The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (PUBAT) and book stores on Friday, May 31st launched a campaign called “Aan Rak Lok: Lod Chai Plastic” or “Reading with care: reducing plastic use”, which aims to half the use of plastic in the industry this year.
MONRE Permanent Secretary Wijarn Simachaya and PUBAT President Suchada Sahasakul signed a memorandum of understanding at the event, saying they hope the campaign will help to reduce plastic waste in Thailand and promote the use of environmentally friendly materials. Specifically, they want to cut the use of plastic by half this year, especially the book wraps used in book shops.
Additionally, the campaign is trying to raise awareness of alternatives to plastic items, which take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills. They plan to prepare and disseminate brochures on plastic wrap reduction in book stores nationwide and display exhibitions to conserve nature.
Leading book outlets, such as SE-ED, Nai In, B2S, Asia Books, Chulalongkorn University Book Center (CUBook), Dok Het Yala, Thai Day.Com and Pass Education are participating in the campaign.
