SAY NO TO SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

In a bid to reduce the number of single-use plastic items ending up in Myanmar’s landfill sites, Tour Mandalay would like to encourage all of our partners and direct travellers to go without single-use plastic straws, bottles and bags.

Going single-use plastic free in Myanmar is easier than ever before

As we aim to work towards a solution, here’s a few facts compiled by the United Nations to consider:

• Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since the early 1950s.

• Only 9% of plastic waste ever produced has been recycled, while the rest – 79% – has accumulated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment

• A staggering 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year

• It’s nearly impossible for nature to completely break down, with the particles eventually ending up in the animals and plants we eat

• If current trends continue, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050

To help tackle this, Tour Mandalay will be offering the following (optional) single-use plastic free items to anyone interested:

• A Kayan bag – Produced by the Young Women’s Christian Association in Yangon, we hope this handwoven shoulder bag will put a dent in the number of single-use plastic bags handed out unnecessarily by vendors. By saying, “No plastic bag thank you”, it may help to encourage the people you meet to also start thinking about the issue.

YWCA Myanmar, the producers of our eye-catching Kayan shoulder bags

• A Palü bamboo straw – The majority of restaurants you visit in Myanmar will provide you will a plastic straw. To combat this, we’d recommend coming equipped with a biodegradable bamboo straw. Made by a Yangon-based company called Palü, this style of straw has been used by many of Myanmar’s ethnic groups to drink rice wine with for centuries. Even if you don’t require one, please be sure to request for no plastic straws every-time you place a beverage order.

A bamboo straw used to drink rice wine in Kayah State

• A refillable aluminium bottle – It is estimated that a million plastic bottles are purchased around the world every minute and that number is expected to jump another 20% by 2021. To slow down this pace, we would encourage you to bring your own refillable bottle (you can get some ideas by clicking here), or we can provide you with an aluminium bottle on the ground.

Ma Shin Shin and Ma Su Myat with Tour Mandalay’s aluminium bottles

“Wait, how will we refill these bottles?”

Great question!

Thanks to the Refill My Bottle app, it’s now easier than ever to find refill stations in Myanmar’s major destinations. Our guides can recommend suitable options when you’re out and about too.

Working with our guides to stamp out single-use plastic

We can also provide in-car refill stations, which are available to all tour operators and travellers on request. These have been made in collaboration with Helping Hands, a social enterprise business that helps train street children in the art of carpentry. 20-litres in capacity, these will fit comfortably inside most vehicle types (without luggage), and having been made from reclaimed pine palettes, they’re relatively sustainable too.

Introducing some of the Helping Hands carpenters (image sourced from Helping Hands)

“What about transfers with luggage?”

For transfers with luggage e.g. airport transfers, we can provide a 10-litre mini-dispenser that will fit in the front or back of a vehicle.

“Where do you currently provide this service?”

Tour Mandalay’s in-car refill station service can be provided (on request) everywhere, with the exception of

• Ngapali, Gwa and Mrauk U
• Tanintharyi region and Mergui Archipelago
• Tachileik and Kyaing Tong
• Areas currently deemed off limits to tourists

“How can I fill up my bottle in these destinations?”

Thankfully, water refill stations can be found in most hotels, restaurants and pagodas in Myanmar; if it’s not obvious where it’s located, all you need to do is ask. It might require you using a dispenser in a kitchen, or even using one from the staff quarters, but drinkable water’s always around.

A traditional Myanmar cool water dispenser (yay-chan-sin)

It’s also important to mention that giving water is an integral part of Myanmar culture; we’ve been doing this for centuries by way of yay-ku-tho, a popular way of making merit. With this in mind, there’s no need to feel guilty or awkward about asking; in fact, by requesting water, the person donating will end up being healthier, wealthier and generally better off (according to popular Myanmar belief).

“What if I don’t want to take my reusable bottle back home? Won’t it just end up in a landfill site thus defeating the purpose?”

We certainly don’t want these going into landfill; they take even longer than single-use plastic bottles to break down. Feel free to leave these with us and we’ll distribute them to our staff and the various communities we work with.

“How much will it cost?”

Our plastic reduction kit is an optional provision – we don’t want to create more waste – charged at USD10 per person. Without the bottle, there will be a USD4 per person reduction.

Tour Mandalay’s plastic reduction kit

The in-car water refill stations will also be provided on request, so if this is something of interest to you, please advise at the time of booking. It’s still possible to travel without, all we’d ask is that you are flexible and willing to drink water from pubic places as we go around; it will be relatively easy to find options at hotels, restaurants, villages, markets and most popular tourist sites.

“What else can I do to stop the spread of single-use plastic around Myanmar?”

• Request to stay in a hotel that provides single-use plastic free solutions as standard. Many hotels in Myanmar are doing this now and we’ll be more than happy to factor this into our accommodation recommendations. As you’ll see from the video below, this is something Reno Hotel in Yangon is particularly passionate about.

• Say no to wet wipes. Until a suitable alternative becomes available, we do still provide these to travellers, but they will only be offered by guides on request.

• If you have time to spare, why not get involved with a community clean-up group? Many of our staff are proactively involved in these initiatives and, assuming the timing’s right, they’d be more than happy to for you to tag along and get stuck in.

Team effort (image sourced from U Win Bo, a Tour Mandalay guide)

• If someone offers you an item with plastic, please think twice; if left behind, it will either end up in the nearest river, community dumping ground, or government landfill site.

Let’s join forces and beat this pesky menace together!