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Cambodia's plastic pollution is in the news again. We all know that rubbish disposal, in particular plastic and polystyrene, is a big problem all over Cambodia, but what can be done?

Cambodia’s plastic problem
7 June 2018
On a street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a seafood café is setting up for the evening rush. Styrofoam boxes are being ripped open, and the broken tops dumped in the street. Prawn-filled plastic bags are emptied into trays, and thrown out. In a few minutes a small mountain of trash piles up on the sidewalk.

As a rickshaw trundles by, the riders chuck an empty plastic drink container atop the heap. It is but one of hundreds of mounds of plastic that dot this rapidly urbanising city.

In April, the Guardian* featured a shocking photo essay on the accumulation of plastic trash in the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville, showing mountains of plastics dumped on streets and beaches. But this plastic dystopia is not unique to Cambodia. And if we don’t act now and cut it out of our daily lives, we along with the environment will suffer irreparable harm.

We live in a world of plastic. It is an amazingly convenient material, cheap, light, flexible, and durable. Used for bags, bottles and containers, it is in our homes, on our streets, at our schools and in our workplaces. But that rampant use has come at a heavy price.

According to a 2017 article in Science Advances, the worldwide total volume of plastic has reached 8.3 billion tonnes, the equivalent of more than 800,000 Eiffel Towers. Of this enormous amount, 6.3 billion tonnes have been disposed as waste.

In Cambodia, according to the ACRA Foundation, around 10 million plastic bags are used in Phnom Penh every day. Urban Cambodians use more than 2,000 plastic bags every year.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/opinion/c ... ic-problem

*https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... uted-coast

Sihanoukville. Guardian photo

I think the plastic bag problem has already been solved by putting a 500 r charge on plastic bags at supermarkets.
Now if only the same solution was used for land grabbing, deforestation, sand exports and bad Chinese drivers.

Styrofoam dishes are one of the biggest issues in my opinion and one of the easiest to fix through proper education campaigns.
When I lived down in Otres the locals would get their noodle soup from the soup lady in a Styrofoam bowl, chopsticks wrapped in plastic and a plastic spoon, once finished they'd throw the whole lot away and repeat it the next day. When I first turned up with my own ceramic bowl it confused the soup lady so much that she put the ceramic bowl into a Styrofoam bowl (!!), took me days to make her understand that I'm using my own bowl and cutlery.

I bought a load of loose bin bags at scamudera supermarket,all loaded into one open bin bag, also bought some pasta.

paid and she grabbed another bag and put the bin bags and the pasta in!

I removed them and used the bin bag. She looked confused

TheSiemReaper wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:55 am Styrofoam dishes are one of the biggest issues in my opinion and one of the easiest to fix through proper education campaigns.
When I lived down in Otres the locals would get their noodle soup from the soup lady in a Styrofoam bowl, chopsticks wrapped in plastic and a plastic spoon, once finished they'd throw the whole lot away and repeat it the next day. When I first turned up with my own ceramic bowl it confused the soup lady so much that she put the ceramic bowl into a Styrofoam bowl (!!), took me days to make her understand that I'm using my own bowl and cutlery.

Usually they would place a plastic bag in your noodle bowl to keep it clean. All of the Styrofoam bowls should be banned and replaced with biodegradable, reusable or edible bowls immediately.

Cambodia's plastic bag problem was in the spotlight at the Plastic Free Cambodia conference held yesterday in Phnom Penh.

Together, reduce the use of plastic bags in Cambodia
June 8, 2018
Phnom Penh: June 7, 2018, Pernod Ricard, the world's second largest maker of alcohol, has set June 7 for a "Responsib'All Day" under the theme of "Living a Pleasure with a Glamorous World" featuring more than 18,500 employees worldwide.

Employees from more than 85 subsidiaries around the world have joined over 100 local community projects to demonstrate their commitment and contribution to society.

Since the bag charges, I have used my own reusable bags as much as possible, not because of the charge, but because it has made me think about using less plastic. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I bought some small things from a hardware store when I asked for a bag they kind of looked at me like it was a weird request but gave me one. Same thing happened when I asked for a straw. Eventually plastic users are going to be demonized like smokers were.

Heng Heng Heng wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:15 pm Since the bag charges, I have used my own reusable bags as much as possible, not because of the charge, but because it has made me think about using less plastic. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I bought some small things from a hardware store when I asked for a bag they kind of looked at me like it was a weird request but gave me one. Same thing happened when I asked for a straw. Eventually plastic users are going to be demonized like smokers were.

My little local Mom/Pop shop still tries to give me plastic bags even when I take a shopping bag. I have to fight against a plastic bag every time I buy veges. The only thing that seems to work is if I take some used plastic bags and then that's ok.

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:30 pm

Heng Heng Heng wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:15 pm Since the bag charges, I have used my own reusable bags as much as possible, not because of the charge, but because it has made me think about using less plastic. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I bought some small things from a hardware store when I asked for a bag they kind of looked at me like it was a weird request but gave me one. Same thing happened when I asked for a straw. Eventually plastic users are going to be demonized like smokers were.

My little local Mom/Pop shop still tries to give me plastic bags even when I take a shopping bag. I have to fight against a plastic bag every time I buy veges. The only thing that seems to work is if I take some used plastic bags and then that's ok.

I have the same problem if i'm not fast enough they will have it in a plastic bag before I've got my bag out. It's to their advantage as well.

Heng Heng Heng wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:36 pm

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:30 pm

Heng Heng Heng wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:15 pm Since the bag charges, I have used my own reusable bags as much as possible, not because of the charge, but because it has made me think about using less plastic. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I bought some small things from a hardware store when I asked for a bag they kind of looked at me like it was a weird request but gave me one. Same thing happened when I asked for a straw. Eventually plastic users are going to be demonized like smokers were.

My little local Mom/Pop shop still tries to give me plastic bags even when I take a shopping bag. I have to fight against a plastic bag every time I buy veges. The only thing that seems to work is if I take some used plastic bags and then that's ok.

I have the same problem if i'm not fast enough they will have it in a plastic bag before I've got my bag out. It's to their advantage as well.

My "Mom" has a pile of new plastic bags that she's dying to dish out for free, so either they cost nothing... or they cost nothing. That's the problem I think.