I’ll be honest, Plastic Free July is a challenge almost anywhere. In a third-world country, which has only recently embraced this mod-con, with language barriers and where water safety is an issue, the challenges are even greater.
But we tried. And I think we made some progress. But we still have a long way to go.
This is some of the plastic material we used in the month of July. It includes packaging from toilet paper, muesli, cornflakes, soap, egg cartons and pasta. There were water bottles – a few more than usual because the Joker hurt his back and couldn’t carry the 20 litre bottle up the stairs. Coke bottles, because the Joker has been enjoying a few bourbons with coke (okay, so have I) – why not, when you can buy a one litre bottle for $6.90. And of course there are plastic bags. As with so many things here there is often packaging within packaging, bags within bags and every individual serve is wrapped in its own plastic bag instead of one bag for everything. I forgot my water bottle a few times so that added to our water bottle collection and for a few weeks when we weren’t well we lacked the energy to argue with anyone about not wanting plastic bags.
It took me 10 years to wean the Joker off of cheese slices, and he finally came around to eating real cheese as long as it was mild. But alas, since arriving here, he has again embraced individually wrapped cheese slices so the plastic wrappers have added to our collection. I’m on the hunt for a nice mild Cheddar if anyone knows where I can find one.
We have a problem with ants, so everything has to be stored in the fridge or in zip lock bags. I do re-use the zip log bags but they also increase our plastic use.
But there have been successes.
1. Straws. I’m not sure these can be deemed a success but we are making headway so I’m going to put them in the list. I have used far fewer straws this month than in previous months, so that is a win. I still forget to request no straw when I order a drink. I got caught out the other night when I ordered a sangria. It came in wine glass – with a straw. Hmmm. Sometimes, the local Khmer restaurants bring a glass of ice with a straw, they are for the free tea provided. This is an automatic service so the option to refuse a straw is not always there. The Joker mostly drinks beer, so it has been less of a problem for him.
2. We were gifted a shopping bag and for the most part we take this wherever we go. I confess to forgetting it once or twice. But the message must be getting through because the last time we went to the supermarket the girl at the checkout said: “no palstic?”
3. Despite a language barrier at the market we managed to get across the message that most things didn’t need to be placed in a plastic bag but could go straight in our shopping bag. There was some confusion and some laughter but we got there. I confess, I do prefer a few things, like carrots to be kept in plastic because they last so much longer. But for other things, there is no need.
4. We can finally get rid of our 20 litre water bottle, which we exchange for a refilled bottle at a $1 cost, whenever it is empty. In it’s place we have a water filter. It’s also in a big plastic drum but it has a terracotta insert that the water filters through. So we will have this one plastic bottle for the duration of our stay and can just put the tap water in it. It will supposedly filter out all bacteria from the water. We bought this from friends of ours and apparently they are readily available at affordable prices around town.
I started the Plastic Free July journey thanks to the enthusiasm and energy of Sarah Rhodes, who embraced the initiative and saw possibilities where others saw impossibilities. I helped (very minimally) to try and promote the initiative. We were joined by Sambath, who exudes enthusiasm for this project and who, along with Sarah, has put in a great amount of work to raise awareness and get people on board.
Sarah organised a wrap-up function on the weekend, inviting people to come along and bring the plastic they had used throughout the month. There was a bit, although I imagine it was a small proportion of what everyone here used. Here’s Sarah overlooking the pile of plastic.
And some of the people who supported the event.
So what will become of this pile of plastic? Good things! Thanks to a couple of innovative enterprises in Siem Reap, this plastic will be donated and turned into new items. Eco Soap, an organisation that makes soap products, will use the water bottles for liquid soap. Plastic packaging will go to HUSK to fill water bottles, which will then be turned into bricks to make walls for buildings. Rehash Trash will put the plastic bags to good use in its innovative program, which turns the plastic into thread and women use it to crochet a range of products.
These girls are supporting their mothers, who both create products for Rehash Trash. The items they make include bags, hats and bowls.
It’s great to see people thinking outside the square and putting all this plastic to good use.
Did you take the Plastic Free July challenge? How did you go? Do you have any tips for reducing the amount of plastic in our daily lives? Would love to hear them.
Isabel says
Hi Sam! This is a great idea. I admit I had no idea about the plastic free July challenge, but I take this approach as often as I can in my own life. They are craaaazy about plastic here in China. The other day I ordered a coffee at a bakery. Not only did they serve it in a takeaway cup, not a china cup (I was having-in), but they then put that takeaway coffee cup INTO A PLASTIC BAG! Why would you do this?! Needless to say, it can be frustrating here because it’s not as advanced as Australia in terms of environmental awareness, but I try to cut back on plastic wherever I can.
Sam Walker says
Hey Isabel. It’s especially hard when there is a language barrier as well. Trying to explain that you don’t need it and why you don’t need it and why it’s bad is challenging. I talked about it to a class of students (adult) learning English and many of them did not know that burning plastic is a problem. So there’s a long way to go. I sympathise with you and your coffee served in multiple plastic! Crazy.
Kat | curlsnchard.com says
This sounds like a really great initiative! It’s so hard to reduce plastic even here in Europe, I can’t imagine how difficult it has to be in Cambodia. But those little wins like in the supermarket where the girl already knows that you don’t want plastic are wonderful! 🙂
Sam Walker says
Yes Kat, it is small steps. It is an issue everywhere, people just take it for granted. But language barriers, lack of knowledge etc make it particularly challenging here. Yay for the small wins.
Sarah says
What an amazing initiative! You have to celebrate the small victories, because they all add up! Found you through the Blog Engagement fb Group.
Sam Walker says
Hi Sarah, thanks for stopping by. Yes, you are right you do have to celebrate the small victories. Every bit makes a difference.
Deborah says
We have been trying to wean ourselves off of plastic. It’s been slow going, but we are making progress. I like the idea of having an entire month to kick our efforts into overdrive. Thanks for your post!
Sam Walker says
Hi Deborah, thanks for taking the time to read it and to add a comment. It sounds like you are doing good things in the reduction of plastic. Not sure we had a win this morning. We bought a meal for a beggar – takeaway – wrapped in all sorts of plastic. Sigh.