Thai shoppers get creative after plastic bag ban

Thai shoppers grabbed baskets, buckets and even a wheelbarrow to skirt a new ban on single-use plastic bags at big retailers, with many posting images of their efforts online.

The restriction, introduced at the start of the new year by several major mall operators and the convenience stores, was a victory for environmental campaigners in a country where individuals use an average of eight plastic bags a day.

Customers can now pay a small fee for reusables, but budget-conscious shoppers saved money by grabbing anything available and celebrating the different choices on social media.

One man grinned at the camera as he held a wheelbarrow laden with bottles of water, paper towels and soap. Another two women clutched each side of a pink laundry basket heaving with goods.

Experts say Thailand is one of the largest contributors to ocean pollution. But awareness about the problem has spread over the last year as images of dead turtles, whales and dugongs with pieces of plastic bags clogging their stomachs went viral.

Watermelon steak, anyone?

Veganuary is in full swing and retailers are coming in to offer consumers new plant-based products as the craze picks up speed. The latest restaurant chain to join in on the movement is TGI Fridays who have unveiled their new vegan watermelon steak.

For £12.99, more than half the price of a 16-ounce sirloin beef steak, health conscious and animal loving diners can enjoy “fresh watermelon carefully cut into steak slices then chargrilled to create its unique steak-like texture.”

For flavour, the vegan meat option is “marinated in garlic and seasoned with spicy sriracha for a distinctive and fiery taste.” The steak is then finished with an avocado sauce.

TGI Fridays are sure to be hoping for a positive response to their new menu option.

World’s tallest toilet paper pyramid

A Michigan high school robotics team is raising money by selling more than 27,000 rolls of toilet paper used to construct the world’s tallest toilet paper pyramid.

Bullock Creek High School’s BlitzCreek 3770 Robotics team, working with several local sponsors, built the pyramid in the school’s atrium as part of its fundraising efforts for the year.

“We have an official height which is 16 feet 3-inches and 5/8ths of an inch,” senior Maxton Herst told.

“That’s almost two-feet over what the current world record is.”

Herst said he first came up with the toilet paper pyramid idea four years ago. He said it took the team about 16 hours to construct the pyramid. The structure is being disassembled last week and the toilet paper rolls are now being sold to raise money for the team’s activities this year.

A family grows 12-pound pomelo fruit

A Hawaii family said their tree produced a 12-pound pomelo fruit that could be a new Guinness World Record.

The Nishimura family said the 50-year-old tree at their Moanalua home produced a 12-pound pomelo, a fruit also known as a jabong. The Guinness World Record is listed as a 10-pound, 11.3-ounce pomelo grown in 2014 in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan.

“The record is like 10 pounds, so this beats it by two pounds,” Kaito Nishimura told. “If I carry it for long enough, my hands are going to get tired.”

He said his family was shocked when they discovered the unusually large fruit.

The family said they are looking into the process for having the fruit officially recognised by Guinness.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 18th, 2020