This is a really exciting time to be involved in projects bringing sustainable, reusable bags to Thailand. There are news stories almost every day about Thailand's single-use plastic use and efforts to reduce it. Based on recent news out of Australia, it seems like the biggest and easiest power to impact change comes from the stores themselves, which in Thailand includes the ubiquitous 7-11 stores on every corner.
One can imagine that if 7-11 were to start charging for plastic bags, not only would plastic bag use decrease, but people may be more likely to start carrying a reusable bag, which would magnify the impact immediately beyond 7-11. While it's not my place as an American to tell Thailand how to solve their plastic bag problem, I'm excited to be helping to turn t-shirts into reusable bags while creating an income source for women in Thailand. It may be a baby step, but it's a step in the right direction that may end up being part of a growing movement to support reusable bags in Thailand. "What Thailand Needs to Do to Kick its Plastic Bag Addiction" by Danny Marks (who, it's worth noting, is writing from Hong Kong and not Thailand) has some interesting facts and good ideas. While I think all his points, including changing the waste management system and increasing education about plastic waste, are valuable, I also think that 7-11 alone has the power to make a huge impact in a way that will take little training and can actually increase revenue for the chain. If we create economic incentives for people to change their behavior, they change their behavior, even if those incentives are VERY small. There are lots of online petitions to encourage 7-11 in Thailand to eliminate plastic bags, but I can't find any that have a significant number of signatures (it could be because I'm not searching in Thai - if you can find any, please let me know!). So in 2019 we are going to work on a video campaign with our Thai partners to share on 7-11 Thailand's social media and encourage them to eliminate plastic bags, with the hope that social media sharing can help us to influence 7-11 Thailand toward lowering it's use of plastic bags. Stay tuned!
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B4tOThis little project is growing! Thanks to everyone who's been involved so far. You can get involved too! Archives
December 2018
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