Godspeed John and Cas. I hope you can make Thailand as much of a home as you did with Kunming. That special signed booklet from in front of Diego's place was one of the few things I kept from China. Cheers from another mountainous city across the globe.

Mmmhhh... Glass bottles. Now we're talking carbon footprint!

Yeah, it's not only the carbon footprint.
Let's ask Alex directly: Look around where you are right now... Can you see an outdoor jacket? Maybe a backpack? Or how about a PET bottle? Maybe you just had a sip of coke, iced tea, green tea, Fanta, water? Do you see any of these items?
I'd say yes. Am I right? If so, I urge you to throw these out immediately as they are made out of PX. Yeah, that's right. When you manufacturer polyester you start with PX. Then you add oxygen to it after that you combined it with an alcohol and voilá, you have plastic.

So, I believe maybe you should rethink your position about PX or throw out everything made out, or containing polyester. Should I sum up some items which you cannot use anymore?

Or is it just the NIMBY problem? Google it and you know what I mean.

I have nothing more to add, otherwise I would take over this thread on how refineries work, how PX is used, how it seems that only China views it as a carcinogen (someone remember the Fukushima-Salt-crisis?) and which substances carry carcinogenic properties.
Ian, take my advice... brew yourself a nice cup of tea (but not a carcinogenic one, all right!?), do some research on those topics, sit back, relax and observe. You might be able to learn more about human nature than you think. Always keep in mind that knowledge is power and will help you in your future life.

Well Ian, I do not agree that much with your second to post. I personally do not blame anybody for protesting, nor would I use the concept of shame.
It's just what you said in the first post: Does everybody really what they are protesting against?