You all know that I have been a little obsessed with the huge amount of single-use plastic bags used in Thailand every day since I got involved with a reusable bag project there this summer.
Because of that, I was SO EXCITED to see that the first 7-11 in Thailand has eliminated plastic shopping bags. You can read the story here. Now, Google tells me there are over 8,000 7-11 stores in Thailand, so one store is just a drop in the bucket. But it shows that opinions are changing, and I hope that when the store sees that it has one less thing to buy, but sales remain the same, this might become commonplace in 7-11s across Thailand. Sometimes just a little win can make you feel so good - woo hoo!
0 Comments
By Emily Tamkin, founder of Bags for the Ocean
Last year, over 300,000 American students traveled abroad to participate in international study, volunteer, or immersion experiences, according to GoAbroad.com. Inevitably, these students finish their program with a deeper appreciation for the piece of the world that they’ve gotten to experience and a desire to invest in and help the area in which they’re working. Many such programs, especially those in developing countries, ask students for tee-shirt or clothing donations to provide for the community that they’re in. While these donations undoubtedly have a positive impact upon those receiving them, it’s becoming increasingly important to consider whether or not these donations truly have a positive effect on the economy of the region. These large volume donations to regions are a small example of the process of “dumping” in economics. Economic dumping is the export of a substantial volume of goods at a lower price than they cost in their home country; in this case, the export (donation) of a large quantity of tee shirts that would be priced around 15 dollars in their home country that are given away for free in the country receiving them second-hand. This importation of goods in said substantial volume endangers the manufacturers and producers of those goods in the importing nation. The availability and low cost of these goods can drive domestic producers out of business and cause a higher rate of unemployment. While these organizations mean well in their donations, saturating the community’s market with America’s hand-me-downs poses significant economic risk to the region. If citizens can get free or extremely cheap US merchandise, why would they spend the extra time and money buying from local artisans and manufacturers? A perfect example of this effect is in Kenya, as according to Oxfam, more than 70% of the world’s donated clothing ends up in Africa. The downturn in Kenya’s textile industry began in the 1980s when the economy opened to accept donated clothing. As locals turned to shops selling second-hand clothing, local textile manufacturing took a steep decline. According to Business Daily Africa, while the industry used to employ around 500,000 Kenyans, that number was down to just 20,000 in the year 2010. The Kenyan government has numerous times considered legislature that would ban the importation of used clothing into the country as a final effort to save their collapsing textile industry. This doesn’t mean that your clothing donation doesn’t do individual good. If you’ve ever donated clothing, toiletries, shoes, or other items at the end of your trip, it’s very likely that the person or people who received them were grateful. There are countless examples of donating clothes or shoes to someone in need where that person’s daily life is undoubtedly improved. However, on a systemic level, donating old clothing and shoes may create dependence on others and instability in local economies. So, what to do? To protect the economies of underprivileged areas, visitors abroad need to step back from donated items and find ways to have a more meaningful impact on the communities that they are trying to benefit. This summer, Bags for the Ocean had the chance to try a new way of managing in-kind donations. Partnering with the study abroad organization Loop Abroad, we funded an initiative to collect donated tee shirts and use them to make a positive impact on not only individual lives but also the local economy and the environment. This year at their service programs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Loop Abroad collected donation clothing from their students at the end of their programs. By the end of the summer, they had hundreds of tee shirts. Instead of simply donating them to the Chiang Mai community, they worked with Bags for the Ocean to turn the shirts into reusable bags and create work in the community. Loop spent approximately $200 to hire women in the local community to cut the tee shirts and sew them into reusable bags. The jobs were simple, and cost very little to finance. Students that participated in the program then got together to distribute the bags at grocery stores and farmers markets, encouraging consumers to use their reusable bags when shopping. Now, it’s true that in this case, the project required outside funding. But one can easily imagine that someone could have undertaken the sewing for free and then sold the bags in order to make a profit. In fact, the women who were involved saw how cute and popular the bags were, and are already interested in collecting donated tee shirts in the future so that they can sew the bags and sell them for a profit. (While you might challenge that this donation undercuts the local fabric market, consider that reusable grocery bags weren’t something being sold in the market previously.) According to Thailand’s pollution control department, plastic waste in the country is increasing at the rate of 12% per year, which is about 2 million tons. The country is also considered to be one of the largest consumers of plastic bags; it is estimated that the average Bangkok resident uses about 8.7 plastic bags per day. In other words, they have a real plastic bag problem. The work done by Loop Abroad and Bags for the Ocean on this project not only benefits the economy of the region, but shows the tourist demand for more sustainable products. As tourism accounts for around 20% of Thailand’s GDP, showing that there is a demand for reusable materials demonstrates that there is an untapped market in sustainability, which will hopefully inspire local manufacturers to produce these environmentally friendly products. American trends in fashion are very influential in Thailand, and the fact that American tourists care about reusable bags may help to make them more popular locally. Single-use plastic bags have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on the environment, from the fact that plastic never really biodegrades (it photodegrades, meaning that instead of eventually decomposing entirely, the plastic simply breaks down into smaller and smaller toxic particles), to the one million seabirds and 100,000 sea turtles killed by them a year, it is essential that all countries commit to reducing their plastic waste. One reusable bag can potentially eliminate anywhere from 700-1000 single use plastic bags in its career, and if 200 distributed on this project are used correctly, they have the opportunity to keep 140,000 plastic bags out of the landfill and ocean. This project is just a small example, but we’re proud to be a part of it. It shows an innovative way to take donations-in-kind (stuff) and turn them into donations that can help to drive an economy (money), all while reducing waste. Students and abroad programs alike both mean the best in their generous donations, but it’s important to consider the wide range of impacts that these donations have. I’d like to encourage other abroad programs to think about implementing a program with their donated tee shirts such as this one, and I believe it’s economically sustainable for international programs to implement. Instead of dumping clothing articles that could potentially endanger the region’s economy, investing some time and money into the project can sustainably benefit the environment and provide work for local people. My challenge to you: if you are traveling on an organized group program this summer, winter, or semester, reach out to them and ask if they might be willing to consider implementing a similar project with their donated shirts. Bags for the Ocean is happy to provide support and tips for what made our project successful and what’s helping it to become scalable. As customers, we can push the study abroad and travel organizations we join to do better! |
B4tOThis little project is growing! Thanks to everyone who's been involved so far. You can get involved too! Archives
December 2018
Categories |