Good example of eco projects for sustainable tourism on the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand
In this post I describe some eco projects for sustainable tourism executed by a small dive center in Thailand. These sustainable projects can be applied anywhere in the world. This article can help you with ideas for projects for sustainable tourism and eco tourism. It includes ideas for plastic recycling, environmental conscious activities, ocean conservation and I will give you an overview of companies you can work together with.
These projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand can be an inspiration for you working in the tourism industry
If you’re looking for was to take responsibility for the environment and are working for a dive center or holiday accommodation, or you might be running or owning a scuba diving center or other tourism business, these projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand can be used as an inspiration.
As a scuba diver or traveler, you can also be involved with similar projects as those for sustainable tourism in Thailand!
The projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand, as described in this post, can be used by you if you’re a traveler or scuba diver wanting to help to protect the environment, reduce plastic waste and help with ocean conservation. This article might give you some good ideas. The lovely small dive center on the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand is involved with some very interesting projects, which are applicable everywhere in the world, and you can read all about it in this article.
Heartbreaking non sustainable tourism on small islands as Phi Phi in Thailand
After arriving on the Phi Phi Islands, I was honestly in shock to see a big bright shining yellow´M´. Yes, the Mac Donalds is there. In fact, it’s the first thing you come across upon leaving the jetty, when you’ve arrived by ferry in Tonsai Bay. One of the things coming to my mind was the amount of rubbish they must produce.
Businesses with great projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand
Plastic, and other garbage, is a big problem on the islands in Thailand, but particularly on the smaller islands with mass tourism like the Phi Phi islands and Koh Lipe Island. That’s why it’s so great that there are also business with projects for sustainable tourism on the Phi Phi islands in Thailand. Click here for a dive center with projects for sustainable tourism on Koh Lipe Island in Thailand
Recycle projects & eco-friendly activities for sustainable tourism in Thailand shine some light!
As with other things in life, it’s better not to focus on the negative things and as soon as I shifted my mind I caught the attention of many yellow (funny, in the same colour!) t-shirts of Trash Hero. Also, it didn’t take long before I found out about Blue View Divers, and their projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand. I soon went scuba diving with them. You can read about that experience in this article:
My enthusiasm for the eco-projects & sustainable tourism at the Phi Phi islands in Thailand
Blue View Divers is applying an eco-friendly concept with projects for sustainable tourism on the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand. They are one of the ten Trash Hero Thailand Phi Phi Sponsors. Trash Hero supports local clean-ups and things as the eco-bricks project. I got so excited about all the eco-projects that I decided to write a full blog post about it. Caroline from Blue View Divers took the time to schedule an interview with me. She then explained me everything about their projects for sustainable tourism on the Phi Phi islands in Thailand.
Organisation in Thailand that serves sustainability with eco-friendly & environmentally conscious projects
Trash Hero is a global movement with community-based projects all over the world. Their mission is to remove existing waste and reduce future waste in a sustainable way. With their actions of picking up any trash, education and inspiration in communities they make a big difference.
Sustainable projects that serve the environment and local communities, all around the world
If you have been traveling through Thailand you must have seen the stainless steel water bottles which can be bought, and will be refilled for free at certain points, that´s Trash Hero. They have started a lot of projects for sustainability and serve local communities all over the world. You can read more on their website: https://trashhero.org/ Whilst going scuba diving with Blue View, I found out that they sponsor a lot of the environmental and plastic reducing projects for sustainability of Trash Hero.
Small bussiness working together with projects for sustainable tourism on the Phi Phi islands in Thailand
Also, it is nice to hear that Trash Hero makes it possible for small companies to work together towards the mission to keep the island clean. They all sell yellow t-shirts, the stainless steel water bottles and offer free drinking water refills. Some of the Trash Hero Phi Phi´s sponsors include:
- Blue View Divers
- Aquanauts Scuba
- Princess Divers
- Phi Phi Sea Frog Diving Centre
- Profun Divers, Beachfront Divers
- Phi Phi Barakuda Diving Center
- Phi Phi Travel Service at Phi Phi Viewpoint
- Phi Phi Climbers
- Kitty Guesthouse.
Recycle project at the dive center of Blue View Divers on the Phi Phi islands in Thailand
As soon as I walked in the dive centre to organise scuba diving on the Phi Phi Islands, my eye caught the attention of a big recycling station outside the dive center. After chatting to the super friendly co-owner of the place, Caroline, I realised how many people are working on keeping the Phi Phi islands clean.
Projects for sustainable tourism in Thailand that Blue View Divers is involved with
I will give you a taste of all the projects Blue View Divers is involved with, however, there are many other organisations and people involved and some of these projects are not initiated by Blue View. I just got the privilege that Caroline from this dive centre took the time and showed me her willingness to explain to me all about it. It’s also how I found out that a variety of organisations is working together on this goal and have assigned different tasks between them. Caroline told me that there are also many other dive centres on the island who help to clean up on a regular base and participate in eco-friendly concepts.
