The local rivers are brown and so are some of the local beaches. The pollution and dirt from the city run off into the rivers and so the water becomes dirty. Some people told us not to swim in local beaches because they have no idea what kind of water goes in there. When air pollution is extremely bad, people start coughing and can develop serious injuries and illnesses.
People adapt to their environment by slowly creating awareness. All around school there are posters about reducing water waste. Whenever we receive paper in class, it has been recycled first. At school, there are plenty of recycling bins for the multiple water bottles people buy every day. But that is not enough. There are still not enough recycling bins out on the streets. People have taken to setting up water filters on street corners where you can fill up a gallon jar with clean water instead of having to buy water bottles all the time. Stores have started to put up signs saying that they will not use plastic bags for the first day of the month. Stores sell reusable bags to encourage people to use less plastic. Some stores are even charging customers for plastic bags. Small steps like these create awareness of a problem that will affect all of us. There are even billboards posted on the highway urging people to reduce their Internet usage. Thailand is a beautiful country, and I hope that people continue to help it become a cleaner place so that it continues to grow in a healthier way for the environment.
