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Sustainably Yours: Learning to breathe

Sunday 31 December 2023 11:00 AM

As we continue through the high season, restaurants and hotels are enjoying the time of year when they earn most of their money. But for residents of the island, it can turn what would normally be a quick trip to the market into a 30-minute ordeal with soul crushing bumper-to-bumper traffic. Each year, the situation worsens because of more people settling on the island and developers constructing housing without proper infrastructure.

Sustainably Yours: Your part in climate change

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 23 October 2022 01:00 PM

In our previous article in Sustainably Yours, we looked at things that the government can do to prepare Phuket for Climate Change. In this article, we’ll look at things that you can do in your daily life to help mitigate and adapt to it.

Preparing Phuket for climate change

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 25 September 2022 01:00 PM

As temperatures break records in the UK and fires break records, while scorching the European countrysides of Portugal, France and Spain, Phuket has had to contend with worsening annual floods. While climate change may be inevitable, there are things that Phuket can do to better prepare itself, to limit damage to infrastructure, reduce the potential for loss of life, and protect homes and businesses.

Sustainably Yours: The Phuket Swapshop

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 12 June 2022 11:00 AM

You loved that new shirt when you tried it on in the store, but when you got it home, it was too long or too short, too bright or too drab, too snug or too loose. You wore it once or twice and then tossed it into the back of your closet of regrets.

Sustainably Yours: Make money and be more sustainable

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 15 May 2022 02:00 PM

In 2019 Phuket saw around 9 million passenger arrivals, in 2021 we saw just over 900,000, a 90% decline. Most experts predict that the industry won’t recover until 2024 or later.  The pandemic has changed the world, and as we come out of Test & Go and look toward the future, we should consider whether we want to return to business as usual or change how things are done.  B-Corporations  The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was coined by Economist Howard Bowen in his book Social Responsibilities of the Businessmen’, published in 1953. He defined it as, “The obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society.” The main problem with CSR is that it lacks transparency and accountability.  In 2006 a new iteration of CSR was introduced called B-Corporations with the lofty goal of transforming the economic system by changing how business is done. Instead of focusing on the single-minded drive for profits, a B-Corporation has a triple bottom line that also considers their environmental impact and the community they serve. The main difference to CSR is that to become a B-Corporation there is a lengthy certification process and the businesses are regularly audited to ensure they are meeting standards. Some well-known businesses that are B-Corporations include The Body Shop, AllBirds, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Patagonia. They are just a few of the 4,850 B-Corporations located in 79 countries in over 150 different industries.  While most local businesses are not B-Corporations there are still things that they can do to lower their environmental impact, while saving money. 1. Offer vegan/vegetarian options on your menu ‒ A single burger uses the same amount of water as two months of showering. Studies show that 50% of Americans are trying to reduce their meat consumption and over one-third of Europeans are, too. Having plant-based menu options just makes good business sense. If you are not sure where to start, local chef Jamie Raftery, who was trained at Michelin-star restaurants, shares some of his plant-based recipes on his website Holistic Chef Academy.   2. Use soapnuts ‒ These are grown sustainably, inexpensive to buy, don’t use palm oils (which cause deforestation), are hypo-allergenic, don’t leave a perfumey smell and are actually berries, so they are okay for people with nut allergies. You can use them to do your laundry, for cleansers, hand soaps, shaving cream, dishwasher soap, body wash and shampoo. Not only will you cut down on your use of palm oil, but you will also reduce plastic waste while supporting the Indigenous Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand that grow them. 3. Compost and recycle ‒ Even during the pandemic Phuket’s waste collection has been operating beyond capacity. Overall the waste has gone down, but the lack of visitors has been made up for this with an increase in plastic trash from takeaway containers, plastic masks and hand sanitiser bottles. Studies show that between 40-60% of household waste is organic and almost 20% is recyclable. When you combine the two you can reduce your household waste by as much as 80%. Composting also reduces the need for pesticides and fertilisers and reduces water usage. 4. Use drip irrigation ‒ Although it may not seem like it in the middle of the rainy season, Thailand is becoming increasingly water-stressed because of increasing temperatures, drier dry seasons and the fact that it is one of the world’s largest rice producers. Drip irrigation is a strategy that reduces water use by about 70% by watering only the roots. Although commercial systems are available you can also DIY it.  5. Collect rainwater ‒ This can range from a simple barrel to a more complex system that integrates with your irrigation and plumbing. This water can be used to flush toilets or water the garden. Not only does this help to alleviate the burden on groundwater, but it can also reduce the amount of pollution from pesticides, fertilisers and car oil that is washed into the ocean by stormwater runoff.      6. Give out branded water bottles ‒ Almost 1 million plastic bottles are used per minute, which translates to about 62 bottles for every person on the planet per year. Plastic bottles are a scourge on our beaches. A simple way to ensure that your guests are not part of the problem is to give them a branded reusable water bottle. You can then make filtered water freely available. 7. Switch to LED lightbulbs ‒ These last more than twice as long as fluorescent lights, 25 times longer than regular incandescent ones and use 90% less energy than convention bulbs. LED light bulbs are also safer as they emit very little heat and are cool to the touch. 8. Plant flowers and plants that are pollinator-friendly ‒ One-third of our food supply is pollinated by bees, bats and birds. Most plants rely on animal pollinators for reproduction, but about 30% of plant-pollinator networks have been completely lost, which translates to the disappearance of food, bees, plants, trees and a loss of biodiversity. The main culprits driving declines are habitat loss and pesticide use. One way you can help is to plant pollinator-friendly native plant species.  9. Change your gas burners to electric ‒ Gas stoves are not well-vented and can exacerbate respiratory illnesses like asthma, COVID or even allergies. They also leak methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO2, even when turned off. These can be replaced with inexpensive induction burners and you will save on your monthly gas bill. 10. Check your tyre pressure every two weeks ‒ Your tires will naturally deflate by 2-3 PSI per month. For every 10% decrease in tyre pressure your fuel consumption increases by 2%. Multiply this across several vehicles driving every day and it can add up. Improperly inflated tires also affect your ability to brake and wear out your tyres and engine more quickly. Palmer Owyoung is an environmental activist working with the Kamala Green Club and the Global Sustainability Hub.  

