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recycling lessons this first world gal learned in a third world country!

while there are a few environmentally unfriendly things going on in Cambodia, for example, scooters & truck exhaust surely aren’t meeting any emission standards. AND then there’s the littering issues – which apparently have greatly improved! there’s a lot i discovered about Cambodia that IS environmentally friendly. it may simply be that it’s a third world country and because of limited funds and resources they are more cautious with their use of things. no matter what, i found this refreshing as we are having to go back and make up for our excessive misuse in the ‘developed’ world.

one of the reasons i went to Cambodia was to participate in a Habitat for Humanity house build there. thirty percent of the population in Cambodia lives in poverty. like on a $1.25 a day. just to put things a little in perspective, the family i built the Habitat house for has a household income of $225 a month. definitely not enough to become landowners and build a home without the help of Habitat for Humanity. i truly love this organization and believe whole-heartedly in their mission. Habitat scrutinizes applicants to find the right people to help, knowing their example will in turn help others. they believe in a hand-up not a handout. the homeowners are expected to work on their own homes and future Habitat homes in their community. HOW FABULOUS!

never having done a build before, it was a very eye-opening experience, to say the least. for starters, the limited materials and tools used was interesting. talk about ways to recycle and reuse. scrap wood was fashioned into a rickety ladder. broken bricks weren’t cast away but later used as rubble to fill the foundation. trows were used to mix and place cement for wall building BUT also as tool to break bricks in half or quarters. whatever was needed to complete the walls we were building. nothing was thrown away – all materials were used in one way or another.

then there was the water people used because of the lack of piped water to the homes. they had huge ceramic pots that collected rain water. this was their everything water – baths, cooking, drinking. each house seemed to have two per household. people have asked me since, were these pots covered? how did they sanitize the water? to be honest, i’m not sure. we used this water during the build and were told to be careful not to contaminate it in any way. we used it to wash our hands AND we watched children bath in it. drinking and cooking – well, perhaps they boil it first. i really cannot say first hand. in any case, they were not wasting that precious rain water that they pray for since it’s vital to their survival.

from what i saw, they literally reuse and recycle everything. cans get turned in and glass bottles get reused to sell petrol for motorbikes. it’s fascinating. even the cement bags like we used during the build are recycled and made into items sold in stores and markets all around. i’m talking made into luggage bags, placemats and even little fashion clutches. i even witnessed scrap fabric being bagged up and sold for furniture stuffing.

it made me realize how much we toss away that could be repurposed. i think those Cambodians are actually quite wise in their use of things. have you ever stopped to think how you could reuse, reduce or recycle things you have used in your life?