The news comes from the other side of the world. Chamcar Bei, a town of 4000 inhabitants located in the coastal province of Kep in Cambodia, is one of the few places in the country where they can just be waste, for its earthy streets.
In Chamcar Bei, most waste is worth money
For decades, humble people lived under the poverty line with rice and livestock such as almost unique economic livelihoods.
Until the 2008 Funky Junk this remote village, a British non- governmental organization, which offered to pay neighbors for collecting plastic bags piled up in every corner came.
Trash to fashion
The NGO will prepare proposed Funky Junk colorful fashion accessories that could be sold online to cleave money to achieve a better standard of living, especially for Cambodian children.
The organization realized the bottles, metal or wood were already purchased by other retailers, but the rest of waste, especially bags and plastic sacks piled on the roadside.
Hence the idea was born and now resident in jealously guard their plastic baskets until they have enough to sell. Funky Junk purchase each month about 160 kilos of material, but this amount is already scarce.
Therefore, the people have extended their activities to nearby towns such as cleaning the provincial capital, Kep, or the farthest and tourist Sihanoukville.
The trash can be fun and useful
Once collected, the bags are washed and cut into strips, then be woven in a small workshop that employs ten " seamstresses " the people. Plastic bits are then converted into fashion accessories like hats and bags, but also make baskets of different sizes and colorful designs that are sold at tourist sites or online.
Although the beginning was difficult, after 5 years, some women have become skillful weavers plastic. Now work five days a week in the workshop activity that brings them between 60 and 70 dollars a month, enough to buy meat and fish several times a week money.
This town and its inhabitants have become a symbol of what it really means to recover and recycle waste in a country where, according to a recent study by the Ministry of Environment, only 1.5 % of Cambodians believe that you need to keep clean communities to address the impact of climate change.
Tags: Accessories, bags, fashion, Plastic