Banpu Public Company Limited, a leading international versatile energy provider, together with the Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, furthered its commitment to raise awareness about environmental issues with the Power Green Camp 18. Set under the theme of “Waste Warriors, a Mission to Protect the World with Green Cloud – Green Tech – Green Influencer”, the Power Green Camp was held on October 15-21, 2023.

This year, 335 students from 181 high schools and vocational schools in 63 provinces across the country applied to join the ‘Power Green Camp’. The application process required each applicant to create a campaign video clip for “trash-free communities” for which a total of 50 finalists from 48 schools in 30 provinces were selected to join the camp.

Science beyond the classroom; laying intensive theorical foundation

The Power Green Camp put its focus on designing learning activities that align with the concept of “Environmental Science – Learning to Practice.” The camp kicked off with science classes aimed at establishing a theoretical foundation and enabling students to understand  the root causes and comprehensive end-to-end waste management. The class also brought in 3 green trends – Green Cloud, Green Tech, and Green Influencer – and demonstrate how to apply them for the benefit of various activities within the camp. Some interesting topics included understanding the life cycle for waste management and Geographic Information System (GIS), a process of working with spatial data using a computer system to manage waste problems. The team behind “Go Green Girls”, an environmental influencer group, joined the camp to teach students on creating social media content. They shared techniques and experiences of advocating various environmental agendas to the public. This aims to pave the way for the young generation to become “green influencers,” with the hope that their small voices could create significant changes in the future. The students also worked in group to develop environmental science projects based on what they had learnt throughout the camp.

Hands-on experience working in the field, exploring problems, and identifying solutions

• Collect, sort, and manage waste

50 students went to a field trip to study various problems and solutions to waste management. The camp, in collaboration with the TerraCycle Thai Foundation, took the students on boats to explore waste problems and collect garbage in the Khlong Lat Phrao community area – right in the heart of Bangkok. They learnt how to segregate wastes before entering the proper waste management process. Anna Sueangam-iam, Miss Universe Thailand 2022 and a ‘Magic Hand Ambassador’ who represented the ‘Mai Te Ruam’ (Do no mix food waste) campaign, a waste management project under the cooperation between BMA’s Department of Environment and the Magic Hand project alliance, joined the activity with all students to help drive awareness of environmental issues. Students also participated in a ‘sea trash survey’ activity, collecting trash on the beach and learning more about the contaminated plastic waste at Koh Si Chang, Chonburi Province alongside a well-known environmental enthusiast actor Neng Sarun Naraprasertkul and a pop singer Earth Patravee Srisuntisuk.

  

• A field trip to observe the production process of high-quality food-grade recycled plastic resin.

Students also studied technology and production process of high-quality food-grade recycled plastic resin in Rayong Province. The process involves sorting, cleaning, and recycling to produce plastic pellets which contributes to an annual reduction of up to 60,000 tons of plastic waste in the country.

     

• Visit thecommunity and learn how to manage ‘organic waste’.

To enhance awareness about waste management, students also learned methods for handling ‘organic waste’ and participated in an activity with “Betterfly”, one of the social enterprise from the 10^th Banpu Champions for Change (BC4C) project. BetterFly is a project that helps manage leftover food waste in the community by using Black Soldier Fly (BSF) as aid in the decomposition process before transforming it into environmentally friendly products. The initiative aims to reduce the landfill of organic waste and promote a circular economy within the community. Since the project began, almost 7,000 kilograms of organic waste have been successfully managed in the Koh Si Chang community.

Mr. Rattapon Sukhunthee, Head of Corporate Communications, Banpu Public Company Limited, said “The Power Green Camp has been running for 18 consecutive years. Banpu aims to enhance the depth of the camp’s learning content in line with environmental trends. We are proud to have students who are interested in environmental issues and are ready to dedicate themselves to being leaders who contribute to driving awareness of environmental issues and finding solutions to such problems. We hope developing and empowering these 50 students will build future youth leaders and an environmental youth network who can play a crucial role in advocating for environmental protection, restoration, and participation in solving environmental problems for the community, the country, and eventually solving the problems in the international level.”

Assistant Professor Dr. Kritana Prueksakorn, lecturer at Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, and president of the Power Green Camp 18, said “Waste problem in Thailand is intensifying day by day at every stage of the life cycle of all type of waste. A significant example is residual waste. Thailand is ranked among the top 10 countries in the world that emit the most plastic waste into the sea. Participation from the public sector is one of the keys factors in addressing such challenges. This year, Power Green Camp has chosen to focus on waste management and encourage students to become green influencers. This initiative aims to empower individuals who can accurately communicate environmental knowledge in an engaging and captivating manner. We designed both theoretical and practical learning to meet the needs of the new generation concerned about the environment issues. We provide them the opportunity to explore waste-related issues and solutions from upstream to downstream stages with  integrating knowledge of cloud computing technology and environmental science technology to apply to various learning activities in the most diverse, comprehensive, and beneficial way possible. We hope that the selected students joining the Power Green Camp this year have fun with the experience in the camp and are inspired to actively contribute to positive, long-term environmental change.”

For more information and updates on the 18^th Power Green Camp at

Facebook: www.facebook.com/powergreencamp

Website: www.powergreencamp.com