How Story Tellers Can Help Save The Planet : International Youth Day 2025 Profile Min Vichayaprasertkul
International Youth Day 2025: Meet Young Environmental Changemaker Weeraya “Min” Vichayaprasertkul with TerraCycle Thai Foundation
For #InternationalYouthDay 2025, TerraCycle Thai Foundation celebrates young changemakers leading the fight for a healthier planet.
From award-winning documentaries to grassroots eco-campaigns, Weeraya “Min” Vichayaprasertkul, a 29-year-old eco-filmmaker, has spent the past eight years capturing powerful stories that inspire positive environmental change. As co-founder of EcoCupid, she connects and amplifies environmental projects across Southeast Asia through the power of storytelling. In this interview, Min shares her journey, her perspectives on waste, and the passion that fuels her work
Min’s Journey: Driving Change Through Stories
Q: Can you share a bit about your journey and how EcoCupid came to be?
I started my journey as a documentary filmmaker in Thailand, telling stories about communities facing environmental challenges. Over the past eight years, I’ve directed and produced over 15 environmental and social campaigns across ASEAN, and I am the founder of Deep Doc Media as well as the co-founder of EcoCupid (Visit www.ecocupid-asean.com). My award-winning films, such as Forest-Coast-City and Pad Thai, have been screened internationally.
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In 2022, as a YSEALI Academic Fellow in Environmental Resource Management, I connected with other young changemakers from Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We saw that while there were many inspiring grassroots eco-projects in Southeast Asia, their stories often weren’t reaching wider audiences. That’s why we co-founded EcoCupid—a platform that connects, amplifies, and supports grassroots environmental initiatives through the power of storytelling. In 2024, I was also the only Thai filmmaker invited to COP29 to advocate for using communication and media to drive climate action.
Q: What inspired you to combine environmental work with media and storytelling?
I’ve always believed that facts alone don’t change minds—stories do. Media can make complex environmental issues personal and relatable, inspiring people to care and act. By showing the human side of climate action, we can turn abstract problems into real, urgent, and solvable challenges.
Q: Can you tell us about your role at EcoCupid — what you do, and what inspires you in that work?
As EcoCupid’s Video Producer, I lead both the creative direction and the on-the-ground execution of our storytelling projects. I coordinated a team of 40 volunteers from across Southeast Asia, each with different skill sets, managing remote collaboration while overseeing production on-site. Despite our differences, I fostered teamwork by mentoring members, setting up a standardised filming workflow, and leading by example. Within just six months, our documentary series reached over 500,000 viewers on social media, greatly increasing the visibility of the environmentalists featured.
Today, EcoCupid has produced over 15 documentary films and numerous short clips spotlighting the stories of “EcoHeroes” across Southeast Asia. These pieces not only celebrate local changemakers but also connect them to audiences, resources, and opportunities they might not otherwise access.
Beyond production, I am also a lead speaker and trainer, running storytelling and video workshops for youth and content creators who want to communicate environmental issues. Most recently, I taught at Singapore Management University (SMU), guiding participants from concept development and scriptwriting to basic filming techniques, and mentoring grant recipients as they produced their own impact-driven videos.
What inspires me most is seeing how stories can spark connections—between communities, ideas, and actions—and watching young creators realise they have the power to influence change.
Why Young Voices Are Shaping Southeast Asia’s Green Future
Q: As a young person in this space, what unique strengths do you think youth bring to environmental movements?
Youth bring fresh perspectives, bold ideas, and the courage to challenge the status quo. We’re not afraid to experiment with new ways of communicating—whether that’s through creative media, social platforms, or grassroots campaigns—and we often bridge gaps between generations.
In Southeast Asia, I’ve seen young people launch projects that not only address local issues but also connect across borders, proving that environmental challenges are shared and solutions can be, too. We bring digital fluency, adaptability, and a deep sense of urgency because the future we’re fighting for is our own.
When youth are given the right tools, mentorship, and platforms, we don’t just join environmental movements—we transform them.
Q: What advice would you give to other young people who want to start their own eco-initiatives but don’t know where to begin?
Start by being on the ground. Go and see the environmental issue you care about for yourself—feel it, hear it, and listen with an open heart. Understanding the roots and context of a problem is essential before you try to solve it.
If you’re passionate about waste, visit a recycling facility and observe how materials are processed, where the challenges are, and who is involved. When I became interested in the Mekong River dam issue, I spoke directly with experts and travelled to the river to witness its changes firsthand. These experiences will give you the insight and empathy needed to create solutions that truly work for the communities affected.
And if you’re not sure which environmental topic speaks to you yet, try reading articles or watching EcoCupid’s documentaries—you might just find the inspiration you’ve been looking for.
Framing Waste Differently: Min’s Storytelling for Change
Q: You’ve produced videos on innovative waste-related projects like Wastegetable in Bangkok and community-based recycling in Vietnam. What drew you to these topics?
I’m drawn to waste-related stories because they are both urgent and deeply connected to people’s daily lives. Waste is something we all create, yet the solutions often remain hidden or misunderstood. With projects like Wastegetable in Bangkok—where food waste is transformed into compost for urban farming—and the community-led recycling initiative in Vietnam, I saw opportunities to show how local creativity can turn a problem into a resource.
