• TOURISM & CULTURE
  • ADVERTISEMENT

Latest News

  • Brazil President thanks India for ‘Sanjeevni Booti’ against Covid
  • Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration
  • Bhutan is the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID vaccines
  • ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on “Exploring Buddhist Circuit by Train”
  • Buddhist stupa in Kurukshetra
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
  • BUDDHIST HISTORY
    • BUDDHISM MESSAGES
    • Message by PM Narendra Modi
  • BUDDHIST CIRCUIT
  • BUDDHIST MONKS
  • MONASTRIES
  • BODH GAYA
  • MCLEOD GANJ

Thai Buddhist Monks Wearing Robes Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Jul 15, 2019 developer3.matrixwebstudio BREAKING NEWS, TOP NEWS Comments Off on Thai Buddhist Monks Wearing Robes Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles


By  Shyamal Sinha

Phra Maha Pranom Dhammarongkaro adjusts his robes made from recycled plastic bottles at Wat Chak Daeng. From news4europe.eu

Bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, sometimes PETE) can be used to make lower grade products, such as carpets. To make a food grade plastic, the bottles need to be hydrolysed down to monomers, which are purified and then re-polymerised to make new PET
PET is used as a raw material for making packaging materials such as bottles and containers for packaging a wide range of food products and other consumer goods. Examples include soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and edible oils. PET is one of the most common consumer plastics used.

Disposable plastic bottles remain a major environmental threat to the planet, however the monks of Wat Chak Daeng, a Buddhist temple on the artificial island of Bang Kachao in Bangkok, Thailand, have been integrating their Dharma practice with environmental awareness by recycling plastic bottles to make monastic robes.

Venerable Thipakorn, one of the monks pushing this initiative as a way of being more responsible toward the environment, observed: “There is not a big difference between the robes . . . I myself wear a recycled plastic robe and they are very similar to the traditional ones.” (Gulf News)

The project is an example of the sustainable application of modern technology by converting plastic bottles into wearable fabrics. First of all, discarded plastic bottles are collected in the temple compound. After compressing them they are packed into bales and sent to a processing plant, where the plastic is chipped and melted into fabrics, which are returned to temple. Volunteers in the temple fashion the recycled fabrics into robes for the monks. “Until now, we have made some 200 robes,” said Ven. Thipakorn. (Gulf News)

Monks sort through plastic bottles at Wat Chak Daeng. From news4europe.eu

A local community association, which receives financial support from large companies and patronage from Thailand’s Royal Palace, is overseeing the initiative. This year, they have made seven full sets of monastic robes.

According to media reports, it takes about 30 plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) one-and-a-half liter bottles to produce a set of robes, each of which is composed of 30–35 percent recycled plastic, combined with cotton and other materials.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Thailand ranks behind China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka as the sixth-largest contributor to ocean waste in the world, generating 1.03 million tons of plastic waste per year, with more than 3 percent of that finding its way into the ocean. A government survey in 2017 found that each Thai person uses an average of eight plastic bags per day, equating to around 198 billion per year.

Plastic pollution is obviously not only a problem in Thailand but a global issue affecting land and marine environments; it is well known that human reliance on plastics is causing immeasurable environmental damage.

The monks of Wat Chak Daeng are also using plastic waste to produce furniture, helping to create a more sustainable living environment. In addition to robes, the monks reuse bottle caps and labels to make chairs and other items, setting an example to the local community of the need to fight against plastic waste and excessive consumption.

Thailand is predominantly a Theravada Buddhist country, with 94.5 percent of the kingdom’s population of 69 million identifying as Buddhists, according to census data for 2015. The next most prominent religion is Islam, representing 4.29 percent.

A volunteer folds a monastic robe made from recycled plastic bottles at Wat Chak Daeng. From news4europe.eu

PET bottles are also recycled as-is (re-used) for various purposes, including for use in school projects, and for use in solar water disinfection in developing nations, in which empty PET bottles are filled with water and left in the sun to allow disinfection by ultraviolet radiation.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

  • tweet
UNESCO Declares Myanmar’s Ancient Buddhist Temple City Bagan a World Heritage Site China Rebuked by 22 Nations Over Xinjiang Repression

Related articles
  • Brazil President thanks India for ‘Sanjeevni Booti’ against Covid
    Brazil President thanks India for...

    Jan 23, 2021 Comments Off on Brazil President thanks India for ‘Sanjeevni Booti’ against Covid

  • Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration
    Sikyong congratulates US President Joe...

    Jan 22, 2021 Comments Off on Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration

  • Bhutan is the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID vaccines
    Bhutan is the first country to receive...

    Jan 20, 2021 Comments Off on Bhutan is the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID vaccines

  • ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on “Exploring Buddhist Circuit by Train”
    ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on...

    Jan 18, 2021 Comments Off on ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on “Exploring Buddhist Circuit by Train”

More in this category
  • Brazil President thanks India for ‘Sanjeevni Booti’ against Covid
    Brazil President thanks India for...

