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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1482883
This article is part of the Research Topic Green Lifestyle Transformation in the Digital Era View all 7 articles

Eco-sattva: A Buddhist Response to the Plastic Waste Crisis in Thailand

Provisionally accepted
Yaoping Liu Yaoping Liu *Pharatt Run Pharatt Run *Metteyya Beliatte Metteyya Beliatte
  • Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok, Thailand

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The plastic waste crisis in Thailand has emerged as a substantial environmental dilemma, significantly exacerbating pollution in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Although previous study has mostly focused on technological and policy solutions, it is still necessary to conduct a thorough evaluation of the approach to this issue that is driven by cultural and spiritual values. This study aims to examine the influence of eco-sattva principles on the management of plastic garbage and the Buddhist communities in Thailand. It also seeks to assess the effects of Eco-Sattva's teachings by conducting a case study at Wat Chak Daeng. A comprehensive series of interviews were carried out with a total of 15 participants, encompassing priests, community leaders, and volunteers. The transcribed data was processed and examined using the NVivo program. The interview findings demonstrate that the lessons of Eco-Sattva on plastic waste management are extremely advantageous in terms of their practical use and execution. This study investigates and analyses the three-step waste management process at Wat Chak Daeng for plastic waste management, which involves reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic trash. This study provides a significant contribution by showing that the resolution to the Plastic Waste Crisis is not solely reliant on technical or policy-focused approaches, but may also be derived from spiritual principles.

    Keywords: Eco-sattva, Wat Chak Daeng, and Monk's robe, Thailand, Plastic Waste Crisis

    Received: 18 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Run and Beliatte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yaoping Liu, Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok, Thailand
    Pharatt Run, Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok, Thailand

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.