July was a real highlight for the Mekong Elephant Park! We were one of 326 million people around the world to have taken part in the “Plastic free July” challenge. This challenge is set to fight against single-use plastic and aims to replace it with reusable items. Living responsibly was already part of our philosophy before, but this challenge has taken it to the next level!
Using resources harvesting straight from the forest next to the park, we created all our plastic alternatives to use, not only for the month, but for long-term use in the future. With the help of our mahouts, we make our daily items out of banana leaves, rattan, and bamboo.
We continue to share our tips and ideas as well as our latest zero waste creations on our Youtube channel.
You can check out more about our Plastic Free July through their report here.
We also made it our mission to preserve the forest and the environment, which is the natural habitat of our elephants, and which has graciously offer us with food and protection during our work days. With the border being closed in July, we took advantage of the downtime to plant banana, mango, papaya and many other trees around the park.
We believe that organic farming in one of the most effective and long lasting ways to go when it comes to making changes to the environment in Laos. It’s a way to say thank you to Mother Nature, to show respect to the biodiversity, to promote healthier soils. It’s important to pass this tradition to future generations not just as a challenge, but a way of life. In the near future we will be sharing more about our garden and Lao methods of alternative farming, so stay tuned.