Do the environment a huge favour: go for eco-friendly krathongs

Here are statistics of krathong waste and decomposition in the past nine years and some suggestions on which type of materials you can use during the upcoming Loy Krathong festival:

• Krathongs made from ice and cassava take about 30 minutes to one hour to decompose.
• Krathongs made from bread or ice cream cones take about three days to decompose.
• Krathongs made from banana trees, banana leaves or coconut shells take about 14 days to decompose.
• Paper krathongs take about two to five months to decompose.
• Foam krathongs take more than 50 years to decompose.

Although we have switched to using krathongs that are easier and faster to decompose. But floating krathongs in large quantities can cause sewage, especially in a closed water source. Including some materials such as nails and alloys used to sew banana leaves which are non-degradable.

The Bangkok Data Centre has also recently revealed the statistics of the amount of krathong waste collected after the festival each year from 2012 to 2020. In the past two years, it was found that people have been more concerned about the environment as the collected foam krathong reduced to less than 20,000 pieces.

Related news:

• CCSA issues guidelines for Loy Krathong festivities
• Chiang Mai dresses up for its very own Loy Krathong Festival
• Loy Krathong not banned, just strictly controlled to prevent infections, says govt

Here are the statistics of krathong waste in the past nine years:

• In 2012, 916,354 krathongs were collected, 131,338 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2013, 865,415 krathongs were collected, 107,848 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2014, 982,064 krathongs were collected, 96,069 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2015, 825,614 krathongs were collected, 71,027 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2016, 661,935 krathongs were collected, 44,034 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2017, 811,945 krathongs were collected, 51,926 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2018, 841,327 krathongs were collected, 44,883 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2019, 502,024 krathongs were collected, 18,760 out of which were made from foam.
• In 2020, 492,537 krathongs were collected, 17,731 out of which were made from foam.

The Loy Krathong tradition has always been with Thai people since the past. But we should be more environmentally responsible by reducing the krathong size to be smaller, floating just one krathong per family or organisation, or even better, floating an online krathong.