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 Siem Reap is one of 24 provinces/municipalities in Cambodia, and is very famous for having many temples. The Siem Reap River is symbolically very important, flowing from Kulen Mountain across temple areas to the Tonle Sap Lake.
 On March 22nd, 2008, The Rubbish Project celebrated World Water Day along the Siem Reap River by building a huge Naga art installation which was 200m long and covered in recycled plastic. The founders of The Rubbish project, artist Mr. Leang Seckon and Ms. Fleur Smith spoke about the importance of a clean environment and the history of Naga which live in the river and need clean water. “In order to live healthy and long lives, people need to know that a bad environment cannot give people good living conditions. For example, if small dust comes into our eyes, it’ll make the eye hurt and you can not see anything. So we should care more about the environment around us and communities like we care for ourselves”, said Mr. Kim Chay Hieng, Siem Reap Deputy Governor.
 “Human being and living creatures can live by the four elements such as earth, water, fire, wind; inside the human body are these four elements. If someone lacks one of them, it will make them anxious, or have fever, feel dizzy or sick and sometimes make people get angry with each other easily. Moreover, water is our blood and life, if we drink water that contains viruses, we’ll get sick. Why do people to pollute water? We can live without jewellery; however, we can not live without water, even living creatures.” said Ven. Hiek Sopheap, Executive Director of The Association of Buddhists for the Environment. Ven. Hiek Sopheap encouraged Ms. Fleur Smith and Mr. Leang Seckon who came up with this idea to inspire people to collect garbage in order to live in good condition in the country, but also thanked authorities in Siem Reap province who make a big effort to collect plastic bags and other kinds of waste in the Siem Reap river everyday.
At the end of the celebration, all participants joined in a Recycled Fashion Show in which all the clothes were made from plastic bags and other waste. Download Click here for the first page of the ABE's brochure on caring for the environment through Buddhism. Click here for the second page of the ABE's brochure on caring for the environment through Buddhism. |
