One month ago, over 300 environmental volunteers, including senior high school pupils, university students, foreign visitors and ex-pats living and working in Da Nang, were involved in a clean up of Nam Beach on the Son Tra peninsula.  A total of 2.5 tonnes of garbage was collected.

Entitled ‘Clean up Danang’, the one-day event was in response to the ‘Clean up Vietnam’ programme, and it was jointly organised by the city’s Green Son Tra Peninsula Voluntary Organisation and the local branch of Let’s Do It Vietnam.

The intention was to raise the awareness of local people and visitors about protecting the local environment, and to make a tourist area on the Son Tra peninsula more green, clean and beautiful.

During the event, the participants gained an insight into the multi-biological systems on the peninsula, and they were shown how to classify garbage and re-use waste.

Volunteers participating in the event

Amongst the volunteers was Mai Thi Nhu who is an employee at the Military Hospital 17.  She said “I discovered this event on a social networking website, and I decided to take part in it because of its purposeful activities”.

Also involved in the event was the Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Tourism Beaches, Mr Nguyen Duc Vu.  He said “The meaningful event helps to uphold the public’s sense of responsibility for environmental protection, and to attract the active involvement of local citizens, and visitors from home and abroad, in such activities”.

Some of the garbage collected

Co-founder and Managing Director of Evergreen Labs company in Germany, Mr Jan Zellmann, stressed the need for the city authorities to take more effective measures to protect the environment on the peninsula in order to prevent it from becoming a ‘waste dump’ like some popular tourist attractions have become in other countries.

The Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Tourism Beaches, the city’s branch of the Evergreen Labs company, and local relevant agencies are doing their utmost to organise similar events in the city every weekend in order to promote local environmental protection.