Reducing plastic use to protect the environment

Update: 31/10/2018
In response to the recent ‘Making the World Cleaner’ campaign, from 28 September to 21 October, an arrays of practical environmental protection programmes have been taken place across Da Nang, drawing a great deal of attention and high praise from the general public.

The used nylon bags, collected from families are swapped for vegetables and lovely environmentally friendly items.

Besides appeals for garbage collection, the local districts launched a wide range of highly efficient and practical activities to reduce plastic use and disposal of non-biodegradable plastic bags into the environment, and enhance garbage classification for the sake of environmental protection.

Over recent months, the Hoa Thuan Tay Ward Women’s Union in Hai Chau District has appealed for local residents to collect and clean already- used nylon bags in order for them to be then sent to the headquarters of the ward’s authorities for proper treatment, instead of throwing them into dustbins for final disposal at the Khanh Son landfill as previously.

These nylon bags are swapped for vegetables and lovely environmentally friendly items.  

A local resident revealed that nylon bags are very lightweight, but during about 3 weeks, 70 families in her residential area consumed 12kg of non-biodegradable products in total.

It is no denying that plastic products bring convenience, but also produce a huge disastrous thing called ‘white pollution’, which has become a major issue in today's world.

‘White pollution’ refers to solid waste which comes from the usage of various types of plastic products.

Most plastic bags, which are a major source of pollution in the country, serve for around 10 minutes, and take up to a millennium to degrade.

Such meaningful activity aims at raising public awareness of the harmful impacts of plastic waste on the environment, encouraging them to consume biodegradable products, and promote the classification of trash right at families into 3 types - organic, inorganic, and recycled.

Noticeably, a group of women have taken advantage of a vacant land in their residential area to grow a variety of organic vegetables for sale. The money collected from the sales has gone to a fund which supports poor women. In the past, the problem of environmental pollution and the overgrowth of grass at vacant lots caused environmental pollution.

A large number of inhabitants across Hai Chau District have also been actively involved in preventing advertisements from being stuck illegally on power poles.

As for environmental protection activities in Son Tra District, importance has been attached to promoting garbage classification models at the source. It is targeted that, by March 2019, at least 70 residential areas with a combined total of about 14,000 families will have joined in waste classification activities.

Responding the Making the World Cleaner’ campaign, waste collection and beach clean-up activities have been organised sucessfully in the major wards of Hai Dong, Tho Quang, Nai Hien Dong and An Hai Tay in Son Tra District.

In a similar vein, the Thanh Khe District authorities have continuously encouraged locals to pick up litter along local beaches, and appealed for the use of biodegradable bags at all markets.

Sailing in the same boat with other locations, the Hoa Vang District authorities have appealed for locals to plant trees along 11 major roads and in already-upgraded rural areas.

According to a representative of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Japan’s Yokohama City is assisting Da Nang in managing solid waste, and promoting the classification of recyclable materials.

Source: Da Nang Today