ANTI-PLASTIC FANTASTIC
A shared concern led 11 Hongkongers to found Ecodrive early this year to fight an environmental blight. They tell Oliver Giles why it’s so important to eschew single-use plastics and what they’re doing to spread the word
Leafy, quiet Magazine Gap Road is normally thought of as one of Hong Kong’s most desirable areas, but it feels like a battleground to Yolanda Choytang. “I walk my dog along that road and last September I snapped,” she recalls. “I was sick and tired of seeing garbage everywhere— plastic bottles, polystyrene containers. It was driving me nuts.” Disgusted, the founding partner of Central Weddings decided to take things into her own hands. “I grabbed my own garbage bag and walked up and down the road cleaning it all up—then, two weeks later, it was back! I went straight out with another garbage bag.”
In the midst of her personal war on rubbish, Yolanda met Laura Derry-southwood for a business meeting that quickly turned into a bonding session over plastic waste. “By the end of the meeting, Laura was saying, ‘You know what? Let’s do something about this,’ so we organised a screening of A Plastic Ocean last December,” Yolanda says, referring to a documentary about plastic pollution directed by Hong Kong-based filmmaker Craig Leeson that had deeply inspired both women, and which they hoped would similarly influence their friends.
The screening triggered a reaction Yolanda and Laura had not anticipated. “We were getting all these calls saying, ‘If you’re doing something about this, can you count me in?’” Yolanda says. They realised that if they wanted it to, that single screening could be the beginning of something much larger. So, after countless phone calls, emails and Whatsapps, 11 women banded together to establish Ecodrive in January this year.
Ecodrive is a non-profit organisation that aims to reduce the use of single-use plastics in Hong Kong. All the founding members had been growing increasingly concerned about the amount of plastic pollution they were spotting in the city’s streets, country parks and marine environment, but individually they’d felt there was only so much they could do. Together, they feel they can create real change.
The non-profit has developed a three-pronged approach to fighting plastic. First, Ecodrive is working with local and international schools to teach children about the impact of plastic pollution on the environment. It has bought a licence to screen A Plastic Ocean so it can be played at schools for free, and has had the film dubbed in Cantonese. Second, Ecodrive is advising companies on how to ditch plastic and become more eco-friendly. Finally, it is working on a variety of community outreach programmes involving everything from persuading members clubs to go plastic-free to screening A Plastic Ocean to 9,000 immigration officers. Between these three campaigns, the 11 founders are leaving no stone unturned.
The founding members, in no particular order, are Yolanda, Laura, Emily Lam-ho, Cissy Wang, Tansy Lautom, Sabrina Pang-fung, Angela Cheng-matsuzawa, Jennifer Wang-fang, Julie Lee, Claire Yates and Sherry Fung-wong. “We’re really all trying to contribute in the best way,” Angela says. “We all come from different backgrounds and have different skill sets, so we’re making use of that.”
Although the organisation is still in its early days, the founders are already seeing results. They have run multiple educational programmes in primary and secondary schools and have reached an estimated 4,000 children. “We don’t just go in and do a single presentation, we partner with A Plastic Oceans Foundation, WWF, the Jane Goodall Foundation and Plastic-free Seas to create expert lesson plans and workshops for the students about plastic use,” Laura says. “After one five-week workshop,” Jennifer adds, “I had kids coming up to me and saying things like, ‘We’re going to try and ask the shopkeeper to give us one free fish ball if we bring our own containers.’”
Some businesses have also been quick on the uptake. Claire Yates, founder of Hong Kong-inspired Lion Rock Press, has been heavily involved in helping companies audit their use of plastic. Following an audit assisted by Ecodrive, law firm Clifford Chance has strengthened its environmental policies and begun providing its employees with reusable cups, tumblers and steel straws—and this is all on top of the firm’s existing water filters, which save an estimated 34,000 bottles a year from going to landfills. “What we really want to do with each corporation or school we work with is to go deep,” Claire explains. “Raising awareness is the first step, but we really want to change people’s behaviour for the long term.” Members clubs have also been persuaded to change their ways after meetings with Ecodrive, with the Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong Jockey Club and Hong Kong Golf Club being just a few of the organisations that have made concrete commitments to reduce their use of single-use plastics.
And this is just the start. Ecodrive is in talks with more schools and businesses, and is devising a green pledge for sports teams it wants to commit to using reusable water bottles at training sessions and matches. “We’re working with sports teams of tiny children right up to adults and asking them to sign the pledge,” Jennifer says. “Escapade Sports and Urban Spring are sponsoring us for this campaign, so they’re offering their services and products to help us reach as many people as possible.”
Inspired by A Plastic Ocean, the team has also produced its own documentary, titled Start Small, Start Now, which exposes the plastic pollution problem in Hong Kong. “It’s important that people see that plastic pollution is a problem here in their hometown,” explains Emily. “It gives people a sense of urgency if they see it happening in their own backyard. And the film is great because it doesn’t just expose the problem, it shows what kind of solutions there are in Hong Kong.”
On top of that, Ecodrive is partnering with Edipresse Media Asia and the Soneva Kiri resort in Thailand this November to host its inaugural sustainability forum with business leaders from around the region. “We’re really pleased with what we’ve done so far—we’ve already reached 4,000 students and have influenced corporations, some of which have since cut down on tens of thousands of plastic bottles,” Laura says. “But there’s a lot more we can do. By the end of 2019, there are going to be a few more zeroes after those numbers.”