Funk from Junk
Carpe Diem Travel has been a wonderful client of ours for years. We love the whole ethos of the company – socially responsible travel in Cambodia and Laos. Debbie and Mark have a real commitment to the countries and should be your first port of call if you are interested in travel to these amazing places.
The article below, however, is about Funky Junk, an enterprise which came out of a discussion about abandoned plastic rubbish bags.
Funky Junk meeting King of Cambodia
This is an article reproduced with permission from Ethical Corporation.
Carpe Diem Travel is making a difference on the ground – literally. The London-based non-profit tour operator began its FunkyJunk social enterprise in Cambodia, its most popular tourism destination, to offer locals a sustainable income and rid the landscape of plastic bag waste by employing locals to turn the bags into clever everyday items.
The programme resulted from the founders’ experience volunteering in the country, where they saw the scarcity of jobs and the amount of litter, particularly plastic bags. In speaking with the locals they learned that other rubbish, such as plastic bottles and tin cans, could be sold to recycling companies but no facility existed for bags.
Enter FunkyJunk. To make their wares, plastic bags are collected by rubbish pickers and brought to the FunkyJunk centre where they are washed, disinfected and dried in the sun. The bags are then sorted by colour and made into yarn, which is crocheted into a range of sellable goodies such as storage jars, waste baskets, plant pot covers and patio cushions.
Products are made by community groups, locals who are trained for two weeks by existing FunkyJunk producers. The groups are led by a local project manager and supported by the FunkyJunk cooperative board, comprised of volunteers with business and NGO backgrounds. Carpe Diem Travel also brings fair trade experts in to ensure the business is adhering to international best practices.
FunkyJunk products are sold through the Artisans Association of Cambodia and directly to hotels, schools and small local fair trade stores. They have made their first two shipments to Australia and hope to get business in the UK. All profits are reinvested in projects that help the local Cambodian community and the environment.
Founder Debbie Watkins says: “By creating a self-sustaining enterprise we use business best practice as a means to improve peoples’ living environment, while helping them gain a source of income and build a stronger sense of self-worth.”
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?contentid=6889
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