Solving Phuket’s plastic problem: 7 reasons to stop drinking bottled water

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 24 October 2021 02:00 PM

With the global pandemic and the lack of tourists, you would think that our beaches would be pristine and clean, but you’d be wrong. Despite our lack of visitors, the beaches are still inundated with plastic water bottles, bags and cigarettes, which means some of it is coming from us.

Sustainably Yours: Superfoods of the future

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 19 September 2021 02:00 PM

In the last decade, the term ‘superfood’ has become ubiquitous in food marketing. It is used to denote nutritionally dense foods, and they have slapped the label on acai and Goji berries, hemp and chia seeds, wheatgrass, blueberries, and kale, among others. However, there is no clear definition of what a superfood is.

Sustainably Yours: Three green entrepreneurs

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 13 June 2021 10:00 AM

As the world looks to reopening, it needs to consider making itself more sustainable. The current form of capitalism is based on profit maximization by selling the lowest-quality product and depending on good branding to get the highest price. This short-term thinking and ‘buy and throw away’ mentality has led us to the climate crisis that we are currently in. However, sustainability doesn’t need to come at the cost of profits and can benefit your brand.

Sustainably Yours: Preventing the next pandemic

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 24 January 2021 10:00 AM

On January 13, 2020, Thailand had its first reported case of COVID-19 in Bangkok. It was also the first case outside of China, so the pandemic has been with us for about one year.

Sustainably Yours: Rewilding Thailand

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 15 November 2020 10:00 AM

In his new Netflix documentary A Life On Our Planet BBC Presenter David Attenborough details the impact that humanity has had on nature in his over-50 years of reporting on the environment, and he discusses his hopes and fears for the future. During his lifetime, he notes that the world population has gone from 2.3 billion in 1937 to almost 7.82 billion in 2020, while the percent of the world’s forested land dropped from 66% to just 30%.

Sustainably Yours: Sustainability, Philosophy and Happiness

Phuket Life / Community

Sunday 11 October 2020 02:00 PM

A global pandemic, climate change, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, race riots, an economic downturn, 400 beached whales in Tasmania and now a brain-eating bacteria in Texas. In the last six months the world has been turned upside down and things are likely to get worse before they get better with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that up to 2 million people could die worldwide before we have a vaccine.

Sustainably Yours: Reimagining Phuket

Phuket Life / Environment

Sunday 24 May 2020 11:00 AM

As Phuket comes out of lockdown everybody wants to forget about COVID-19 and for life to go back to “normal”. However, let’s not forget that normal meant constant construction, routine water shortages and frequent electrical outages. Normal was the buzz of jet-skis, the roar of motorbikes and the thumping bass of club music. Normal was plastic-filled beaches and polluted klong waters seeping into the sea. Normal was congested highways, aggressive drivers, and a high death toll. So, let’s not go back to “normal”.

Sustainably Yours: Transitioning to a Resource Based Economy

Phuket Life

Sunday 1 March 2020 06:00 PM

If you turn on the news today or browse through social media, it is easy to believe the world is coming to an end.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reward. Redux

Phuket Life / Environment

Thursday 30 January 2020 09:00 AM

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2019 was the second hottest year ever recorded, and according to NASA, NOAA, and the UK Meteorological Office 2010-2019 was the hottest decade.

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