"Zero Waste" Competition

“I only feel angry when I see waste.  When I see people throwing away things we could use.” Heartfelt words from Mother Teresa is the message we want to share with the children. ​

Due to the lack of waste management in rural Cambodia, most of them are either burnt or buried.  We hope to, through the power of education, create environmental awareness about waste management in Cambodia.  Hence, we are hosting our first ever “Zero Waste” Competition! 
 
This month, in celebration of World Environmental Day, our youngest volunteer Zeleen from Singapore is taking the lead to organise the “Zero Waste” competition together with Grade 11 local students Pokim and Bunsao. 

​On the project kick-off day, there was no hiding of excitement!  Pokim shared, “I think the competition will build up my courage as it would challenge me teaching other students about the environment.”  As for Bunsao, he believes this competition can help students to understand more about the impact of waste on the environment and begin to take care of it better.  ​

Besides the united passion, the team shared incredible (and creative) ideas about the possibilities of this competition.  They are now busy creating flipboards and videos to educate other students and their families about Waste and more importantly what they can do to save our environment.   
In the heart of the competition, teachers, students and their families will be tasked to use waste found at home or in their village to create a useful product or decorative piece of art.  

​Over the course of 2 months, the team intends to spread the words about the “Zero Waste” competition to as many students as possible.  Hopefully, the communities will be inspired by what they have learnt and unleash their creativity as individuals or as a team to come up with ideas on how they can help the environment… and of course to win the competition too! 

After doing some research on the topic and sharing her learnings with us on a group call,  Pokim is now working closely with Zeleen to create the digital version of an educational flipboard on her laptop.  As for Bunsao, he is getting started on filming videos to not only educate others but to disseminate the message and details of the competition. Bunsao and Teacher Sarith have also enlisted the help of the Deputy Director at Areanh Reangsey Secondary School (one of PeopleStories’ partner school in Bakong) as they have the required tools and materials to make the videos. ​​

We are also grateful to have Teacher Sarith mentoring the group and he shared, “I believe this competition will help to improve our living environment and inspire students to use their creativity for the competition. I think this event will not only urge my community to reduce and reuse their waste, it can also elevate the family economy in my community.”  Aren’t the responses of Teacher Sarith, Pokim and Bunsao inspiring?  We are so glad that they find great purpose in this competition! 
 
By organising a competition and roping in the help of students and teachers there, we want to spread knowledge and encourage creativity to reuse, reduce and recycle waste in Cambodia to mitigate the impact of global warming caused by the burning of waste in rural area.   
 
We are looking forward to the experience, results and the submissions for this competition at the end of July and sharing them with all of you!  Let’s all work towards living in a more beautiful and greener world!   
 
Share with us on our Facebook or Instagram  on what actions you have taken to create a cleaner and greener world! Don’t forget to include ‘#One4Environment’ to unite with like-minded supporters.  ​

Written by: Zeleen Thum