Michelle Mouille has called Phuket home for 26 years. Having concluded her career in education and hospitality, she now dedicates her time to preserving the island’s natural beauty – the backbone of both economy and lifestyle.

The founder of the Sustainable Mai Khao Foundation sat down with RL Phuket to discuss the crucial need to protect the island’s main treasure as we navigate our collective journey into the future.

My name is Michelle. I’m from South Africa, but I’ve been living here for 26 years and Mai Khao, Phuket is my home. What brought me to Phuket was its beautiful nature, but even back then, the problem of beach rubbish was there.

It was around 2003 when I organized our first beach cleanup in Mai Khao, which opened my eyes to the root of the problem. The first cleanup was an amazing event. We were all cleaning the beach, and everyone was happy to be a part of it. But at the end of the day, as we sat down to eat, I was shocked to see people just dropping their boxes on the beach they had just cleaned. That was when I realized: “Oh my goodness, the connection wasn’t made.”

In 2020, I decided to fully focus on environmental preservation. This was how Sustainable Mai Khao was born – as a tool to bring everyone together to protect Mai Khao Beach, but most importantly, to change the attitude.

We work with schools and are happy to see students showing great turn up and great interest. This is inspiring because children are our future, and children are the best learners.

We also work with government organizations, as they are the ones who can make the much-needed policy changes. The officials can act from the top down.

Last but not least, we work with the local community. To be honest, this is the biggest challenge because people’s everyday behavior hasn’t changed much since 2003. People know about the plastic pollution but behave like they do not.

Raising awareness is our major focus. We can collect rubbish on the beaches for the rest of our lives and achieve nothing unless we spark behavioral changes – most importantly, responsible waste management and reducing single-use plastics.

We have to think about our own everyday actions and inspire changes in ourselves and those around us. We need to make environmental consciousness cool. That’s why we say: let’s make it cool; let’s make it trendy to be environmentally conscious.

Beach cleanups are very important because they not only make the island cleaner but also support those much-needed changes in attitudes. The most common reaction from someone after their first event is: “Oh, my goodness, I didn’t realize there was so much rubbish! Why are there so many single-use plastics?”

Anyone willing to join us is always welcome. Don’t hesitate to contact the Sustainable Mai Khao Foundation if you need information or advice about anything, whether it’s about where to put your rubbish or how to recycle. We’re happy to be involved!

I believe everyone needs to do their part through the everyday choices we make. These are choices when we buy things and choose between plastic and recyclable packaging. Choices when we see garbage on the beach and clean it up. Choices when we praise and encourage people who join cleanups.

Share and like it on social media when people do great work, give them encouragement! I’ll be honest: working in this field can be very demotivating at times. So please, encourage people who are doing good things and join them. Encourage and join.

I know it sounds idealistic and everything, but we need to do it. If we can’t make the change, who is going to?

We need to do this for ourselves, for our kids, for our world. We need to stop making abstract commitments and start doing what’s really important. Without nature, we cannot survive. So, let’s be responsible.

To contact Sustainable Mai Khao Foundation, join their next clean-up or support on social media, scan this QR.