Day 7

Leaving Koh Tao

Our final consisted of us making our way home to Bangkok. Our train wasn't until 9.30 at night, meaning we had time for a bit of shopping before catching the last ferry from Koh Tao to Chumphon. As a souvenir of my time spent on Koh Tao I brought myself a 'Save Koh Tao' lanyard for the key to my apartment. I hope that the money I spent on it will be of benefit to the preservation program on Koh Tao.

Save Koh Tao Lanyard.

 

We were sad to be leaving Koh Tao and the friendly staff at New Heaven, as we had enjoyed our time there  immensely and hope to return sooner rather than later. On the other hand, I also couldn't wait to get back and start applying the important lessons learnt from this trip and incorporating or making wholesale changes to some aspects of my lifestyle, which I know doesn't constitute as sustainable living. I hope I can find the time to update this blog regularly, in order to show and share with you some of these changes that I plan to make.

Leaving scenic Koh Tao.

In conclusion, with regards to the field trip and sustainable living, I feel that a sustainable lifestyle is an achievable target for people to set themselves. And even if cutting your carbon footprint entirely may seem an impossible task, reducing your carbon emissions is very doable - no matter who you are. It all boils down to you planning ahead, being prepared to make some sacrifices and making the right and most suitable choices.
Do this, and you will be on your way to reducing your carbon footprint and making the World a better place for yourselves and the creatures we share it with, as the old adage goes:

"Every Little Helps"

Day 6

Continuing with the Project

The day started much in the same manner as the previous night, with the continuation of bringing our design project to fruition in the hope of finishing it by the days' end. Good progress was made during the morning and early afternoon, this gave us another opportunity to go snorkeling again. Not everyone (myself) could make it (due to the disabling effects of sunburn), this time Pe Shin went along as guide and showed the rest of the group around some snorkeling spots considered to be 'hidden gems', during the excursion they encountered what they described to me upon their return as 'amazing scenes', I believe the highlight was a pair of mating sea turtles - a rare sighting.

In the end we were also able to finish the construction of the bin as well, although this went on long into the night, making it a productive day all-in-all. Here are some more images of us hard at work and the final outcome of our endeavors.

Snorkeling - Part 2 (Location Undisclosed!)

Coral & other Marine Life.

Beautiful Waters.

Prototype of our Design

The Final Result of our Design.

The Group with our Design.

Marine Wildlife Conservation Projects by 'Save Koh Tao'

As part of our week on Koh Tao we also experienced some of the campaigns being undertaken on Koh Tao as a very concerted and dedicated effort to protect, prevent and rehabilitate the many species of marine life that are under threat as a result of increased tourism, illegal fishing and unsustainable development, in and around Koh Tao. 

Here are a few examples of those efforts:

Nurseries for Young Sea Turtles, to be released back into the wild.

Building of nurseries for Coral Reefs.

   

Day 5

Getting Started on the Project!

Day 5 began with us conversing with our supervisors at New Heaven about the viability of each proposal. The group decided that they liked the idea of the 'ash-tray', and this was what was originally proposed to them. The members of staff at New Heaven also liked the idea but, after discussing the initial ideas with Pe Boy (who is a Product Designer by trade), he had some reservations about the potential manufacturing processes required to such such an apparatus as we had proposed. A big limitation in our design, was the proposal to make the clam shaped ashtray with 'resin', this he said, produces a lot of toxic by-products harmful to the environment and that although the design is a good idea in its concept, the manufacturing processes itself should be carried out on the mainland in order to be able to process the toxic by-products and minimize the impact that they cause to the environment.

  

Even though we weren't able to implement the design project we desired, we weren't to be deterred. We re-grouped and proposed some new ideas, concentrating on using readily available materials, some of which could be found at New Heaven and others that maybe discarded refuse by nearby establishments.

