03/09/2024 –
And how a hippopotamus is involved.
The story of Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro is about a monk who, instead of spending his life teaching Buddhism, transformed his temple into a recycling center for plastic, which he then uses to make new monastic robes.
When Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro moved to Bangkok, Thailand in 2005, his plan was simple: to live as a monk, teach Buddhism and run the Chak Daeng temple.
When Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro moved to Bangkok, Thailand in 2005, his plan was simple: to live as a monk, teach Buddhism and run the Chak Daeng temple. But then he looked at the city, its alleyways and the Chao Phraya river — setting eyes on what populated every square centimetre before him: waste, and above all plastic.
But then he looked at the city, its alleyways and the Chao Phraya river — setting eyes on what populated every square centimetre before him: waste, and above all plastic.
At that time the city was full of rubbish everywhere, and plastic waste was disposed of in essentially two ways: by burning it or by abandoning it.
Many people thought that throwing it into the river solved the problem. But then the fish died, and with them the turtles, the dugongs and all the other marine animals of the Chak Daeng.
Others burned it, convinced that by sweeping away the ash, the wind would carry the problem away too. But then air pollution rose, people died or developed increasingly serious and debilitating respiratory conditions.
Faced with this dramatic situation, Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro did not know what to do. Then he discovered that PET plastic could be recycled and transformed into something new.
Since then, Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro has dedicated his life to environmental protection and raising awareness of the risks of plastic pollution.
And above all, for almost 20 years he has given his temple a new purpose — transforming it into a genuine recycling centre capable, today, of removing over 10 tonnes of plastic waste from the environment every month and giving it new life as materials and fibres for monastic robes.Da allora Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro dedica la sua vita alla protezione dell’ambiente e alla sensibilizzazione sui rischi dell’inquinamento dovuto alla plastica.
Come nasce il centro di riciclaggio
The recycling centre has its foundations at the heart of the temple where he had originally intended to spend his life as a Buddhist monk
The facility is the product of the need to address concretely the enormous quantity of plastic polluting the Chao Phraya river and the entire city, and draws inspiration from an ancient Buddhist practice 2,600 years old.
The Buddha himself had demonstrated that monastic robes could be made from waste materials — in the same way, Dhammalangkaro took inspiration to recycle PET plastic and create fabrics for monastic clothing.
The dedication and urgency of trying to patch up a devastating scourge proved him right. In a very short time he found himself surrounded by so many volunteers that he was effectively “forced” to open a fully-fledged recycling centre —
a facility dedicated to the collection and recycling of plastic, but also to educating people on the importance of recycling and waste reduction.
The recycling process works as follows. Once collected and compressed, the bottles are transformed into large plastic bales, which are then sent to a factory that shreds them into fibres. Another factory then uses these to produce the fabrics from which the monks’ robes are made.Il ciclo di riciclaggio funziona così. Una volta raccolte e compressate, le bottiglie vengo trasformate in grosse balledi plastica che vengono successivamente inviate a una fabbrica che le frantuma fino a farle diventare delle fibre. A quel punto un’altra fabbrica le utilizza per realizzare i tessuti da cui nascono poi i vestiti per i monaci buddisti.
The innovative turning point — the Hippo project
There remained, however, the problem of the river. To clean the Chao Phraya of that mass of plastic, a far more effective and advanced technology was needed — one capable of collecting kilos and kilos of waste at a time.
The solution came when Phra Mahapranom Dhammalangkaro made contact with the organisation Seven Clean Seas. Sharing values and objectives, they worked tirelessly for months until they brought “Hippo” to life.
A giant hippopotamus-shaped device, built entirely from recycled bottles, capable of collecting floating waste.
Hippo has become not only a symbol of the fight against pollution, but also a fully functional device: every day it collects floating plastic waste, preventing it from reaching the ocean.
Phra Maha Pranom Dhammalangkaro continues to this day to work tirelessly for a cleaner and more sustainable future. It is no coincidence that he features among what are known as Climate Heroes — that list, never long enough, of women and men, citizens, scientists, journalists, activists and entrepreneurs who every day sacrifice themselves to protect the planet from the climate crisis.
source:
Climate Heroes
The Culture Trip
Photography by © Luke Dugglebby
Text was written and first published by Siukei Cheung
