of the day trip boats to koh tao had divers picking up bottles from the coral yet at the same time flushed the toilets into the same bay. Banning things doesn't work, give people knowledge and problems will solve themselves far faster.

Edited January 31, 2009 by BusyBee123

[Boater]

i think also plastic bags ... 7/11 been the worst offender

but maybe they should try tp do maybe 1000 - 2000 bins all over samui JUST FOR plastic bottles?? .. as there are so many people they do collect these items for money...

[samuibeachcomber]

If Samui and KP both banned plastic bottles, we'd have a better enveirment and not have the trashy look on beaches as we have today. And kids can go collect the glass kind for the deposits. Anyone?

platic bottles,bags,all sorts of packaging produced by the petro -chemical industry,alias the oil cartels.just like all the cement roads here on samui,bribes and more bribes,politicians need to stand up to this corruption(they would need 24 hour body guards to stay alive)but it can be done.ban all plastic bottles and plastic bags.use recycled brown paper bags and string/hemp bags.you would still have problems from glass bottles because they are often used as a weapon,maybe there's away to inmesh some form of wire into glass bottles so they could n't splinter.how about what to do about glass in entertainment areas(often used as weapons in a fight?)heavy duty cardboard cups perhaps no bear in bottles(only draught beer allowed.i know all very extreme measures.anyone out there with the guts to start doing what is right............i doubt it.

[angiud]

i think also plastic bags ... 7/11 been the worst offender

You forgot Tesco, one item one plastic bag...

[SamuiJens]

i think also plastic bags ... 7/11 been the worst offender

You forgot Tesco, one item one plastic bag...

Well, then shake your hand at Tesco AND 7-11. We have to start some place! Get serious ppl, this should have been done years ago.

[Rooo]

i think also plastic bags ... 7/11 been the worst offender

You forgot Tesco, one item one plastic bag...

Well, then shake your hand at Tesco AND 7-11. We have to start some place! Get serious ppl, this should have been done years ago.

Rather selfish there Jens, what will the poor people use for BONGS

[singa-traz]

i think also plastic bags ... 7/11 been the worst offender

You forgot Tesco, one item one plastic bag...

Supermarket offer the plastic bag ... consumers take it!

Have you ever been forced to take a plastic bag when you said "no, thank you"?

[sbk]

Yes, I regularly say, "No thank you" to a plastic bag. Get funny looks too

[Noodles]

Yes, I regularly say, "No thank you" to a plastic bag. Get funny looks too

Same here when they put a single can of tuna into a bag at 7-11 and I say no thanks,

there is whispering, giggles and looks of confsusion.

More education is needed on the subject, but this is down to the 7-11 company to introduce

it to all it's franchisees.

[Boater]

nearlly forgot... all them straws they give you !!!!!!!!! ... i mean why give 5 straws when you by 5 cans of beer! does anyone use them?

[concerned]

I invested in one of those 3 filter osmosis water purification systems. Bit slow but good enough for domestic supply of drinking water. One of the huge side benefits has been not having to carry all those plastic bottles full of water back from the supermarkets. Great! No disposal problems either.

[samuibeachcomber]

I invested in one of those 3 filter osmosis water purification systems. Bit slow but good enough for domestic supply of drinking water. One of the huge side benefits has been not having to carry all those plastic bottles full of water back from the supermarkets. Great! No disposal problems either.

good idea,although i thought most residents buy the 20 litre water tubs(100bahtdeposit).get ours delivered,and only costs 12baht for 20litres of clean water.

[concerned]

I invested in one of those 3 filter osmosis water purification systems. Bit slow but good enough for domestic supply of drinking water. One of the huge side benefits has been not having to carry all those plastic bottles full of water back from the supermarkets. Great! No disposal problems either.

good idea,although i thought most residents buy the 20 litre water tubs(100bahtdeposit).get ours delivered,and only costs 12baht for 20litres of clean water.

I agree that that is also another good "plastic bottle saving" option. However I prefer controling the purity of my own water, though I fully recognise I am probably a bit fussy on this matter.

[samuibeachcomber]

have to admit the water out of these containers does n't taste fresh,but i have n't been sick from drinking it yet.changing the subject slightly,i can never understand why people insist on carry the small bottles of water around with them everywhere they go,like they'll die of thirst if they dont,then you see the power walkers carrying them too.i think weve been hoodwinked by the health officionados that its imperative to our welfare,and the soft drink/beer companies have latched on to it over the last 20 years,how did people survive before this advent that's what i'd like to know.

[koheesti]

Glass bottles? No thanks, enough broken glass on the beaches already.

Don't like plastic bags at the shops? Then buy your own "green friendly" bag and take it with you.

[Bizz]

World first scientists in Dublin have invented plastic bacteria which is totally biodegradable.

Will be used in all bottles within 5 years.

Show I saw it on was Eco eye haven’t got a URL for it but if anyone is interested I can look into it.

Iquess there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Insight]

An observation from Bangkok, but have seen one supermarket - The Mall at Ngam Ngom whereever, encouraging people to buy those reusable cotton bags. They're still handing out plastic carrier bags like they're going out of fashion though.

