Thanks to their creativity and awareness of environment protection, in recent times, a large number of Da Nang inhabitants, especially the young, have been actively involved in reducing the use of plastic products, and recycling plastics.

Teachers from the Rang Dong Kindergarten displaying lovely products made from recycled materials

More recently, pupils from the Quang Trung Primary School attended an exhibition displaying products made from plastic waste, held by the Son Tra District Youth Union (YU) organisation.

The pupils turned old plastic items into something new and useful, including lovely colourful flower pots, decorative tables, organs, drum sets, bookshelves, and chessboards. 

Ms Le Thi Hai, the Secretary of the YU organisation of the Rang Dong Kindergarten, Tho Quang Ward, Son Tra District, said she and other YU members joined efforts to make useful products from waste.

An inviting playground has been created for the school’s kids, and this venue is equipped with a set of tables and chairs, toys, fun musical instruments and decorations, all made from waste, such as old tyres, bottles and plastic boxes which were cleaned and re-painted. This kind of meaningful activity helps to educate children how to recycle waste, hereby contributing to protecting the environment.

“It is useful to reuse waste such as old car tyres collected at scrapyards and car repair garages”, Hai added.

UY member Huynh Thi Phuong Thao from Man Thai Ward said she and her friends spent much time collecting old plastic bottles to make trash bags, brooms, bookshelves, and learning tools.

Like those in Son Tra District, YU members in the rural district of Hoa Vang also show their keen interest in recycling and reusing waste.

The Hoa Vang District YU organisation has launched a number of contests to make products from waste items.

Given that plastic takes several hundred years to dissolve, and that Viet Nam is amongst the countries that dispose of the most waste plastic in the world. In particular, Da Nang is seeing upward trend in the number of young people doing something useful with old plastic items.

Recently, a fair featuring swapping of used items has been organised, attracting a great deal of attention from UY members across the city.

On display were a wide range of waste items available for swapping. Included were clothes, shoes, hats, briefcases, purses, handbags, watches, stuffed animals, books, comic trips, magazines, cards, souvenirs, ornaments, and toys.

The fair, showing off a total of 11 booths, was part of a project developing Hoa Vang into an environmentally-friendly district. The intention was to promote the non-use of plastic bags and the 3-R (reduce, reuse and recycle), and encouraging locals to make full use of old items that are still useful instead of throwing away and buying new ones.

Mr Nguyen Van Quyen, the Deputy Secretary of the Hoa Vang District YU organisation said, activities mentioned above help to raise public awareness of environmental protection, and in line with the theme of World Environment Day 2018: ‘Beat plastic pollution’.