Local Villa Market to shed plastic bags
Bangkok Post: 4 Feb 2010
Out of the Bag
Anti-plastic 'mob' secures a modest green victory at Villa Market.As Villa Market prepares to lose its status as the sole upscale supermarket on the Nichada Thani housing estate, a grassroots consumer group has emerged to offer a helping hand.
Students from the International School of Bangkok are encouraging Nichada Thani residents to use the estate’s Villa Market store in a campaign to support its decision to stop offering free plastic bags to customers.
Under the leadership of Kerry Dyke, a physical education and environmental studies teacher at the International School of Bangkok, which is located on the estate, consumers are promising to spend at the family-owned Thai chain, with one condition _ ban the plastic bag.
Mr Dyke started negotiations with Siripana Kiattisaknikorn, communications and special project manager at Villa, intending to convince the supermarket to start charging for plastic bags. But Villa went a step further and said it would stop using plastic bags at its Nichada Thani store from Feb 20 if 500 people turned up to shop that day.
''That will result in a 30% increase in revenue for that day,'' says Ms Siripana. ''That's not really a lot of profit. One day doesn't make a difference. Our interest is in corporate responsibility. After all, we create a lot of rubbish.''
While the Nichada Thani branch is one of Villa's 14 small branches, it hands out more than 500,000 plastic bags per year.
''Tops is opening up just across the road and that has Villa very scared,'' said Mr Dyke.
Nichada Thani is unique since so many of its residents are foreigners. These customers will typically welcome the ban on plastic bags, as such practices are widespread in their home countries, said Ms Siripana.
But some Thai customers may not be happy with the new policy as they often use the carrier bags to dispose of household rubbish.
''Some customers may not be happy with the change, and we may lose them. That, however, is a risk that we are willing to take,'' she said.
About 5,000 people have joined Mr Dyke's ''Can we get 10,000 people to say they want to 'Ban Plastic Bags in Thailand','' group since it was launched about one month ago.
One Thai consumer said: ''I'm a shop aholic, but have refused to take plastic bags for many years. I wish others would do the same.''
Another Thai said: ''All the supermarkets have to make an agreement to not provide plastic bags to customers, and let them bring their own bags, like in Germany.''
The success of Mr Dyke's bid to ban plastic bags in Thailand depends on him being able to attract enough Thai consumers with an environmental conscience.
''When I first came to Thailand, it seemed like nobody cared about the environment,'' he said. ''Now I see it moving forward all the time.''
Villa will not be the first chain in Thailand to stop distributing plastic bags. At Makro shoppers either have to bring their own bags or buy them at the store.
Mr Dyke said his negotiations were inspired by the ''Carrot Mob''. In San Francisco, one consumer negotiated with more than 20 convenience stores in one neighbourhood. He had them bid over the percentage of profits they would commit to energy saving if he could organise a large group of consumers to buy from their shops that day.
One store committed to spend 22% of that day's revenue on energy saving, and in the space of a few hours, a mob of consumers spent US$9,000 (297,540 baht) in a store that normally brought in about $1,500 per day.
Mr Dyke has set up a Thai Carrotmob site at
www.bangkok.carrotmob.org. he hopes to attract enough shoppers to be able to offer incentives to larger chains such as 7-Eleven and The Mall Group.
For more information, e-mail: ecoman101@gmail.com On Facebook:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96682690774http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/32257/out-of-the-bag
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