‘No plastic campaign’ reaches 4M
MINISTER of Environment Eang Sophalleth shared his pride at the growth of his “Today I will not use plastic” awareness campaign. He announced that over four million people from across the Kingdom have now joined the campaign, which aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated daily.
Sophalleth, who is also the head of the government’s national working group for Tbong Khmum province, made the remarks as he chaired a January 24 meeting of the working group, said an environment ministry social media announcement.
“The main goal of the campaign is to keep Cambodia – which is home to all of us – clean. The movement was first joined by teachers and students, then spreadtofactoriesandthentomoreand more people across the country. To date, more than 4.3 million people have taken part in the campaign,” he said.
The minister launched the campaign on September 1, 2023. He urged every individual from the capital and provinces – as well as the authorities at the sub-national level – to pay close attention to the campaign.
The ministry announced that the 4.3 million people who are backing the campaign include over 420,000 monks and 160,000 teachers, among others.
The campaign has been launched on 9,607 school campuses, 388 factories, 57 pagodas and 125 communities, in Phnom Penh and 16 separate provinces.
“A Clean Cambodian will attract more tourists and investors,” he said. “The ‘Today I will not use plastic’ campaign is one part of the ministry’s plans to clean up the environment. It aims to protect the beauty of Cambodia and keep it free of pollution by slowly reducing garbage and plastic waste.”
Prime Minister Hun Manet has previously noted that the waste generated by the increasing use of plastics pollutes the environment, harming people’s health, damaging the Kingdom’s biodiversity and detracting from its beauty.
“I give my full support to the campaign, as it will contribute to changing people’s attitudes and encourage them to reduce their daily plastic use,” he said, at the time.