When picturing the many leisure activities available to a vacationer on Thailand’s Koh Samui island, painting trash bins rarely, if ever, comes to mind. And yet, this is exactly what the island’s long-time resident Donna Reiss encourages Avani+ Samui Resort’s guests to do to help save the planet.
Bubbly and personable, Donna invites the budding artists to her beachfront residence before presenting them with a pot of paint and some brushes. She then kicks off a creative session where an oversized trash bin is given a new lease of life. The process, from start to finish, can take up to 50 hours with Donna providing guidance and sharing her upcycling tips: Donna reuses trash she picks up on her daily beach walks by introducing the discarded objects back into the life cycle.
Glowing with a new coat of paint, the bins are distributed through the local hospitality network to public areas and beaches around the island. The goal is to prevent trash from ending up in the ocean, thus helping to preserve marine life and the environment.
Donna didn’t start off as a painter, much less an artist, but a few YouTube tutorials was all it took to launch her love affair with storytelling through art. A recurrent theme in her artwork, a colourful mermaid, is often associated with Donna’s personality: full of energy and optimism for her guests and the planet.
Visit Donna when it's safe to travel once more and learn more about how you can help mother nature while harnessing your creative. Be sure to share your creations using #AvaniHotels. To book your trip to Koh Samui, check with Sedunia Travel for travel arrangements.