Recycling

Hello fellow earth lovers!

This week I've been reflecting on the concept of recycling and I even discussed it with some people in Thailand. Recycling is a very new concept for most Thai people and many of them still haven't been fully educated on this topic. There are very few recycling bins in buildings and yet they use so much plastic. For example, customers are given little carrying plastic bags that wrap around the lid of cold beverages. It is mostly offered for the convenience of carrying a beverage, among other things, but it still seems excessive. Additionally, all of the souvenir stands hand out so many plastic bags and are shocked when you bring your own, which is something that I often practice here. Reusing plastic bags seems like a foreign concept and they appreciate when I bring my own so they don't have to exhaust their own resources. Straws are also handed out with almost every water bottle, which definitely adds up over time. 

Although there are thousands of people in the US that don't regularly recycle, I believe that more of the population is aware of the issue. It is more of a question of their willingness to act on it or not. Here in Thailand, they lack the resources and education to be able to properly recycle. The younger generation is more aware of this concept and they aren't exactly motivated to practice which is very interesting to me. Having recycled my whole life it's difficult for me to be constantly throwing away plastic water bottles and bags here because there aren't any readily available recycling bins. However, when I see one I happily recycle and urge others to do the same. 

On the other hand, in most outpatient pharmacies in both Chiang Mai and Bangkok patients are encouraged to bring their own cloth bags and they no longer hand out plastic bags. This progress is very exciting to me because it means that some people are aware of the issue and they are educating the public about it. Here is an example of this signage: 

I believe that if Thai people were more educated on this concept, they could make a huge impact on the world and it is our job as visitors to help them realize their potential and protect the earth that we all love. So if you ever visit Thailand, please help them learn to recycle so we can stay on this planet a little bit longer! 

Thanks for reading,

Maddie Pryor