Thailand Residents Get Creative To Combat Plastic Bag Ban
If you’re caught up with the news, you would know that 43 major stores in Thailand have started their plastic bag ban since Wednesday (1 Jan).
And just 1 day later on Thursday (2 Jan), a netizen shared on Facebook an album of several Thai residents reacting to the ban with creativity and adaptability.
The album has a staggering 77 photos of Thais buying groceries using items like wheel barrows, pails, and even fishing nets.
Here are the top 5 most creative ones we saw.
1. Pail used as plastic bag & shopping basket
If there’s one thing people always use pails for, it would be to store water for times like spring cleaning the house.
However, this Thai man took his creativity to the next level and decided to bring a pail with him to buy detergent.
This way, not only can the pail be used to store his groceries, it can also double up as a shopping basket to bring around the store.
Genius.
2. Wheel barrow as upsize shopping cart
If you’re planning to stock up your home with kitchen towels and 1.5L water bottles, a pail is definitely not big enough.
So this guy decided it would be a great idea to lug a wheel barrow all the way to the supermarket to store his loot in.
The brilliance of the wheel barrow is that it doubles as a shopping cart – wheeling rather than carrying your groceries home is surely more convenient.
3. Layered fishing net for grocery separation
If you’re observant enough, you would have noticed how the cashiers in Singapore packs our groceries in separate plastic bags according to the different categories.
For example, frozen food should be separated from potato chips. However, this means that plastic bag usage increases with each separation.
However, another guy found a solution to the problem by bringing a 3-layer fishing net.
The usage of the fishing net reminds one of tiffin carriers, where items are packed separately.
Plus he thought to sling the fishing net on his back to keep his hands free. A great idea, to be sure.
4. Luggage bags to look more fashionable
Maybe a wheel barrow doesn’t look so glamorous, despite their utility. Here’s an idea if you have lots of groceries to carry but still want to look like a high-flying jet-setter — a luggage bag.
Not only can you store a ton of groceries, you can pair your shopping outfit with a pair of shades to look like you’re heading to/from the airport.
Ta-dah, you just killed two birds with one stone.
5. T-shirt for when you need to do last minute shopping and still want to save the Earth
What happens if you’re going for a last minute grocery run but don’t have time to bring fetch a luggage from home? Well, you could improvise and use your t-shirt to hold your items instead of purchasing a bag.
This will only work in a pinch and for small items since there aren’t all that many items you can hold with a t-shirt, of course. But hey, saving the Earth requires some sacrifices at times.
Plastic bag ban does not deter Thailand
This just proves that there are many other ways we can replace the use of plastic bags if we think out of the box.
Perhaps Singaporeans can think of even more creative solutions to reduce plastic bag usage, should a ban arise.
Do you have any more creative ideas to replace plastic bags? Share them with everyone in the comments below.
Feature images adapted from Facebook.
