We love that our partners and sponsors in Siem Reap are socially responsible businesses and highlight some their sustainable and charitable works.
The Butterfly Pea Charitable Foundation
Our Key Workshop Partner and Closing Night Partner, the Butterfly Pea is more than just an inviting little boutique hotel with a riverside view. Proprietor John Ganshaw plays an active role in community work while ensuring that the hotel pays the staff fair wages.
A portion of the hotel’s proceeds supports the initiatives of the Butterfly Pea Charitable Foundation founded by John after a visit to the village weavers at Prek Toal Village, who make the water hyacinth products for the hotel. Since then the foundation has been dedicated to assisting in the education and healthcare of its residents. For the past two years, the foundation has provided a free clinic once or twice a year to the village.
Students at a Prek Toal school. Photo courtesty of The Butterfly Pea Foundation.
Education is at the heart of the foundation’s goals. It delivers educational materials, games and sports equipment to the children and schools at the village, as well as supply them with much-needed equipment like chalkboards, chalks and fans. In the pipeline is to build environmentally sustainable toilets for the school. The foundation also provides education opportunities for children who want to pursue a higher education outside of their village.
“The aim of the foundation is to provide opportunity for the students and teachers,” says John.
Besides student development, The Butterfly Pea Foundation also assists in teacher development and has hosted several teacher leadership workshops for the teachers from Prek Toal.
“We want to provide professional growth for the teachers, most of whom have no professional development after they receive their teaching certificate,” says John, who is constantly researching ways to grow and expand the foundation and its goals.
Green Hotels
We love the work that our Accommodation Partners Mulberry Boutique Hotel, and Baby Elephant and their sister hotel, BE Happy, are doing. Not only are they charming hotels with lovely tropical gardens and enticing saltwater pools, they are dedicated to sustainability and reducing their environmental impact by going plastic-free.
This means that they use bamboo straws, refill their toiletries dispensers and send their staff on sustainability courses with Plastic Free Cambodia. In the guestrooms, there are glass water bottles instead of plastic mineral water bottles. At Mulberry, guests are given complimentary reusable water bottles for their personal use.
Eco-friendly products at Mulberry Boutique Hotel. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
“There’s a lot of problems in Cambodia about plastic and a lack of knowledge about the issue. It is our social responsibility to show our staff how to care about the environment and the plastic problem,” says Mulberry’s General Manager Karl Diederich. Karl and his team regularly take part in clean-up and greening operations around Siem Reap with other conscientious hotels, restaurants and organisations that want to beautify the city.
At Baby Elephant Boutique and BE Happy, they have an on-site kitchen garden that supplies their restaurant and bar. Being vegan friendly, there are many vegan and vegetarian options on their menu. The team here is committed to community work and encouraging responsible tourism on top of its green practices.
These green hotels are doing their bit for the environment while offering superb hospitality so check them out when you are in Siem Reap.