Mrs. Konakuan Recycles Junk into Joy

By Jay Mark Mijares

Walking towards a village centre of one community being supported by World Vision in Jatujak District of Bangkok, one could not help but notice the glaring heaps of junk neatly plastered on the front corner of the building.  Beside it is a color-coded cage of red black and yellow to segregate the types of materials for a local community recycling system.

“We collect plastic bottles, caps, branding, newspapers, and magazines here in our village,” said Mrs. Konakuan Duanguen, 54, the chairperson of the community.  “People in our neighborhood brings and sells their junk to us at a minimal price. We segregate them and then reuse a particular water bottle for our liquid cleanser project.”

“Our women in the village repack them and sell them back to the community,” Mrs. Duanguen says.

With the price set below commercial detergent prices, happy customers in the neighborhood know they have a good bargain, knowing very well that one of their junk bottles found their way back to their kitchen, as the recycling process begins anew. 

For the rest of the recyclables, they are sold to a junk shop or shared with others in the community who might find other treasures.

“Sometimes, children scour through old reading materials included in the pile for their school projects,” says Mrs. Duanguen.

The village centre hosts activities on special occasions for all children in the community funded by the money earned from recycling and selling their precious junk.

“We cap celebrate our recycling project with a gift-giving activity at the end of the year. Children receive things like pens and small stuff that they can use in their schooling,” said Mr. Boontham Tocharoen, 57, the vice chief in the village.