Local NGO EcoDrive Releases Start Small, Start Now Hong Kong Plastic Crisis Documentary

Right in time for global campaign Plastic Free July, local not-for-profit (NFP) organization, EcoDrive, has released a documentary film about Hong Kong’s plastic problem. Start Small, Start Now, directed by London-based Photo Escapes Films, follows the journey of filmmakers John Alexander and Matthew Williams-Ellis as they catalogue the catastrophic effect of single-use plastic in the city and the waste debris problem engulfing public beaches and other city areas. The 18-minute short, available in English and Traditional Chinese, also offers simple solutions the local public can make to reduce plastic waste.

EcoDrive co-founder, Emily Lam Ho enthuses: “This film is a compelling illustration of how to encourage change and shows how the power of one person can make a really difference. We hope that our film will provide inspiration for the general public to rethink their consumer choices and reduce their single-use plastic consumption.”

Environmental issues, and plastic in particular, have increasingly become a key topic in film and television. After watching the award-winning documentary, A Plastic Ocean, EcoDrive commissioned the film to shine a spotlight on the crisis so that the local community could relate and understand the severity of plastic waste in the city specifically. Corporations and businesses are invited to sponsor a screening of Start Small, Start Now, with the aim that proceeds will allow the local organization to screen the film free of charge in schools and community groups across the city. The film has been added to school agendas in the 2018/19 school year.

“We bought the license for A Plastic Ocean so that this film can be screened in schools, and have also had it dubbed into Cantonese for the local audience,” explains Tansy Lau Tom from EcoDrive. “The combination of our new film telling Hong Kong’s story, and A Plastic Ocean explaining the global situation will prove very powerful to educate the next generation.”

Founded in November 2017, EcoDrive is made up of a team of 11 devoted mums from diverse backgrounds (lawyers, entertainers, entrepreneurs) dedicated to furthering social causes and looking to raise awareness about plastic waste in Hong Kong including advocating for behavioural change to address the city’s single-use plastic problem. Working with renowned foundations such as Plastic Oceans, WWF and the Jane Goodall Institute, they organize regular events and campaigns around the city to educate the public, with a particular focus on corporates and schools.

For more details about hosting your own screening, please contact: laura@ecodrivehk.com.

Want to break up with Single-Use Plastics? Here’s our complete Green Queen Guide. 

All images courtesy of Photo Escapes.