The Development of Model Community on Zero Waste Management to Community Welfare, Pa Tung Rim Kok Community Area, Rim Kok Subdistrict, Mueang District, Chiang Rai Province

Abstract

The waste management problem in Thailand has intensified with the expansion of urban areas and changes in consumer behavior among the population. The severity of improper waste management has direct impacts on the ecosystem and society as a whole. This article presents waste management based on the zero waste concept in communities, aiming to study public behavior and knowledge regarding waste management, and to develop a model community for waste management following the zero waste philosophy towards community welfare. This research employs a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative research. The target group is the residents of the Ban Pa Tung Rim Kok community in Mueang district, Chiang Rai province, involving a total of 140 households. The tools used for quantitative research include questionnaires and tests, which had an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from .72 to 1.00. For data analysis, statistical methods such as percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used. For qualitative research tools, interviews, focus group discussions, and workshops were conducted with 30 participants including community leaders, community committee members, and community representatives, and data analysis was performed using content analysis.

The study findings revealed that 1) The behavior and knowledge regarding waste management among the people in the Pa Tung Rim Kok community area showed that the household waste management behavior was at a moderate level. As for the knowledge about waste management, most people in the community had a low level of knowledge. 2) The development of a model community for waste management based on the concept of zero waste towards community welfare in the Pa Tung Rim Kok area involved designing activities in collaboration with the community to implement waste management activities, which consisted of 6 pilot activities: activities for training and knowledge about waste management, hands-on training activities, promotional campaign activities, model household activities, activities to add value from waste, and community market activities. The goal is for the community to have knowledge and proper waste management, as well as to create income from the waste generated as a means for planning community welfare in the future.