SUSTAINABILITY SOAPBOX, Mae Tang, Thailand - JAN 08
Eager to have a few days outside of the city, we headed north to PunPun Farm and You Sabai Homestay. The two programs are neighbors sharing the same focus of sustainability and building from the earth. The visionaries behind PunPun, Pijo and his American wife, Peggy, have been leading the way in the earthen building movement for the last 14 years. They offer a yearly 10-week internship which covers all aspects of earthen building, organic farming, seed saving and various issues relating to local and global sustainability.
As wonderful as Thailand is, sustainability has not been embraced here. The use of plastic bags and Styrofoam is rampant, vendors excessively double-bag and most food and drink is assumed ‘take away’. As eco-conscious travelers on a mission to Leave No Trace, we arrived in Thailand with our own utensils (http://www.to-goware.com/) and fervently tracked down some coconut bowls to carry with us for quick bites. Then we learned how to say "No plastic bag" in Thai: Mai sai tong, our mantra. To our delight, many vendors appreciated our efforts, most likely because it saved them money. In most of Asia, people burn their garbage, plastic included. Obviously, this is the antithesis of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle motto. But did you know? In America, the plastic we put in the recycling bin gets shipped to Asia (where is was originally generated) for processing. How sustainable is that?! I learned this recently from our dear friend, Ari, who saved his trash for a year just to see what impact his habits were having on the earth. This amazing love warrior’s story has hit the global scene and is sure to inspire if not engender a look at your own consumption (http://www.saveyourtrash.com/).
PunPun also operates a restaurant in Chiang Mai inside Wat Suan Dok, where they also sell dried bananas, kefir lime shampoo, banana syrup, and other home-made, non-processed, organic products. As if the satisfaction of living off the earth in simple structures designed and built by one’s own hand wasn’t enough, Pijo and Peggy are now taking their show on the road to spread information about seed saving. Another fact to blow your mind: a large percentage of the seeds distributed to farmers in Thailand are from a single source - Monsanto, the American corporation which first pushed Genetically Modified corn into the seed banks of American farmers, forcing them into a lifetime of commerce (the GMO plants don’t produce seeds for future planting). Welcome to slavery in the 21 century, now global.
At PunPun, we were openly welcomed to attend classes, share meals, work on buildings, and share our talents…sooo, within the course of 2 days, everyone of the 20+ interns and staff, foreigner and Thai, were Flying! I left there with lungs of fresh air and a buoyant heart, truly inspired by this community and what beauty can be built with time, creativity, and our own bare hands.
As wonderful as Thailand is, sustainability has not been embraced here. The use of plastic bags and Styrofoam is rampant, vendors excessively double-bag and most food and drink is assumed ‘take away’. As eco-conscious travelers on a mission to Leave No Trace, we arrived in Thailand with our own utensils (http://www.to-goware.com/) and fervently tracked down some coconut bowls to carry with us for quick bites. Then we learned how to say "No plastic bag" in Thai: Mai sai tong, our mantra. To our delight, many vendors appreciated our efforts, most likely because it saved them money. In most of Asia, people burn their garbage, plastic included. Obviously, this is the antithesis of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle motto. But did you know? In America, the plastic we put in the recycling bin gets shipped to Asia (where is was originally generated) for processing. How sustainable is that?! I learned this recently from our dear friend, Ari, who saved his trash for a year just to see what impact his habits were having on the earth. This amazing love warrior’s story has hit the global scene and is sure to inspire if not engender a look at your own consumption (http://www.saveyourtrash.com/).
PunPun also operates a restaurant in Chiang Mai inside Wat Suan Dok, where they also sell dried bananas, kefir lime shampoo, banana syrup, and other home-made, non-processed, organic products. As if the satisfaction of living off the earth in simple structures designed and built by one’s own hand wasn’t enough, Pijo and Peggy are now taking their show on the road to spread information about seed saving. Another fact to blow your mind: a large percentage of the seeds distributed to farmers in Thailand are from a single source - Monsanto, the American corporation which first pushed Genetically Modified corn into the seed banks of American farmers, forcing them into a lifetime of commerce (the GMO plants don’t produce seeds for future planting). Welcome to slavery in the 21 century, now global.
At PunPun, we were openly welcomed to attend classes, share meals, work on buildings, and share our talents…sooo, within the course of 2 days, everyone of the 20+ interns and staff, foreigner and Thai, were Flying! I left there with lungs of fresh air and a buoyant heart, truly inspired by this community and what beauty can be built with time, creativity, and our own bare hands.
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12:35 AM
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