Yolanda Choy, co-founder of EcoDrive, is on a crusade to fight the burgeoning rise of single-use plastics.
By educating the public on the environmental damage caused by single-use plastics, EcoDrive co-founder Yolanda Choy hopes to create a greener, more sustainable future…
Tell us a little about your childhood.
I was born in San Francisco and grew up with my three sisters just outside the city in Burlingame, California. I stayed there until my graduation from high school before heading off to Indiana for university.
Did you have any particular career ambitions growing up?
I was a bit of a tomboy and wanted to be a fighter pilot and study at the US Naval Academy, but I ended up going to Purdue University and majoring in Aeronautical Engineering instead.
That’s when you moved to Hong Kong…
Yes. After graduating, my first job was with TVB as a news broadcaster and I did that for three years. I produced hard news and documentaries. Then I decided to go back to fashion because that’s where my family’s business roots lay.
When exactly did fashion enter your life?
To be honest, I grew up with it because my parents were in that industry. They had their own brands and were licensees for Givenchy and other big brands in the US. People see the glamour of fashion, but behind the scenes, it’s a tough business. I remember working afterschool at my father’s warehouse, handling small chores like ironing clothes from recently arrived shipments before repackaging them to be sent to the stores in pristine condition.
What led you to start EcoDrive?
A girlfriend of mine invited me to a screening of A Plastic Ocean at her office. At the end of the film, I was shocked at what I saw. I never knew that every single piece of plastic we’ve ever used is still on this earth today. In particular, Hong Kong’s recycling is broken, it doesn’t work. Soon after, I ended up having lunch with Laura Derry, who owns Prime PR, a PR company, to promote my business, Central Weddings, and we ended up talking about the plastic problem in Hong Kong and what we can do about it instead the entire time. I talked about A Plastic Ocean with her, and she said let’s do a screening of it, let’s tell everyone we know about the plastic story.
I knew none of my friends were aware of the plastic problem, and I wanted to share my new-found knowledge with them, to make a change. That’s how EcoDrive was born. After the screening, many of my friends contacted me in concern and said: “We have to do something about this. If you start something, I’d love to join you.” I thought, wow, maybe together we can create some impact for the environment locally.
Can you tell us about EcoDrive’s mission statement?
The mission statement is really to build awareness and encourage the reduction of single-use plastics. To fulfil this objective, we’ve split our board members into three teams – one focused on education, one to come up with community campaigns and a third to partner with corporates on sustainability initiatives and education. We’ve developed our own materials, presentations and screenings. We have our own film about single-use plastics, what is it, what can we do about it, and so forth. We give people different ideas on how they can make a difference to create a better, more sustainable world for future generations.
In terms of education, we used to go into schools and give talks, but we found that it wasn’t so impactful. So, we decided to create textbook readers to be incorporated into schools’ curriculums under general studies, and we raised enough funds to give these book to local schools for free.
We give people different ideas on how they can make a difference to create a better, more sustainable world for future generations.
Ultimately, our main goal is to focus on raising awareness about single-use plastics through education. However, we also organise community outreach programmes as well. For example, last year, we created a campaign titled “Enough Plastic”, where we got 50 celebrities to say no to single-use plastics. It was a hugely successful campaign and one of the biggest of its kind, and we were floored by the response and the support that we received. I was also hugely grateful to the celebrities for donating time for this worthy cause.
“The government really needs to educate people on what can be recycled, and to subsidise the collection of recyclable materials”
How does Hong Kong’s environmental consciousness ranks in the world?
Honestly, I hate to say it, but it’s not great. The environment as a priority for Hongkongers is very low, but actually, before the Covid-19 crisis, that was improving. The more people learnt, the more shocked they were at how we were negatively impacting the world for the generations to come.
How can we improve the situation?
Realistically speaking, though, I think the government really needs to educate people on what can be recycled, to afford and to subsidise the collection of plastic bottles and other recyclable materials, and to give more incentives to do so. If you put a monetary value on every single plastic bottle – let’s say five or 10 cents each – people would not be throwing them away on the street. They just need a little push.
Most people don’t even know what kind of plastics can be recycled in Hong Kong, but the list includes PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles, HTPE (High Density Polyethylene) containers like shampoos or detergents, and depending on the collector and where it’s going, plastic bags. Other than that, nothing else is allowed. This is where education plays a big part, because, by and large, many people might be throwing away things like takeaway containers, bubble tea glasses and so forth, and these contaminate the entire load, making the whole collection bin unrecyclable and sent to a landfill instead.
Also, sadly, nobody is willing to come and collect the used bottles unless you pay for it. Recycling is not charity, it’s not done by NGOs, it’s actually run by businesses. Right now, virgin plastic is cheaper than used plastic because its collection is too expensive, which becomes a major issue when you consider that 7.5 million plastic bottles are used every day.
The good news is that even though there’s no governmental initiative on this front, it’s a different story on the corporate side. For example, I’m on the working committee for another NGO called Drinks without Waste, which was initiated by beverage companies like Swire Coca Cola and Watson’s Water because they want to come up with a means to collect used bottles. The aim is to encourage Hongkongers as well as drinks suppliers to form a sustainable recycling system, one that sees used bottles collected for reuse rather than sent to fill our already-at-capacity landfills.
Swire Coca Cola, Alba and Baguio Green Group have also banded together to create the city’s first PET and HTPE processing plant, New Life Plastics, which will open at the end of this year at the Eco Park. The problem, though, is that they need 30 tonnes per day in order for it to operate efficiently, which is a staggering amount. That’s why we need to encourage people to join the cause, to ensure its long-term success.
“Recycling is not charity work, it’s not done by NGOs, it’s actually run by profit-seeking businesses”
You’ve also co-founded Central Weddings. How did that come about?
I wanted to go into a lifestyle business such as furniture and decorative pieces to get away from fashion. I proposed different ideas to the landlord at the time, and they actually said point blank that if I started a prestigious luxury wedding boutique, I’d get the space. The bridal gown business is quite interesting, because there’s little to no waste. We have a set number of samples to try, and each dress is then tailor-made for the client. Unlike fast fashion, we don’t have much inventory to sell at the end of each season.
Did your prior experience in the fashion industry with brands like Fendi and Dior help with this venture?
It’s completely different because previously I had worked in marketing and PR, and none of that helped at all. Fashion marketing is about selling the latest season’s collections to the media and the public, and in the bridal industry, we don’t really have that fast-paced change. Another thing we did in marketing was to create brand loyalty, but again, this isn’t so for weddings. Once a bride buys a dress, she’s not likely to come back. Our way of handling this, then, is to market through word of mouth and with collaborations with hotels, wedding planners, photographers and more to keep our image fresh.
During your downtime, how do you like to relax?
I have too many hobbies and interests, I love classical music, the piano, the violin… I love being outdoors and enjoy skiing, wake surfing, hiking, coasteering and watching my son play baseball. My family has been to Austria every year for the past five years, too. I just love the adventure of it all.
Who has been your biggest source of inspiration?
There have been so many, but the biggest would be my mother. I think Chinese parents are very critical of their children, and words can hurt, but my mother was exactly the opposite. She encouraged us to be happy and to work hard and be motivated to get good results, which is the greatest gift.
Finally, tell us something people don’t know about you.
I love to play bridge. It’s a bit of an open secret, though, because I’ve gotten everyone to play with me now.
Thank you.
Interview by: Tenzing Thondup
Photos: Jack Law Art Direction & Styling:
Jhoshwa Ledesma Venue: Central Weddings
Wardrobe: black silk fringed dress worn over a wool skirt by Prada; outfits courtesy of second-hand designer store, The Hula