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Eco-Sattva: a Buddhist response to the plastic waste crisis in Thailand
Summary
Researchers examined how eco-sattva Buddhist principles have been applied to plastic waste management at Wat Chak Daeng temple in Thailand, using interviews with 15 priests, community leaders, and volunteers. The temple's integration of Buddhist teachings with waste collection and recycling programs demonstrated how spiritual and cultural values can successfully motivate community-level plastic pollution reduction.
The plastic waste crisis in Thailand has emerged as a substantial environmental dilemma, significantly exacerbating pollution in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Although previous study has mostly focused on technological and policy solutions, it is still necessary to conduct a thorough evaluation of the approach to this issue that is driven by cultural and spiritual values. This study aims to examine the influence of eco-sattva principles on the management of plastic garbage and the Buddhist communities in Thailand. It also seeks to assess the effects of Eco-Sattva's teachings by conducting a case study at Wat Chak Daeng. A comprehensive series of interviews were carried out with a total of 15 participants, encompassing priests, community leaders, and volunteers. The transcribed data was processed and examined using the NVivo program. The interview findings demonstrate that the lessons of Eco-Sattva on plastic waste management are extremely advantageous in terms of their practical use and execution. This study investigates and analyses the three-step waste management process at Wat Chak Daeng for plastic waste management, which involves reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic trash. This study provides a significant contribution by showing that the resolution to the plastic waste crisis is not solely reliant on technical or policy-focused approaches, but may also be derived from spiritual principles.
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