Final Proposal:

Final Proposal

Final Proposal

Taking availability of materials, budget limitations and simple construction techniques into consideration, we developed our ideas based upon an existing 'Save Koh Tao' project currently in the pipeline; which is to build Bins which will become a permanent fixture along some of the beach front, the idea being that resort and other establishment owners will take charge of their maintenance.

We explored several possible avenues for our design but in the end we decided upon a relatively simple design that uses a metal lines to build a frame which will hold discarded beer bottles inside them. Hopefully, promoting Recycling and condemning Littering in the process! 

Working on the Bin:

Using old beer bottles to create the outline of the Bin.

Pe Boy leading the way!

Welding into the night.

Day 4

Snorkeling / Koh Nang Yuan

Koh Nang Yuan

Today with the senior members of New Heaven diving school away, we thought it was a good opportunity to go snorkeling around Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan, and hopefully learn more about the ecosystems and in particular the coral reefs we are ultimately trying to save and protect.

Snorkeling

Marine Life

Activities on Day 4

In the afternoon we met up again with the Pe Chin and Pe Boy to present the ideas we had come up with as a group and discuss the merits and limitations of each proposal, before deciding what the best way forward would be for our group project.

Here is an illustration of my proposal to help clean up the beach:

Idea Development

Proposal: Ash-Tray

Day 3

Observations

Following our discussion the previous day, we decided our best plan of action for the day would be to visit some of the hot-spots around the island where some of the issues we discussed are prevalent. As designers we hope to gather some insight into the problems within these areas, and use our unique observational skills to maybe identify issues which may have been overlooked, and use the skills we have learnt in systematic problem solving and apply these skills to create a new or a re-design to provide a solution. 

 Here are the places we visited:

The Pier: - This is the point of entry for all those coming to Koh Tao

Sea at the Pier

Garbage lying Pier side

• Large amounts of refuse & waste, as a result of high amounts of traffic through the area.
• Refuse can clearly be spotted in the waters just off side of the pier.
• Oil slicks can only be found floating in the sea, due to the large numbers of boats using this port. Ruining what in truth could have been a very beautiful and pristine beach. 

Sairee Beach: - The populous part of Koh Tao, to the North side of the island

• Problems with over building here; with narrow streets, this is due to the  need to accommodate the ever increasing numbers of tourists visiting the island. 
• Beautiful beach slightly ruined by overbuilding again; very narrow strip of actual 'beach front' left.
• Other issues that come hand-in-hand with densely populated areas; e.g. waste & noise pollution.

Waste Processing Site: - Where the Island's waste goes to either be incinerated or recycled

Waste Processing Plant

Landfill Site

• The plant is capable of processing between 3-4 tonnes of refuse per day. The island is currently producing approx. 7 tonnes per day, this number is only likely to increase.
• Recyclable waste with value e.g. glass and plastic bottles are usually taken by private enterprises to be re-sold.
• Herd of goats hang around the landfill site; scavenging what they can from the waste.

Activities for Day 3:

After we sent to observe these 3 sites we traveled back to New Heaven, to discuss the different issues each of us identified. We all concurred that waste from a huge issue for Koh Tao; not only is there too much of it, but most importantly the amount of it finding its way into the local ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine, and the negative and often fatal results that this may have on these ecosystems.

So working in conjunction with the guys responsible and with the expertise in wildlife and marine life conservation, we held a brainstorming session to generate ideas of what can be done to alleviate or rise awareness concerning some of these issues. In the end we were told to go away for the night with the task of coming back the next day and individual ideas for possible solutions that we can all undertake as a group project for the remainder of our time on the island.

Further discussions

  N.B. - We had to use a pick-up to get to-and-fro from the sites of interest.

Day 2

Arrival

Lumprayah Ferry to Koh Tao

Inside of Bus from Station to Pier

We arrived at Chumphon station in the early hours of Wednesday morning, from there the next step in our journey was to get to the pier, in time for the 7 o'clock ferry to Koh Tao. We were faced with 2 options: we could, as a group have taken private taxis to the pier but instead we decided to get ourselves packed into the old converted bus, with most of the other passengers. Although this short journey was very cramped (for that time of the morning) and took longer than it should have, we figured that this was still the most suitable mode of travel, both economically and Eco-friendly wise.

