Students and monks join the ‘One Step No Plastic’ campaign in Battambang province on January 29. PHOTO SUPPLIED
The “One Step No Plastic” campaign, founded by a pair of youths with the goal of getting rid of plastic waste in the environment, has now wrapped up. The campaign was held in the capital and four provinces, all of which have strong tourism potential.
When they visited each province they organised a gathering of young volunteers and solicited additional help from the local community. They then headed to certain target areas and cleaned them up. The garbage they collected was hauled away to be processed.
In addition to Phnom Penh, four provinces were initially selected: Kep, Siem Reap, Kratie and Battambang.
Battambang was the last province where the campaign was held on January 29. Now, the organisers have closed the first part of their campaign but it may continue if it receives financial support.
Virak Monica, co-founder of the campaign, said that more than 1,000 people participated in the campaign in Battambang. They were from the tourism community, the provincial environment department, Battambang town hall officials and students.
“After the end of this campaign, we see that there is interest from the relevant institutions who want this campaign to continue,” she said.
The “One Step No Plastic” campaign not only rallied to collect garbage, but also to educate the participants and residents about the impact of plastic waste thrown away into the environment.
The campaign also encouraged people to try to reduce their use of plastics by replacing them with environmentally friendly materials, allowing them to be recycled.
As for the continuation of the campaign, Virak Monica said that it depends on whether they wiill receive further support in the form of both participation and contributions of financial aid
She said the youth teams who have contributed to the campaign are happy that these activities have come to fruition, especially because it made people more aware of plastic waste management.
The campaign has collected various amounts of garbage: Kep province collected 500kg, Siem Reap 1,200kg, Kratie 500kg and Battambang 350kg.
The main activities of the campaign were in Phnom Penh, where they managed to collect 10,000 tonnes of garbage.
