MAY 15, 2023

Wow, it has been over a year in planning and preparing to launch this e-commerce website with our local team. It sure is a challenging and systematic process to pull the best people and products together. The dream has become a vision and the vision has become a reality. Now the hard work comes along with the goal of supporting entrepreneurs in CAMBODIA who provide us with unique and authentic products – for you.

The other way that MOTHER EARTH ISLAND is helping is through donating to charities that support nature preservation in the country. Wildlife, rivers, lakes, streams, mountains, and forests do not have a voice. They are called natural resources as they have become tools of development and consumption. Disregarded for their natural beauty and intrinsic value of providing life on the planet, nature needs your helping hand. For this reason, we partnered with the MEKONG RIVER CLEAN UP.They are the most well-known non-profit organization in Cambodia that focusses on removing tons of trash from the main tributaries of Mother Mekong.

When you proceed to checkout in our online store, we say that your basket is full. You do this by purchasing your favourite item that we put in an egg-shaped portrait. The eggs go in the basket and then you are prompted to donate to The Mekong River Clean Up and the WILDIFE ALLIANCE before you complete your transaction. For example, when you donate one dollar, we divide it evenly between our two charities.

Now, we must address the most polluted river in PHNOM PENH because it reminds us that nature needs stewards of the earth. I asked people who live along the shore banks “What is the name of that river?” and I always get the same response. “Smelly River” or “Black River.” The true name of this watercourse is the Stung Meanchey River which remains as an open drainage site of a former 100-acre urban landfill, surrounded by mostly slums. Watch this girl explain the issues here: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM It would seem that THE GUARDIAN newspaper article from 2016 had referred to this area as one of the most famous garbage dumps on earth.

I know that a river ecosystem which exceeds its ecological threshold in its adaptive capacity, cannot easily bounce back from the deluge of continuous toxins and sewage. It makes everyone on my team sad to hear the lack of ownership and identity of a river that was once full of life for fish, frogs, insects, and birds. Now it only bubbles and wreaks as a foul soup. Sounds like we found a worthy clean up mission. Let’s see what we can do together. As of last year, the local government cleaned up and dredged five kilometers to prevent flooding and disease, as mentioned in the article from the KHMER TIMES newspaper. There are still not any formal efforts to naturalise the stream other than make it a functional open sewer.

We would like to recognize the busy student group in Phnom Penh that is making a big splash since 2022 in removing plastic from rivers and streams around the City. Nisset Plastic has a great FACEBOOK PAGE and TIK TOK and INSTAGRAM, with a most recent newspaper article in the PHNOM PENH POST. They still need more volunteers as many students do not enjoy the smell or wading into water that is full of toxins and many other strange things. The youth group has also recently conducted large-scale garbage collection from under the Stung Meanchey Bridge to the Boeung Tumpun drainage canal. Way to go Team Nature! Follow for updates.

THANK YOU, A. BROWN

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