We’ve been plastic-free for over two weeks now.  So far, we’ve found the journey to be fairly easy and straight-forward.  Yes, we’ve had to plan ahead what groceries to buy, where to get them, and what reusable bags/containers we’d need to take along but that’s a small sacrifice to make to reduce our plastic waste.  But now, we’re starting to miss snacks.

One of the things we’re quite accustomed to is having snacks around in the house.  When we get home from work, we have a quick bite to eat before we get dinner on the table.  The late night munchies are also a common occurrence here too.  There are only so many carrot and cucumber sticks one can snack on and we like a little variety in our lives.  Rice cakes, dates (and other dried fruit), cereal, peanut butter and … our guilty pleasure … potato chips are all enjoyed here.  Buuut, the plastic packaging is not.

Consequently, we’ve given them up our favorite snacks this month.  And today, we’re not happy about it.

It’s been a tough week at work and now it’s Friday night and we just want to sit down, watch TV, and enjoy a tasty treat.   We worked up the bravery (thanks wine), headed to Java Cafe with cloth bags in hand, and explained our mission in hopes of getting plastic-free snacks.  We expected to confuse everyone royally and walk away empty handed, but, as I whipped out my cloth bags and ordered potato chips to go, plastic-free, they nodded their heads and proceeded to fulfill my order (read: Friday night dreams).  2 minutes later, I had a cloth bag full of homemade potato chips.  Hoorayyy!

The folks at Java thought my bags were super cute and all agreed that plastic is a big problem in Cambodia.  I feel super blessed that I have these options here and that people are so open minded about what I always assume to be crazy requests.  I think if I was at home in Canada, tonight’s mission may not have been possible and perhaps I would have felt a tad crazier for trying.  Phnom Penh is awesome and I’m beginning to feel like this plastic-free endeavour is a community project with so many people and businesses supporting us.