Would you go to a school made of trash?
Concerned by the amount of trash people in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh produce each day, Ouk Vanday, decided to do something rather unusual and turn that waste into a school.
From plastic bottles to a beautiful flag
If you're going to throw your water bottles away after drinking, think again. At the Coconut School on Koh Dach island on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, bottles are craftily cut and spray-painted in different colors. They are then assembled to form a mural of the Cambodian flag. You can also do similar things at your school or house!
We don't need tiles
Covering walls and floors with tiles can be expensive, so why not use beer bottles instead? That's what Coconut School has done, as well as incorporating decorative flower motifs on the floor using bottle caps.
Decorating with plastic spoons and bottle caps
Students take special classes in recycling, reusing and hand crafting rubbish, so they are able to do their own projects. That, says the school's founder Ouk Vanday, not only helps reduce waste in the environment but also prompts the children to think creatively. In this photo, children are decorating the school's sign with plastic spoons and bottle caps.
Raise your plastic cups to the roof
Vanday does not earn any money from the school. Instead, he relies on donations from friends, college students and others to sustain it. Some cafes in Phnom Penh also donate their used plastic spoons and cups, which have in turn become part of the school's roof.
Flowers can blossom in anything
Anything can be a flower pot if one is creative and environmentally-friendly enough to realize it. The people at Coconut School are both and have even transformed tires into colorful containers.
Colorful ornaments made entirely of trash
At Coconut School, no waste is wasted because teachers and the students are always looking for different ways to transform their trash. In this room, no part of any plastic bottle goes to waste. Instead they're turned into ornaments.
Getting a green education
Vanday believes that to clean up Cambodia, young people need to be educated about the environment. They also need to be involved in sustainable activities themselves so they can see the impact and feel they are making a difference.