First steps to become plastic free!

Cambodia, like many other countries in Southeast Asia is struggling with plastic pollution. The beautiful city of Siem Reap is no exception. Limited recycling options and a lack of information and prevention has led to overconsumption of plastic, especially single use plastic.

With many local initiatives working to tackle this major problem, Kingdom of Wow want to do our bit and contribute. But to know where to start, we need to understand the real issue.

Knowledge is power

There’ll be no sustainable change without people understanding the effects of plastic pollution on the environment. Information is key! So I’m off surfing the internet, looking for relevant facts and compelling images. Gathering it all in a wonderful presentation (is it normal to enjoy PowerPoint this much?) I organise an afternoon with our team, to discuss plastic pollution and its consequences.

Finding everyday alternatives to plastic

Our next step is ACTION. We already use reusable water bottles and straws. But we want to do more. So, let’s think…

“Where is the plastic in our routine?” OMG plastic bags of course! Because we provide free lunches to our employees, the staff go to the market daily to buy food which is wrapped in so much plastic (believe me, in Cambodia they literally double wrap everything!).

So, we decide to replace this plastic with fabric tote bags, and why not customise them with our logo while we’re at it?

Even as a small company, we can make big changes!

We get in touch with Pure Dream Center, a local NGO that aims to empower local women by training them to sew and sell their products in Siem Reap. We visit them with our tote pattern and chose our fabric and fabric colours. For printing our brand, we work with Silk Screen Printing Lab, a social enterprise supporting local communities through creative workshops and training initiatives. The result is perfect!

This is a small, but meaningful beginning for us. Remember to leave us your comments and tell us what changes you’ve made in an aim to reduce plastic in your daily life!