On Phi Phi is also a coral replanting project going on, in collaboration with Sea Shepherd
Another local group that is active in the local island clean up and conservation efforts is the Facebook group ´Farang Friends of Phi Phi´. started by Phi Phi local, Elizabeth Kolbe. Also, another interesting project initiated on Phi Phi is the coral planting nursery in which they replant corals using super glue. Princess Divers, as well as the Adventure Club Dive Center, participate in this project which is in partnership with Ocean Quest from Sea Shepherd.
Phi Phi Conservation and Protection Team
Every 10th, 20th and 30th of each month an island cleaning is organised to keep Phi Phi clean. This is organised by the Conservation and Protection Team of the Phi Phi Islands. The Phi Phi tourist business association has a responsive member for each business type (i.e. dive centre, hostel, tattoo shop, restaurant) in order to help and be involved with the projects to keep Phi Phi clean and sustainable. Also, many local Thai people are very willing to help cleaning during these cleanups and you will see them collecting waste as well.
Phi Phi Island cleanups to conserve the oceans and nature
Because the island cleaning is already organised by the Phi Phi Conservation and Protection Team, Trash Hero Phi Phi only supports the island cleaning and will send anyone who wants to help the organisations named above. If you like to participate in an island clean-up, just contact Trash Hero Phi Phi and they will provide you with all the right information.
Trash Hero and the eco-bricks project
On Phi Phi, however, Trash Hero is focussing on another great project: the eco-bricks! I already told you a bit about this in another article about scuba diving on Phi Phi but here I will explain to you what an eco-brick actually is and where it can be used for.
Building a school with plastic eco-bricks!
An eco brick is a plastic bottle filled up with non-biodegradable waste to form a reusable building block. On the Phi Phi Islands, Trash Hero has initiated this project and there are more businesses on Phi Phi sponsoring them, with Blue View Divers being one of them. Eco bricks can be used for a huge variety of purposes but the most amazing one is their Bamboo School Project!
The school, constructed from eco-bricks, is built for orphans
The majority of the students in this school, in the remote village of Bong-Ti, are orphans and this project is giving them a place to sleep, eat and study. The bamboo school buildings are constructed from the eco-bricks. If you want to help this project, anyone can send eco-bricks directly to the following address:
An eco-brick stand-up paddleboard, hosted by the Whale Company
Another project that Trash Hero is hosting, is to build a stand-up paddleboard from eco-bricks. To create more awareness of the plastic pollution problem, they are going to paddle with it through the Thames in London, coming summer. This project is hosted by the Whale Company in collaboration with Trash Hero, other dive centres and the local community. Nataly, who works as an instructor for Blue View Divers, told me full enthusiasm about this project. She said that she´s helping a lot in all the projects whenever she has the time for it, besides teaching scuba diving.
Making travellers and divers aware of the plastic problem
Other than helping Trash Hero by collecting waste and plastic bottles for the above projects and the non-profit selling of ´Trash Hero´ t-shirts and stainless steel water bottles which can be refilled for free, Blue View Divers does even more. After returning from scuba diving they collect all waste seen on the island and bring it to their recycling station. Straws are counted and written down on a board to make people aware of it and they sell reusable bamboo straws.
Waste Recycling: from re-using flip flops to helping elephants!
Broken flip flops are sent to a Thai company which makes new ones out of them. Biodegradable waste goes into a composter and the compost is given to local Thai people, later on. Almost every kind of trash is used again or they make it usable, even cans are transformed into ashtrays and ring pull tabs are collected for a project to make prosthetic limbs. An elephant who lost her leg got a prosthetic limb because of this project by ´Roots & Shoots´!
What else Blue View Divers does to reduce plastic waste
At the dive centre of Blue View Divers, you can see tables and other stuff made from the eco-bricks and a bean bag filled with straws (which is very comfortable to sit on by the way), to name a few examples. They also help to reduce waste by using recyclable lunch boxes and by providing them to their guests who are getting food to take away. They even stimulate the travellers to use one of the Trash Hero stainless steel bottles if going for a fruit shake, which unfortunately in most case is still served in plastic throw-away cups in Thailand.
Serving by protecting the environment and conserving the oceans
Blue View Divers diving centre has a list of eco-awards and projects they are involved in or working with on their website. I was surprised, however, that I didn’t see much more dive centres like this on the Phi Phi Islands. I think Blue View makes a huge difference upon the environment and could be a true example for other dive centres anywhere in the world. I became so enthusiastic that I also made a little video about them, check the link here on Splashpacker YouTube channel:
Eco & Green Nominations for protecting the environment and conserving the oceans
Green Fins Thailand is coming every year to check if they still meet their values and required standards and the dive centre is also awarded by PADI with a Green Star Award, as the only one on Phi Phi Island. The dive centre is also a Shark Guardian Centre to raise awareness about the protection of sharks.
Do you want to volunteer and serve sustainable eco projects for the oceans and nature?
