Trash Talk in Cambodia
While exploring Cambodia, there was so much to marvel at. From the infamous Angkor Watt temple to the unique wildlife and crazy cities. But, there was one thing that remained on the edges of my vision. Rubbish. And a ton of it. I remember walking through Siem Reap and watching people throw rubbish at their feet often when a rubbish bin was mere metres away. The more I looked around me, the more I saw. Rivers and lakes, roadsides and villages, all overflowing with plastic.
But why?
Because of a combination of poor waste removal infrastructure, unsafe drinking water, and high volume waste production. From plastic bags and plastic wrapping on fruit to plastic bottles. Plastic is King. In Phnom Penh alone, ten million plastic bags are produced every day. Not in a year, but in a day. And that number is only taking into account the capital and plastic bags. It is a huge number to wrap your mind around.
The fact that many people do not have access to safe drinking water is also a contributing factor. As of 2019, around 3.4 million Cambodians still did not have access to safe drinking water. Meaning that bottled water is the status quo for many. Furthermore, the tourism industry is a huge contributing factor to plastic waste. On average, this industry can produce 4.6 million single use plastic bottles in a single month. Buying more than one plastic bottle is the usual for many hot and thirsty tourists. In the first half of 2019, 3.3 million people visited the country. That is a lot of potential plastic buyers.
But, rubbish just gets taken to the landfill or to the recycling centre. It is not my problem once I chuck it in the bin, right? Wrong.
Around 42 percent of urban population and most rural populations in Cambodia do not have access to a waste collection system.
Or if it’s in place, it is very flawed. For example, in Sihanoukville the rubbish piles up. Once a calm seaside town, it has now turned into a place riddled with casinos, resorts, and hotels. Simply put, it is a backpackers favourite place to slum. Coupled with booming population growth, corruption, a mass exodus of garbage truck workers looking for better pay, and road issues that make garbage truck routes difficult, the garbage problem here stinks.
Most solid waste in Cambodia can not be processed within the country and needs to be exported to neighbouring countries to deal with, chiefly Thailand and Vietnam. Though there is a little problem with this strategy. Both countries are aiming to ban trash imports in the very near future. This has the real potential to intensify the problem in Cambodia.
Another way that people deal with rubbish is through burning. Which as most of us know, is a very bad idea, as it releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere.
In summary, the rubbish problem in Cambodia is a pretty big deal. .
People doing some good stuff in Cambodia
But it is not all doom and gloom. There are initiatives in Cambodia trying to make a real difference to the plastic problem. So, let us have a dose of sunshine after all that bleak grey cloud business by exploring some of these.
Naga Earth is an initiative in Siem Reap, which carries out many exciting and beneficial things. They collect old cooking oil from restaurants and transform it into bio diesel. They can also be found making eco-friendly soap, which is then donated to Cambodian non-profits. Education is also a priority with this group, hosting recycling workshops and jungle cleanups to get the community thinking of their waste story.
Rehash Trash is a super cool initiative which sees drab and harmful plastic bags being turned into beautiful creations. Plastic bags, which have been sorted by colour, are given to disadvantaged women, who then turn the plastic into plastic yarn and crotchet with it to create cool things for the home. From coasters to decorative bowls. This is a great group as it is not only finding an awesome use for the dreaded plastic bag, it is also empowering women by teaching them a skill and giving them an income.
Smateria creates bags, belts, and keychains using recycling material, such as fishing nets, plastic bags, and offcuts from factories. There are shops all around Cambodia including Siem Reap and Phnom Penh where you can purchase one of their up-cycled bags, or shop online.
Funky Junk Recycled creates bags, mediation cushions, baskets and a range of other funky colourful things from collected plastic bags.
Husk Cambodia have created walls for local schools, a medical centre, and community spaces using eco bricks. These are plastic bottles filled with other pieces of waste, such as plastic bags. Walls are made from these coupled with chicken wire and concrete. To date, Husk Cambodia have created 100,000 eco bricks.
Clean Green Cambodia is a good website to browse sustainable shopping, accommodation, and restaurants is clean green Cambodia. They have made a directory for people to check out where the best place to eat, sleep, shop, or volunteer when it comes to helping the planet.
How You Can Help?
If you are planning on travelling to Cambodia any time soon, here are a few things you can keep in mind to reduce your environmental impact.
Stay with eco friendly accommodation
There are quite a few eco friendly places to stay scattered throughout Cambodia.
Babel is an eco-friendly guesthouse in Siem Reap that even has its own refill shop downstairs. So, during your stay you can refill your shampoo and soap bottles, or purchase other eco friendly products, such as bamboo toothbrushes, keep mugs, and bags made from old tyres. When I visited, I felt like a kid in a candy store.
They also have a water refill station, where you can fill up your water bottle. As many times as you want. Free water baby.
Lastly, they support a number of different initiatives from offering bamboo straws in their restaurant, keeping their food scraps for a nearby pigs dinner, and donating used cooking oil to Naga Earth.
All in all, you will feel really good about staying here. Plus, it was the most relaxing place I have stayed in a while .
Say No to Plastic Water Bottles.
Refill not Landfill - You buy a water bottle, which is under 5 USD in Cambodia. And at locations which are part of this refill not landfill initiative, you can fill up that bottle with clean water. No plastic bottle required. This started off as a small Siem Reap operation, and is no a worldwide phenomena with refill stations scattered worldwide.
Carry your own bag - learn to say no plastic bag in Khmer.
Carry your own plastic free bag around with you on your day to day adventures around Cambodia is a good idea. From shopping in the markets to retail shopping, have a bag handy to put your purchases in.
Also, learning how to say no bag please in Khmer could save you from having your things wrapped in plastic.
Support the initiatives above.
The initiatives that I explored above are only a small handful of the awesome things being done to reduce plastic use or repurpose plastic in Cambodia. Explore others, try the ones I have listed, get exploring with sustainable travel in Cambodia. Because once you leave, the people of Cambodia will have to deal with your plastic, not you.
Keep Cup and Bamboo Straw.
Who here likes coffee? Or smoothies? Me too, but I do not like the potential plastic outcome that can arise after purchasing one of these. Carrying your own keep cup and bamboo straw, is a good way of avoiding this. You can find keep cups and bamboo straws in stores while in Cambodia. Babel is one place which stocks them, they even have a collapsable cups. They stock reusable chopsticks, water bottles and coconut shell bowls. Basically everything but the kitchen sink.
The bottom line I suppose is to be aware about what you are purchasing. Is there plastic involved? Is there ways that you can mitigate this plastic? For example, asking for no plastic bag, bringing your own straw, or supporting businesses that are working at reducing plastic in their country. Cambodia is a beautiful place and it should not be treated as a landfill.