In Vietnam, I met people who inspired me deeply—like a young group with a physical disability who still joins the community every week to collect litter. Stories like this touch my heart and remind me why I do this work. I want people to see that no matter who you are or what limitations you face, we can all play a role in solving this problem together.
These stories are powerful because they break the stereotype that waste is simply “trash.” They reveal how circular solutions can generate income, strengthen communities, and inspire behavioural change. By documenting these projects, I hope viewers see that innovative, scalable answers to environmental problems are already happening around us—and that they, too, can be part of the solution.
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Q: Based on your experience, what lessons have you learned from working on waste-related projects — and what do you believe are the most effective ways to address waste issues in the region?
One key lesson I’ve learned is that waste is never just a technical problem—it’s a people problem. Policies and infrastructure matter, but without community buy-in, change won’t last. The most effective waste solutions I’ve seen are those that combine education, accessibility, and cultural relevance, so people understand why change matters and feel empowered to act.
From Bangkok to rural Vietnam, I’ve witnessed how solutions thrive when they’re rooted in local context—whether that’s turning food scraps into compost for urban gardens or creating community-led recycling hubs. It’s also vital to make participation easy and rewarding. When people see tangible benefits—like cleaner streets, extra income, or stronger community bonds—they’re far more likely to stay engaged.
Ultimately, addressing waste in Southeast Asia requires collaboration between governments, private sectors, and communities, but it also needs compelling storytelling to shift mindsets. Facts and systems alone won’t spark action—stories will.
Q: What role do you think creative media can play in changing how people view and deal with waste?
Through film, photography, and short-form video, we can take audiences inside a recycling facility, follow a community leader turning waste into income, or show the transformation of a polluted space into a vibrant public area. These visuals make the problem real, but they also make the solutions tangible and inspiring.
I know this firsthand—my own journey into environmental work began because I grew up watching environmental documentaries. Those stories shaped how I see the world and inspired me to take action. That’s why I’m certain creative media can inspire others in the same way it inspired me. When people see someone like them taking action—whether it’s a street vendor composting food scraps or a teenager running a clean-up campaign—they start to believe they can do it too. That’s the unique strength of creative media: it doesn’t just inform; it invites participation.
Q: What advice would you give to nonprofits trying to tell more compelling and impactful environmental stories?
The most powerful stories come from the ground up. Nonprofits can improve their storytelling by spending time in the communities they serve—listening deeply, observing the context, and building trust. When you understand the human side of an environmental issue, you can tell stories that feel authentic rather than transactional.
One common mistake I’ve noticed is that many NGOs communicate what they want to say, rather than what their audience actually wants to hear. My advice is to first identify your audience—who they are, how they consume media, and what perspectives resonate with them. Then, tell the story from an angle that speaks to their interests, not just from your own organizational viewpoint.
Another key is to focus on people, not just problems. Instead of showing only the scale of the crisis, highlight local changemakers, small victories, and creative solutions. Audiences are more likely to engage when they see hope and possibility alongside the challenges.
From my experience producing documentaries, I’d also suggest using multiple formats—short videos for quick emotional impact, longer features for depth, and photos or graphics to break down complex ideas. Above all, keep the story human, relatable, and rooted in real experiences.
And remember: you don’t have to tell the story for the community—you can tell it with them. Collaborative storytelling not only makes the content richer but also empowers the people at the heart of the story to shape how it’s told.
What’s Next: Min’s Upcoming Documentary
Q: Could you tell us about your upcoming project on waste, set to premiere at the end of this month?
My upcoming 28-minute documentary, Lovely Garbage Band, follows a group of Karen children who turn discarded waste into musical instruments—and use their own original folk songs to protect the environment in their hometown. It’s a heartwarming story that blends culture, tradition, waste management, and music in one film.
I spent over 13 days living and filming with them, capturing not just their creativity but also the deep connection they have with their land and traditions. The result is a celebration of how local culture and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.
Lovely Garbage Band will premiere on Thai PBS this August, and I hope it will inspire viewers to see waste in a new light—and to hear the beauty that can come from what we often throw away.
Final Words from Min
Before we end this interview, can you share a thought or quote on how we should rethink our perception of waste?
“When we see waste as something valuable and even beautiful, change can happen instantly. The problem isn’t the waste—it’s how we choose to treat it.”—Min, 2025
I got this idea from Lovely Garbage Band, my upcoming documentary, where a teacher encourages children to see waste as something beautiful and lovable—and reminds them that the ones who aren’t lovable are the people who throw it away, not the waste itself.
Min’s work shows that storytelling is more than raising awareness—it’s a catalyst for real, lasting change. Through creativity, empathy, and a deep commitment to environmental justice, she continues to inspire the next generation of changemakers across Southeast Asia. From tackling waste to addressing other urgent challenges, TerraCycle Thai Foundation hopes her story empowers young people everywhere to take bold action for the planet. We believe in the power of youth to shape a better, greener future.