We were faced with another choice at the pier; the faster boat or the slower ferry as a means of getting us to the Island. In keeping with our aim for the week, we choose the larger ferry which was capable of transporting a larger number of people to the island per journey but, took roughly an hour and a half longer. It is estimated that a ferry produces 0.20 kg per mile**, while faster boats will only produce increased levels to that amount. However, this was not a straight forward decision to make, and we thought back to an analogy our lecturer familiarized us with when faced with such decisions:

"Compare it to a Horse that can carry one person but get there faster or, an Ox which can carry 10 people from 'A' to 'B', but not as fast" - Arjan Wynn

Wise words indeed. In the end the ferry trip took 3 and a half hours, and we were pretty tried by then. Our supervisors for the week, New Heaven diving school, phoned ahead and asked if we would like them to send a taxi to pick us up from the pier, we told them thanks, but no thanks. We thought it unwise for them to make a round trip in a pick-up to collect us, when we could just get a one way journey to our Resort.

** Information courtesy of Ferry Sources, Carbon Independent,

http://www.carbonindependent.org/sources_ferry.htm

Our Accommodation

 Resort

Our accommodation for the week, the Tropicana, was a comfortable enough place to stay, situated on Chalok Beach on the South side of the island. Having finally arrived at our destination, we were rearing to get started on acclimatizing to sustainable living, here are a few of the things we did in order to reduce our levels of energy and resource consumption:

Inside

Fan instead of Air conditioning: - Day-to-Day basis

• Turning on the fan helps helps with the incredible heat of the local climate. But we found that by opening the balcony and back doors of the room, creating a passage for air flow, the fan was barely required, let alone the A/C.



Reception/ Restaurant

• By doing this, you also allow in maximum natural sunlight (and there was plenty) into he room, therefore making the need to have lights on during the day obsolete and saving energy while you're at it.  

Entertainment: - Continued throughout the entire week

• Instead of watching TV, browsing the web or playing on the mobile phone, I brought myself along a book to keep me occupied, whenever there was free time. 

 Water: - Continued throughout the entire week

• Water usage e.g. showering, brushing teeth, washing hands/ face and using the toilet, is difficult to cut out altogether but reducing the amount is possible and is an essential aspect to sustainable living.
• Having a cold, rather than a hot shower will reduce the energy required to heat the water.
• It is of great importance not to let a tap run when not being used, as the average amount of water used  for a shower is can be up to 25 gallons for a 10 minute shower (depending on the pressure head of the shower head), and again this is just the lower end of the estimation.
• Drinking water is also an important issue, as the human body requires approx. 3 liters per day (Male) and 2.2 liters per day (for Females). Therefore, it is important not to waste this most vital of resources, especially on an island such as Koh Tao, where rainfall can be scarce and most of the drinking water is imported.   

Clothing: - Continued throughout the entire week

• I found that by wearing light, appropriate clothing for this climate it can have a significant impact on countering the heat and thus reducing your need to seek out an air conditioner or a fan. 
• Using our environment as a means of combating the climate is another great way to reduce your Co2 emissions; for example, if it gets too hot find some shade or even better, go for a dip in the sea. On the other hand if you are feeling chilly, go sit in the sun or find an activity to do to get your body warmed up.

Eating: - Continued throughout the entire week

• There are plenty of options available in this department to consider; eating locally soured food stuffs and ingredients will help reduce Co2 emissions due to it not having been packaged and imported to the island. Simpler meals require less energy to prepare. Not only that but the distance you travel to get your food will inevitably increase your carbon output.
• So with that in mind, we mostly had our meals at the Resort restaurant, or within walking distance of where we were staying, taking the opportunity to seek out local vendors that could provide us with food prepared in the most Eco-friendly manner possible (see image below).
• Eating locally sourced foods also help support the local economy.
• At the resort we only found a common type of mountain bird that just loves to pester you for some of your meal, so any leftovers can be dealt with by them! Helping your you reduce your refuse.

