A Step in the Right Direction: Bodega Hostels Going Green
Here at Bodega Hostels, Thailand is our home and we want to go the extra mile to look after it. The one downside of a trip round this beautiful country is the sight of piles of plastic littering the roads and beaches, and we don’t want to be anything to do with that shit! We’ve talked in the past about how to use less plastic while backpacking and how to be an eco-tourist in Thailand, but now we’re putting our money where our mouth is! Bodega Hostels is going green and we hope other hostels follow our lead!
Instead of being part of the problem we want to be part of the solution, so we’re proud to announce a new collaboration with Zero Waste Thailand to help us replace our plastic straws with metal ones. It’s the first step on our journey towards having no single use plastic at Bodega whatsoever.
The Size of the Plastic Problem in Thailand
The eco-warriors among st you might already know that the focus of last year’s global Environment Day was beating plastic pollution, but what’s in a name? In Thailand there’s still a long way to go. One of last year’s biggest news stories was a dying whale which was washed up on the beach in southern Songhkla province, eventually killed by a mystery illness. An autopsy revealed the awful truth, however- the cause of death was the 80 plastic bags it had swallowed!
The numbers are scary. Of the 1.03 million tons of plastic waste generated in Thailand each year, 3% ends up in the ocean. That might sound like a low percentage but with the average Thai person using eight plastic bags every day, the results soon mount up.
Lessons from Abroad
Thailand is by no means alone in grappling with this problem. Governments worldwide are having to face up to the threat that plastic pollution is posing, and in the United States California has just become the first state to ban plastic straws in restaurants unless customers ask for them. Other states are due to follow suit in the near future, and Seattle has already completely banned the use of plastic cutlery and plates.
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions
Enter Bodega, to try and minimize our use of single-use plastics and help Thailand deal with its refuse problem. We’re partnering with the inspirational Zero Waste Thailand to test out metal straws to see if we can get rid of the plastic ones entirely. Why do you even need a plastic straw anyway? You use it once then throw it away! It’s not like you need plastic to be able to shotgun your beer or have a few more shots, is it!
Zero Waste Thailand is a pretty badass outfit run by a mother and daughter duo who love the ocean and want to help protect it. As well as producing metal straws for us, they also sell a ton of other products including cotton bags, bamboo toothbrushes and chemical-free shampoo.
Bodega Hostels Going Green Starts with Metal Straws!
So today it’s metal straws and tomorrow it’s a whole lot more. This is the start of our journey to get rid of all single use plastics from Bodega Hostels, because Thailand is a fucking awesome country, and it deserves better than we’re giving it right now. Come for a beer or three to talk about what more we can achieve together.
