🎣 Meet Palinya Chansamout, a fisherman who is playing an essential role in closing the circle of plastic pollution on the Island of Koh Sinhai. Formerly a full-time fisherman, Palinya has now become a dedicated plastic collector, while still fishing on the side for his friends and family.
Palinya Chansamout's island village is located off the coast in the Andaman Sea. He's married, has 1 daughter and 2 sons. While the sons are still in school, his daughter is studying nursing in Ranong, Thailand.
800 Kilos on a longtail boat
His wife works with him: Beside fish they also sell coconuts. His side job – collecting plastic which gets a second life as #tide ocean material® – has become important for this remote island.
Koh Sinhai lacked a waste management and isn't accessible by public transport, so plastic waste that ended up there just stayed on the island. Thanks to Palinya's effort, this has changed for good. Each time he has collected between 400 and 800 kilos of plastic, he loads his longtailboat, drives one hour across the sea and along mangrove forests until he docks in Ranong – just in front of the entrance of our social enterprise, which was initiated by our partner the Jan & Oscar Foundation.
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The non-profit organisation is offering education and shelter to the underprivileged populations of Ranong province. In collaboration with the J&O Foundation, #tide provides a tangible solution to fight plastic pollution in the marine environment.
We buy plastic at a fair price, provide employment, training and sometimes housing for those who work at the centre, among them many young Moken or Burmese people. The ocean plastics are then upcycled into #tide's award-winning ocean material to become useful, durable products.
Fight plastic pollution
To us, the term sustainability refers not only to the recycling of plastic waste, but also to the social impact of our entire business model: We want everyone to benefit from #tide's value chain: The environment and the people. Palinya has extensively helped collecting ocean-bound plastic waste in the Andaman Sea since day one.
He is proud to have joined the fight to end plastic pollution and assures that his job as a plastic collector has improved his quality of life.
We are grateful to have you onboard, Palinya ! ♻️
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