(maybe that's the reason?)

[Cuban]

>Glass bottles? No thanks, enough broken glass on the beaches already.

Also the increased weight of the glass that will need to be carried around the island by delivery trucks.

[mattias33]

Yes, I regularly say, "No thank you" to a plastic bag. Get funny looks too

Yeah, the plastic bag thing in thailand is hard to get. You buy a pack of smokes and they want to put it in a small plastic bag for you. I watch thais buy a pack of ciggarettes in 7/11 and get it in the small plastic bag, go outside and trow away the bag in the wind to light a cigarrette. Crazy.

And if you carry 6 halfempty bags and buy a cd, the want to give you another bag for that! And like said, you get a "falang ba" look when you say you dont need a bag.

On the topic of plastic bottles, one thing that i was always annoyed but is the little plastic on top of the waterbottles. Whats that there for? And secondly, why cant restaurants remove it before they put the bottle on your table. You take it off, put it on the table and within seconds its gone with the wind. The beach is filled with those things.

[longtom]

On the topic of plastic bottles, one thing that i was always annoyed but is the little plastic on top of the waterbottles. Whats that there for? And secondly, why cant restaurants remove it before they put the bottle on your table. You take it off, put it on the table and within seconds its gone with the wind. The beach is filled with those things.

The seal is there to show that the bottle has not been tampered with, Einstein, or do you want your water to be refilled from the tap (plastic caps alone can be easily replaced)?

Edited February 9, 2009 by longtom

[mattias33]

On the topic of plastic bottles, one thing that i was always annoyed but is the little plastic on top of the waterbottles. Whats that there for? And secondly, why cant restaurants remove it before they put the bottle on your table. You take it off, put it on the table and within seconds its gone with the wind. The beach is filled with those things.

The seal is there to show that the bottle has not been tampered with, Einstein, or do you want your water to be refilled from the tap (plastic caps alone can be easily replaced)?

No, the little plastic ring under the screw cork shows if the bottle has been opened or not, einstein (are you Thai or what? ). The plastic seal has absolutely nothing to do with that at all, wich is why you never see this in for instans Europe.

[Groongthep]

A plastic bag tax has been very successful in reducing the amount plastic bags used in my hometown of Seattle. The majority of people now bring their own reusable canvass shopping bags to the grocery stores. I understand numerous other US cities and Ireland and Australia have similar systems in place (can you Irish and Aussies confirm this?). Problem is, trying to get anybody other than a few foreigners to go along with this in Thailand would be very difficult. "Mai saduak" you know. Any start would be helpful though. I would support the effort.

[nomadspike]

We could use all of your help with Green Phangan...

Pls have a look and thanks in advance.

[mattias33]

A plastic bag tax has been very successful in reducing the amount plastic bags used in my hometown of Seattle. The majority of people now bring their own reusable canvass shopping bags to the grocery stores. I understand numerous other US cities and Ireland and Australia have similar systems in place (can you Irish and Aussies confirm this?). Problem is, trying to get anybody other than a few foreigners to go along with this in Thailand would be very difficult. "Mai saduak" you know. Any start would be helpful though. I would support the effort.

In my country we have a system were grosseri shops charge you for your bags. It is heavily critisized, ("why should i pay for a bag with their commersial on it?"), and also i myself have critisized it. However, i think it would work perfectly well over here. I´m not here to show 7/11 or tesco another source of income, they can take it off the prices on the grosseries. But i think the number of Thais trowing plastic bags on the street would seriously go down, if they charged lets say 5 baht for a bag in 7/11. Also the stupidity of putting sometimes only one item in a plasticbag in tesco would stop. After a while, when people learned a different behavior with plasticbags the charge can be taken away again (thats were my country failed, its still there, greedy mf:S!).

There are different methods to the plastic in nature problem. And western countries all use some of those methods and they all work. It´s in questions like this you realize that Thailand is still a third world country. But us westerners over here can do the little job of informing the Thais around us. My wife dont trow stuff in nature anymore for instans, she use to do it before i pointed out how stupid it is. Nowadays, she sometimes even tell her friends to not do it.

Good initiativ from Jens to start this thread. We gotta start somewhere.....

[samadv]

We are making an attempt ! Clean the beaches with plastic and other garbage.

We had and event organised in Feb 09 and some more coming soon.

Check links for more info.

www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=45766228735&ref=mf

www.bobbysdiveworld.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3

www.bobbysdiveworld.com

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If Samui and KP both banned plastic bottles, we'd have a better enveirment and not have the trashy look on beaches as we have today. And kids can go collect the glass kind for the deposits. Anyone?

[TerraPosse]

On the topic of plastic bottles, one thing that i was always annoyed but is the little plastic on top of the waterbottles. Whats that there for? And secondly, why cant restaurants remove it before they put the bottle on your table. You take it off, put it on the table and within seconds its gone with the wind. The beach is filled with those things.

The seal is there to show that the bottle has not been tampered with, Einstein, or do you want your water to be refilled from the tap (plastic caps alone can be easily replaced)?

After watching 'Slumdog Millionaire' you may find the seal of only limited assurance.