Dealing with the challenges of today requires problem-solvers who bring different perspectives and are willing to take risks. Taking part of service groups such as FairNIST and Rescued Glass has allowed me to not only become more grateful of my life but has allowed me to engage, empathize, understand and problem solve ways in order to make a difference to help less fortunate communities and children in Thailand.
To begin, Rescued Glass is an non profit organization that is based off in Bangkok. Rescued Glass is currently run by Aldin Shaw (Founder & Leader) and myself,the co leader. Rescued glass aims to lower the number of glass bottles thrown away in Bangkok whilst also raising awareness on the importance of recycling. We have collected thousands of used glass drinking bottles and sold hundreds of our unique products. We have held workshops in bars and restaurants and even schools on the importance of recycling. We truly believe that our efforts are having a major positive impact on both the community and environment. By working in Rescued Glass it has allowed me to understand how our environment is at stake; we as a society is consuming exponentially at a unsustainable level. Before joining/starting up Rescued I was unaware of how many bottles each day are consumed each day, where an article from forbes is saying the world is consuming a million bottles a minute. By going up to bars and collecting glass bottles, approximately 20 bottles a day and washing them before we cut them; has allowed me to understand the impacts that one bottle may have on the environment. “New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services estimates that it takes 1 million years for a glass bottle to decompose in the environment, with conditions in a landfill even more protected.”
From an environmental point of view , by collecting these glass bottles and turning them into reusable household goods we are reducing the waste that is going into the landfills. Where waste is transported to landfills by trucks which emits a lot of carbon dioxide. So by reducing the amount of glass bottles going in the landfill, as it may not seem a lot but 9000 bottles a year is making a small impact to improve Thailand's environment. Moreover, Rescued Glass used to send their bottles primarily to the factory to get our products cut however by doing research online; we have found alternative ways to cut our glass which is down by using a cutter (which doesn’t require electricity). Thus we have shifted to using our own cutter as it would be more environmentally friendly however it does take more time and effort for us to cut it ourselves.
Being part of Rescued Glass has allowed me to be able to engage with the community. Specifically, with the less fortunate as we went to the mercy center to demonstrate how we cut our glass bottles and turn them into glasses. We presented to approximately 30 students which include majority of street children and children whom have been abandoned by their parents since a young age and now are living in the mercy center. Being able to interact with not only the teachers but the kids/teenagers has allowed me to understand their lives and how the mercy center has impacted their lives for the better by providing them education. I was able to find out that the teenagers go to public universities which have helped them. Moreover, so many of the teenagers and teachers were interested in Rescued Glass providing the community work as we were planning to give them glass cutters to provide the community jobs. As we are currently shifting from getting our glasses cut from the factory to the community in order to provide jobs and ensure long term success for rescued glass. As the factory is not very responsive and interested regardless that we pay 50 baht per bottle, so Rescued Glass will instead pay 50 baht for each bottle to the people in Thailand who really need it. This brings about the concept of power and privilege, as if the kids are getting an income from a younger age they will be able to be more independent and learn skills they can apply which can benefit them as they grow older. Prior to our second visit of demonstrating how we cut our glasses, these are some of the things we learnt, experienced and understood. “We learnt that the mercy center still need educational resources as they have opened many kindergarten schools, so things such as pencils books and stationary will be extremely beneficial to them. Aldin & I also got to meet the kids who were practicing music before a band and getting to know a little about them. The experience really made us grateful and understand how vital the mercy center is for them. As many of them had come from broken families and such, so by having a group of people with similar backgrounds it allowed them to bond with each other and have a sense of unity and being home. Overall, it was a great experience for both Aldin & I, where we are sure that our donation will go to good use. One thing we are trying to do is to comeback to visit the Mercy center in order to see what are money was spent on to not only show ourselves but show our customers and to ensure a good and long lasting relationship with the Mercy Center. In addition, Aldin & I did debate quite a lot debating on if we should donate money or a goods instead; however doing this allowed us to become closer and more open minded but also recognize the benefits of working together as we agreed to donate money this time but donate goods next time which would benefit the mercy center.” Additionally; Another service group that I am part of that demonstrates me being a global citizen and engaging with the community is FairNIST. FairNIST is a student led social enterprise which support farmers in northern Thailand (Omgoi) providing them jobs in order to develop their living standards by improving their infrastructure. I was also able to engage and learn about a new community when I went for the Omgoi coffee trip. That trip included going to Chiang Mai then to Omgoi and looking at the farmers and comparing and contrasting the living conditions
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