There are many benefits of recycling and we aim to educate our students to understand the reasons for supporting this important aspect of life. It gives them skills in respect, empathy, patience, responsibility, and teaches them about consequences. But it also teaches them valuable lessons about sustainability and how we want to leave the world for future generations. Learning the importance of being sustainable shows them that the environment is important. It also helps create responsible adults, with a better chance of having a decent planet to live. Recycling means the use of waste itself as resources. Waste minimization can be achieved in an efficient way by focusing primarily on the first of the 3Rs, "reduce," followed by "reuse" and then "recycle."
We handed over 55,000 plastic tops to Precious Plastic Bangkok which were collected during the last three years. It was a wonderful moment for our students as they have been actively involved in recycling plastic tops, ring pulls and plastic bottles for a long time. The children will continue with these projects as they are now more aware of the need to recycle items and they want to help create a greener environment for everyone to enjoy. Dominic Puwasawat Chakrabongse, who is the full-time environmental activist at Precious Plastic Bangkok, says, “We want to change people’s perceptions of plastic waste, and show that it can be more than trash that lies on the street or enters rivers. It’s actually an incredibly valuable resource.” We are pleased to be able to support the work of Precious Plastic Bangkok.
Collecting plastic bottles is another recycling project at RBIS. We have taken thousands to Wat Chak Daeng. At the temple Pra Maha Pranom has created a working formula for mixing recycled plastic with cotton and zinc oxide nanoparticles to make a fine, high-quality fabric. The first items of clothing produced were the saffron coloured monks’ robes. Several of our students spent a day at the temple seeing firsthand the recycling work of the temple as well as clearing waste that had been dumped in the river.
Another RBIS project is collecting second hand clothes. We decided that our first batch should be given to Second Chance which is a social enterprise creating ‘Second Chances’ for the people of Klong Toey community; Bangkok's largest slum. The creators of Second Chance, Chris and Jodie MacCartney from Australia, are residents of Klong Toey community (slum); “they are passionate to be actively involved in the life of this community and to see it flourish.” Their motto is “We strive to Re(up)cycle, Reuse and Renew. This is something we want our students to understand and follow.
There are many benefits of recycling and we aim to educate our students to understand the reasons for supporting this important aspect of life. It gives them skills in respect, empathy, patience, responsibility, and teaches them about consequences. But it also teaches them valuable lessons about sustainability and how we want to leave the world for future generations. Learning the importance of being sustainable shows them that the environment is important. It also helps create responsible adults, with a better chance of having a decent planet to live. Recycling means the use of waste itself as resources. Waste minimization can be achieved in an efficient way by focusing primarily on the first of the 3Rs, "reduce," followed by "reuse" and then "recycle."
Community Service is an important part of being in the 6th Form as it provides the students with opportunities to help those in need. It helps develop their organizational skills, leadership skills, working with their peers and coping with the thrill of being away from the city and experiencing life in the countryside. The students organize events to raise funds to carry out their project, involving the whole school community. Bake sales, non-uniform days fun and games afternoons are some of the events we have held. The work culminates with a week’s residential when the Sixth Form visit a school to carry out a project, for example renovate the school canteen, as well as spending time with the children playing games, create pieces of art and teaching English.
We aim to develop our community work further this year by carrying out projects in Bangkok. We organised some small projects during Covid19 such as the 6th Form visiting some of the slum areas in Bangkok and giving the children a food bag donated by 6th Form students; stocking up the food banks in some of the city’s streets was another way of helping. In Community Service lessons other Secondary students created “Cards for Hospitalised Kids”. which were distributed to sick children in hospitals; also, during covid19 students contacted their grandparents to try and make them feel less isolated via virtual interviews for example and much more.
Recycling, and Community Service, is an important part of growing up and helps our students develop important skills and attributes which they can use throughout their lives and help make them good citizens.
Barack Obama once said: “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
