Ten students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s (RUPP) Department of Media and Communications (DMC) have organised a campaign to reduce plastic use and keep the environment clean and green.

The campaign has already involved 200,000 people since November last year.

Re-Five is a DMC student-run digital campaign project that aims to educate and promote the use of the 5Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remind) for the management of plastic in daily life.

Campaign coordinator Nou Virak told The Post on May 20 that the project was first run online in November of 2020 by DMC students with the support of the Swedish government and UNDP Cambodia.

Chea Darapech, a DMC sophomore who is also a project member, told The Post on May 19 that the project aimed to change people’s attitudes towards using plastic.

“We launched and implemented this project by producing short educational videos and promotional digital posters on reducing and refusing plastics,” he said.

Darapech added that the project had initiated programmes to encourage public participation in the project such as a writing competition with the theme “Environment I aspire to”.

“The first phase of the project has reached out to 200,000 people after it was launched in November of 2020,” he said.

The workshop aimed to raise general knowledge regarding waste management and plastic recycling methods for RUPP students so that they will contribute to use less plastic with the 5Rs.

The workshop will also raise awareness on techniques to make compost and for students to provide input on how to reduce plastic use on the RUPP campus.