Local tilapia fish prepared  in an Eco-friendly manner.

"More food please!"

Activities on Day 2

Discussion on dangers facing Coral Reefs & ways of preventing further damage/ rehabilitation

In the afternoon we met up with Pe Chin, Jake and Pe Boy of New Heaven diving school for a discussion about our time on the island as well as past and current projects undertaken by volunteers, such as ourselves, that aim to prevent damage being done to the ecosystem and world-renown Coral Reefs surrounding the coast of Koh Tao.

Important points garnered from the discussion:

Meeting at New Heaven

• Many human factors damaging the local ecosystem, and especially the Corals e.g. refuse finding its way from the mainland into the sea, illegal fishing, anchors from moored boats and the island's over-capacity of tourism.
• Volunteer projects to create nurseries from corals and turtles are successful but, the most efficient methods are hugely expensive due to patents on specific technologies/ techniques.
• New Heaven and the 'Save Koh Tao' initiative are doing all they can, with a small budget from governmental donations, to raise awareness on the importance of sustainable design/ living, but face many obstacles and challenges from several groups.  

Visiting 'View Point' Resort

• View Point is a new resort at the higher end of the spectrum (a night there can cost upwards of 10,000 bath) on the island. But the significance of our visit lies in the fact that View Point incorporated a large degree of sustainability into its design.

View, View Point

Bedroom

Villa, View Point Resort

Bathroom

Raffles Design Koh Tao Trip - Feb. 2013

Day 1

Travel / Transit / Transport

Headed for Koh Tao, the majority of us set off from our base camp at Raffles Design Institute in Silom, to Hua Lamphong train station, Bangkok, with our minds contemplating our goal, the concept of what it actually means and takes in order to consider yourselves to be living a sustainable lifestyle. A good, surefire method to start you off on your way to achieving this (somewhat) vague goal, with is by reducing (or cutting altogether) your so-called 'Carbon Footprint'. However, with 500 km separating us and our destination zeroing our Carbon Emissions seemed improbable. Therefore, it became a question of: how do we get there in the most Eco-Friendly way possible? 

Well, the most obvious answer for us to that question was; to utilize all Public Transport available to us, to deliver us to our destination. Luckily, we had thought ahead and this was precisely what we did; by reserving ourselves a place on the sleeper train to Chumphon.

Hua Lamphong Station.

When using public transport one must be prepared to sacrifice numerous things; personal comfort, convenience and perhaps a sleepless night! But a little discomfort can help you a long way towards you achieving your aim of reducing your Co2 output which helps reduce the impact of Green House Gases that directly influence Global Warming and Climate change, as well as saving you a bit of money! In fact, the cheapest flights from Bangkok to Chumphon were approximately 2,500 bath return, whilst train tickets were 2,200 bath return (including the ferry fare to Koh Tao). Bus prices were comparable to that of the train and the journey didn't take as long, but if we compare the Co2 emissions from these different modes of transport, there is clearly only one winner: the Train.

Carbon Emissions compared:

• Planes produce 66 grams of Co2 per person, per kilometer (approx. 33 kg for this journey).*
• Buses produce 17 grams of Co2 per person, per kilometer (approx. 8.5 kg for this journey).*
• Cars produce 47 grams of Co2 per person, per kilometer (approx. 23.5 kg for this journey).*
• Trains produce 7 grams of Co2 per person, per kilometer (approx. 3.5 kg for this journey).*

* Information courtesy of The European Rail Industry, UNIFE, http://www.unife.org/page.asp?pid=96

As you can clearly see, that although the Train may be the least comfortable and with the longest time in transit, it is by far the most Eco friendly mode of transport; producing less than half of the carbon emissions (3.5 kg) compared to even its closest the rival, the Bus which produces 8.5 kg of carbon dioxide.

Sleeper Train

Train Ticket