    Jan 23, 2021 Comments Off on Brazil President thanks India for ‘Sanjeevni Booti’ against Covid

  • Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration
    Sikyong congratulates US President Joe...

    Jan 22, 2021 Comments Off on Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration

  • Bhutan is the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID vaccines
    Bhutan is the first country to receive...

    Jan 20, 2021 Comments Off on Bhutan is the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID vaccines

  • ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on “Exploring Buddhist Circuit by Train”
    ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on...

    Jan 18, 2021 Comments Off on ‘DekhoApnaDesh’ Webinar on “Exploring Buddhist Circuit by Train”


VIDEO NEWS

WEEK IN VIDEO

BUDDHIST CUISINE

  • Buddhist Cuisine-5

    Buddhist Cuisine-5

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Buddhist Cuisine-4

    Buddhist Cuisine-4

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Buddhist Cuisine-3

    Buddhist Cuisine-3

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Buddhist Cuisine-2

    Buddhist Cuisine-2

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Buddhist Cuisine-1

    Buddhist Cuisine-1

    Aug 01, 2019

Mantra Om Mani Padme Hum

Intl Chanting Ceremony Bodhgaya 2019

gallery img (60)
gallery img (47)
gallery img (35)
gallery img (15)
gallery img (38)
gallery img (49)
gallery img (41)
gallery img (27)
gallery img (58)
gallery img (55)
gallery img (53)
gallery img (51)
gallery img (50)
gallery img (46)
gallery img (44)
gallery img (43)
gallery img (42)
gallery img (40)
gallery img (37)
gallery img (33)
gallery img (32)
gallery img (31)
gallery img (30)
gallery img (29)
gallery img (26)
gallery img (24)
gallery img (23)
gallery img (22)
gallery img (21)
gallery img (20)
gallery img (19)
gallery img (18)
gallery img (17)
gallery img (16)
gallery img (14)
gallery img (13)
gallery img (12)
gallery img (11)
gallery img (8)
gallery img (6)
gallery img (5)
gallery img (4)
gallery img (2)
gallery img (1)
gallery img (62)
gallery img (28)
DSC_0180
DSCF7503
DSCF7483
DSCF7475
DSC_0077
DSC_0130

GALLERY

  • Ven. Lama Lobzang -15 January 2016

    Ven. Lama Lobzang -15 January 2016

    Jan 16, 2016
  • Launch buddhisttimes.news at Greater Noida

    Launch buddhisttimes.news at Greater Noida

    Jan 16, 2016
  • Buddhism in Japan

    Buddhism in Japan

    Jan 15, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Jan 09, 2016
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015
  • Dec 30, 2015

Weather

+39
°
C

+39°
+27°

Bodh Gaya
Saturday, 30

See 7-Day Forecast

NOTICE

  • Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, Former Personal Physician to the Dalai Lama, Dies
    Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, Former Personal Physician to the Dalai...

    Nov 27, 2019 Comments Off on Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, Former Personal Physician to the Dalai Lama, Dies

    By  Staff writer Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, 1927–2019....
  • Former Rigpa Head Sogyal Rinpoche Passes Away in Thailand
    Former Rigpa Head Sogyal Rinpoche Passes Away in Thailand

    Aug 29, 2019 Comments Off on Former Rigpa Head Sogyal Rinpoche Passes Away in Thailand

    By Staff Writer On behalf of all members of the...
  • Passing of World-renowned Scholar Jao Tsung-I Mourned
    Passing of World-renowned Scholar Jao Tsung-I Mourned

    Feb 07, 2018 Comments Off on Passing of World-renowned Scholar Jao Tsung-I Mourned

    By Staff Writer On behalf of all members of the...
  • Respected Tibetan Teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche Dies
    Respected Tibetan Teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche Dies

    Feb 17, 2017 Comments Off on Respected Tibetan Teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche Dies

    Respected Tibetan Teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche On behalf...
  • Condolence message on the demise of Ven. Anamaduwe Sri Dhammadassi NayakeThero
    Condolence message on the demise of Ven. Anamaduwe Sri...

    Jun 27, 2016 Comments Off on Condolence message on the demise of Ven. Anamaduwe Sri Dhammadassi NayakeThero

    Ven. Anamaduwe Sri Dhammadassi NayakeThero General...

Inauguration

  • Inauguration 7

    Inauguration 7

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Inauguration 6

    Inauguration 6

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Inauguration 5

    Inauguration 5

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Inauguration 4

    Inauguration 4

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Inauguration 3

    Inauguration 3

    Aug 01, 2019
  • Inauguration 2

    Inauguration 2

    Aug 01, 2019
Copyright budhisttimes.news 2019-20 | All Rights Reserved
Developed & Maintained By Shyamal Sinha Web Design Delhi Web Design Agency in Delhi Web Desinging Services in India Best Website Portfolio Creative Website Desinging Agency in Delhi Web Desinging Comapny India Custom Web Application Development Comapny Wordpress Website Designing Logo Desinging in Delhi Internet Marketing Company Mobile Application Development
  • TECH & SCIENCE
  • BUDDHIST ART/MUSIC
  • UPCOMING PROGRAM