Sarah Rhodes has worked in the hospitality and tourism industry throughout her career and has a Masters in Tourism Management where she developed a keen interest in sustainable tourism. Following 4 years working for the South Australian Tourism in online marketing management and project management roles, she undertook training via the Climate Leadership Corps, lead by Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States.

After completing this training Sarah moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia where she worked primarily with the NGO sector and responsible tourism practices, during which time Plastic Free Cambodia was formed. Specialising in consulting to businesses and delivering educational workshops on the topic of plastic reduction and other environmental issues. Sarah now also consults to other countries around Southeast Asia thanks to the knowledge she has derived from her experiences and growing knowledge of climate change and plastic pollution issues in the region.

Sarah Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

• Strategies for plastic reduction and elimination programs in communities and in businesses

• Why small actions can have a big impact

• Waste and recycling problems and solutions in Southeast Asia

• Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders

Sarah's Final Five Question Responses:

What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?

Find a good support network. That would definitely be my advice. Find a good support network so that you've got someone to go through the ups and downs with. It can be challenging, can be very rewarding and it's definitely good to have a good crew of people around or even just one business partner that can support you through that.

What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?

I think it's the connection with people across the world, that people are really coming together. We're coming together and it's a very uniting thing to work on this. Also, being able to see the changes. When we work with a group of people and you see them light up with this new information and determination to do something. We're building a really strong network and it's across borders and quite phenomenal. I definitely think that's probably the most exciting part for me right now.

What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read?

Resolution by Russell Brand. There were some really good takeaways in there for me. He asked a few questions such as if every business decision you made, you ask yourself, "Does this hurt someone? Does this hurt the environment." I thought that was really cool and a good approach.

What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?

I actually would have to say podcasts. I normally start my day going to the gym and having a bit of a run and listening to a podcast. The gems of information that I've been getting have just really spurred me on for the day. There's some really inspiring stuff going on in the podcast world.

Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you're leading at Plastic Free Cambodia.

They can go to plasticfreecambodia.com. There are a bunch of resources on the website and we're also on Facebook and Instagram with the same name.