Trash Hero Pattani | Trash Hero World

Camping sustainably with Trash Hero Pattani

by Martyna Morawska on 10/02/2022 No comments

The average city-dweller in Thailand produces 1.3kg of waste per day. Trash Hero Pattani organised a camping trip for 125 people that generated just 40g of waste per person, per day!

How did they manage it? They started training several weeks before the trip to the beautiful region of Yala, in southern Thailand. A group of volunteer coordinators were taught about zero waste principles and how they could apply them during the stay. Rules were drawn up for participants to firstly avoid bringing any waste to the camp and then committing them to separate and rinse any trash generated into 7 different categories.

While this may sound cumbersome, in fact the photos show the group had a fantastic time, with plenty of family activities, water sports, and music and fire shows in the evening – they even did a cleanup! The camping project is a really wonderful example of learning by doing, and demonstrating to local people that zero waste is possible in all kinds of situations.

In total the waste generated during the camp (4-6 Feb inclusive) was 31.6kg, with 16.6kg of organics and recyclables and 15kg of residual waste. 10.5kg of trash was picked up during the cleanup in the camp grounds. The trip was the sixth such event in Trash Hero Pattani’s “Zero Waste Camping” project, which they describe as a work in progress, refining the details each time. Already this year the amount of trash generated was halved, compared with the 2021 trip, where 95g of trash was logged per participant. Kudos to all involved, and for more information (in Thai) please visit the Trash Hero Pattani page.

Zero Waste Ramadan

by Seema on 09/05/2019 No comments

Many of our chapters across Southeast Asia are observing the holy month of Ramadan, which started on 5 May.

Cleanups for the most part have been suspended as communities will be fasting during daylight hours. However, our volunteers are still very active! The main focus is on the daily “Ramadan markets”, which provide easy, takeaway food for people who do not wish to cook during this time, as well as special treats only found during this month.

Usually a visit to the market will result in an average of 8 – 10 single-use plastic bags being used, along with an array of hard plastic boxes, cups and straws. All will end up in landfill, or worse.

On social media, and out on the streets, chapters in Malaysia and the south of Thailand have been encouraging shoppers to bring their own containers and bags for all food and drink purchases, to cut down on waste.

Trash Hero Pattani, together with Plogging Pattani are running a competition where people have to snap a photo of themselves at a market with their tiffin box, tupperware, resuable bag or cup and hashtag ‪#‎ramadanchallenge1440‬ to win their own Trash Hero t-shirt. You can join the challenge on Facebook.

Trash Hero Langkawi volunteers, meanwhile, are engaging shoppers at their local market, by bringing their own food containers and carrier bags for buying their breaking fast food. The idea is to set a good example, as well as start a conversation about waste and how to reduce plastic usage.

Their efforts have been reported in the New Straits Times and on local television.

We wish all of our Muslim volunteers a peaceful and blessed Ramadan.

Special Hero from Pattani

by Amelia Meier on 06/12/2016 No comments

6 December 2016 – Trash Hero Thailand

We are humbled by the thousands of Trash Heroes who have joined us over the years to clean during the past years. Every now and again however a hero (or heroine) stands out due to their commitment to the cause. Nattapong Nithi-Uthai from Trash Hero Pattani is one such hero. Read about him in this inspiring interview.

Trash Hero Pattani’s Record-Breaking

by Amelia Meier on 01/06/2016 No comments

01 June, 2016 – Trash Hero Pattani (Thailand)

Trash Hero Pattani have just completed their “Clean Up #12”, and have broken various records doing so. First off, 140 (yes, that’s one-hundred-and-forty!) Trash Heroes showed up: 5 from the governor team, 15 heroes, and 120 from from มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ (the Prince of Songkhla University).

For this cleanup, they went once again to Laem Ta Chi Cape, where they’d cleaned up before and felt like they hadn’t made much of an impact. Altogether they gathered 430kg (yes, that’s four-hundred-and-thirty!) of trash. 75kg alone were broken glass and bottles, a total of 20kg were flip flops, and the rest was made up of all types of plastic packaging and fishing equipment. All the while they educated participants on waste management, and had a lot of fun.

It’s been three months since Trash Hero Pattani got going. 431 heroes in total have participated, 1856.3 kg have been collected, and there is no end in sight!

Trash Hero Pattani are amazing (follow them here on Facebook), and we are so proud to count them as part of this movement. What’s more, they have been able to obtain support from the Chief Administrator of SAO, whose kind help contributes to making this effort a great one.