Clean up the river: Chulalongkorn University helped to make Bangkok a better place for one day

On September, 15 and 16, 2017 volunteers from embassies, civil society, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Universities gathered for an international event: Clean up the world.

Chulalongkorn University was represented by a team from the International School of Engineering on September 16 th (ISE,http://www.ise.eng.chula.ac.th/).

For one hour, volunteers gathered plastic items in the streets and on the river.

ISE partnered with the hotels Anantara & Avani Riverside Bangkok as well as with the United States Embassy to Bangkok. In one hour, more than 250 plastic bags were collected.

For the whole nine locations, volunteers collected in one hour more than:

- 2000 plastic bags

- 700 plastic bottles

- 600 plastic glasses

- 900 glass bottles

- 1300 Styrofoam packaging

- 150 clothes/ fabrics

- 1500 small plastic pieces (cigarettes, straw, snack packaging…)

The collection is part in 2017 of a research project led by Mahidol University to help making the society and especially travel tours and agencies aware of the growing problem of plastic pollution.

This event goes into the sustainable strategy of the International School of Engineering (ISE) at Chulalongkorn University, as well as sorting waste and encouraging common transportation (CU Pop Bus and free bicycle on the campus).

Collecting plastic garbage on the Chao Praya River, in partnership

with Anatara and Avani Riverside hotels

After collecting on the boat and in the streets, volunteers had to count down

and sort items: welcome to a “citizen's science project”

Anantara & Avani Riverside, Chulalongkorn University and

the American Embassy: together to clean up the river!