Inspiring Child-Led Change

The EcoBEASTs Community Action Day. All photos: Somkhanay Thepthong

Bangkok's International Schools, grassroots sustainability groups, and businesses come together to work for change.

I was very happy to combine my passion for writing on sustainability themes with my passion for education in this article. In recent years I've noticed many stories involving students in schools around the world acting to tackle our sustainability crisis. 

I wanted to write about how young people are increasingly involved and inspired to act within the green movement here in Bangkok. Writing about Ecobeasts, gave me the chance to do this.

This group of teachers aim to connect international schools with local environmental organisations and green businesses, as well as support educators in delivering sustainability in the curriculum.

It was pleasing to see the resulting article: Uniting to Inspire Child-Led Environmental Change appear in the Bangkok Post. The article focuses on the 2019 EcoBEASTs Community Action Day, where 120 students met and learnt from a fantastic array of people behind green and socially conscious projects in Bangkok. Apologies for not being able to mention all of them in the article.

I'd like to thank my colleagues at STA 71 for their support in writing the article, as well as Helen Mullen and Katy Waring, the dedicated teachers behind EcoBEASTs.  Links to all organisations mentioned (and more) can be found on the EcoBEASTs site.

A pdf of the article is available here.  Below are some photos of the activities laid on for students attending the event:

Precious Plastic Bangkok's innovative machine recycles old plastic.

Students learn how to turn used cooking oil into soap with Bangkok Soap Opera. 

Up-cycling an old T'shirt into an Eco-bag. 

Learning about the importance of soil. 

Postscript: A more detailed version of this article appeared in the April/May 2019 edition of 'Expat Life in Thailand.'  A PDF of this is available here.