As I already expected and as the co-owner of the dive centre, Caroline, confirmed, all these projects take a lot of time. A dive centre is already a busy operation so sometimes it´s hard for them to keep up with all the projects, but the whole team is working very hard to help. They might get a volunteer to work for them to help just on these projects, stay up-to-date with them through their website or Facebook page!
The importance of stimulating local people to dive
But not only the environment and plastic waste are issues for sustainable companies. As a scuba diving instructor myself, with experience working in a variety of countries, I always wondered if there are no better ways to get local people more involved in scuba diving. In some places, it could help local people to get a better income and make them more conscious about ocean conservation. During my travels to Malapascua Island in the Philippines in 2012, I was shocked to hear local people doing dynamite fishing!
Sustainable tourism includes more than protecting nature & oceans
What differences in the world, these people are in surviving mode whilst we pay money or leave our better-paid jobs to come and see the fish they want to eat. These local people probably don´t know that if corals get destroyed there soon will not be much fish left. In my opinion, getting them involved in scuba diving would be thé solution to educate them, getting them to respect the oceans more and have a better salary so they don´t need to desperately blow up coral blocks as a way to find a dinner for the day.
Free scuba diving for the local population on Phi Phi
Blue View Divers is promoting local people to dive by offering free scuba diving to Thai locals. They have certified many local people to become divers even some of them up to working as dive professionals. Currently, they have a Thai instructor working for them and another one taking courses and doing his advanced course at the moment.
Conscious baby steps in sustainability might lead to serve the environment in a bigger way
I hope by now you have an idea about solutions to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious approach as a dive centre or traveller. You don´t have to have a huge recycling station or all these awards to be involved to get started. I think the example of Blue View Divers in this article shows you a lot of examples of how you can already help by doing small things.
This sustainable & environmental-friendly concept can be applied anywhere in the world
But who knows you feel so good about serving the community and environment in this way that slowly you become a dive centre with a similar concept, wherever you are in the world. I´m aware that a dive centre is a busy business but there are always solutions like working together with organisations or getting a volunteer to help you. If we all take small steps, we could make a big difference for the oceans and our dear friends living in the oceans.
Demonstration to turn environmental issues into an ecological conscious challenge!
The plastic and garbage nowadays is a big problem, but we could start seeing it as a challenge instead of a problem. This is exactly what Blue View Divers, and the rest of the companies involved on Phi Phi, are demonstrating. Thank you Blue View Divers for bringing this eco-concept for a dive centre in the world and creating awareness. Also, thank you, Caroline, for your time and providing me with all the information. Click here to the link to YouTube again.
What´s next on Splashpacker?
Somehow I ended up in a variety of series and articles and I am working on translations for the Dutch Splashpacker website. I just have started with articles about how I became a diving instructor and my experience working in different countries. Also, it´s time for me to leave Thailand in less than a week now, I have excited new travel plans coming up. I´m going to visit my ex-colleagues on the island of Veligandu, Maldives, where I used to work in 2010!
Enthusiastic & curious to my new experience of staying on a local island on the Maldives
I´m so excited about it and very grateful to be able to visit and dive Madivaru Corner again. Also, on the neighbour island called Rasdhoo are hostels now, making it possible to dive these world-class dive spots on a lower budget and support the local people. You can read more here about my experience of travelling the Maldives by staying and diving on a local island. Soon I will provide you with all information about it! Just stay tuned!
Enjoy the reading, happy bubbles and safe travels!
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Dear Riona,
First of all.. Sorry for my super late reply. I kind of stopped blogging but decided to pick it up again. Seeing comments like this really helps to get myself motivated again. So thank you very much :-) Yes it´s so true, I also felt so sad to see the use of plastic all the time everywhere on little islands like this. But fortunately, there are always people out there striving for better. Like you and the organisation I wrote about. I am pretty sure that everything what can be done is known to the people from Trash Hero and the Blue View Divers dive centre. Maybe you could contact them if you would like to do something. It´s also very hard to change policies in places like this, which are very often controlled by people or companies with power. But in my opinion, if enough, even small, businesses work together there can also be a change. I would contact them to ask first. Trash Hero has the plastic free straws available, and also doing a lot of work in making people aware. Cheers to South Africa, still on my list :-)
Hi There,
I visited Phi Phi islands recently and enjoyed a few parties at the bars on the shore of Loh Dalum beach. I was sad to see that all the bars were using plastic straws instead of more eco-friendly alternatives. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa and even though there is no beach for 600 kms, most of our bars and restaurants have opted to use paper straws.
Unfortunately, many of the party goers just dispose of their straws (and other trash), whether intentionally or not, right on the beach, which go directly into the ocean if not picked up – I think we it would make a huge difference if the bars on Phi Phi island used more eco-friendly alternatives to plastic straws, especially since they are frequented 7 days a week.
Do you perhaps know who we could contact to see what can be done?
Regards
Riona
Thank you for your feedback. Kind Regards,
Hi there! Such a wonderful write-up, thank you!