ພາສາລາວ
Last year, Coffey’s BEQUAL team in Laos decided to minimize its negative impact on the environment and to take action against single plastic use in the workplace
In July 2019, BEQUAL introduced a Plastic Waste Reduction Policy to contribute to more sustainable use of resources through emphasis on no plastic water bottles at meetings and workshops, reduced printing costs across BEQUAL offices, and no procurement of plastic folders for meetings and workshops.
In only 8 months, it is estimated that BEQUAL contributed to a reduction in usage of single use plastic bottles of at least 4,157 plastic bottles and 959 plastic folders.
80% of plastic water bottles don’t get recycled and each one takes at least 400 years to disintegrate in landfill. The plastic water bottles not used during BEQUAL workshops amount to 400-1,000 years of plastic pollution prevented.
Every BEQUAL member received a multi-use water bottle which they take to every meeting so they can stop using single use plastic bottles and become role models for our Ministry counterparts.
BEQUAL has been promoting its new policy at workshops and meetings to create awareness and understanding among our partners and Ministry of Education counterparts. As a result, the Teacher Training Colleges, responsible for the training of Laos’ next generation of primary teachers, have embraced the policy and have requested BEQUAL support to introduce the policy on their campuses!