Images recently posted on the Da Nang’s urban management Facebook page, showing members of the Stand Up Paddle Board Da Nang (SUP Da Nang) club voluntarily cleared litter left on the Han River, has gone viral on social network and received numerous comments full of compliments from followers.

SUP Da Nang’s members collecting litter left along the popular Bridge of Love Locks

Previously, Facebooker Kevin Nguyen had posted a picture of the rubbish floating on a section of the Han River which runs through the Bridge of Love Locks along riverside busy Tran Hung Dao Street, Son Tra District.

It is a concerning issue because of mindless littering, of course, adversely affects the environment and blights the image of this tourist-packed attraction.

Feeling disappointed by the trash left here, about 10 members from the SUP Da Nang decided to take action. They wore life jackets, and brought garbage bags and long-handled rackets to collect the floating rubbish in the river. After only a short time period, a large amount of waste left here was collected.

The good deed done by SUP Da Nang receiving high public support and praise

According to Le Tan Minh Huy, a representative from SUP Da Nang, each member of this club has always wanted to join forces with the community to keep the environment clean and green.

It is known that SUP Da Nang consists of about 100 members who share the same passion for stand up paddle boarding. This is an offshoot of surfing that originated in Hawaii. Unlike traditional surfing where the rider sits until a wave comes, stand up paddle boarders stand on their boards and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water.

Before they cleared the trash along the Han River section, the SUP Da Nang members had been actively involved in cleaning up the environment on the Son Tra Peninsula.

Despite scorching heat during the summer, along with the hard and dirt toils facing them, the praiseworthy men collected a large volume of litter left by mindless acts of visitors on Obama rocks, and saved coral reefs from choking ‘ghost nets’ (fishing nets) that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen.

In addition to joining in environmental cleanups, SUP Da Nang shows its willingness to partake in volunteer activities whenever they can.

More recently, last month, the club’s members presented relief goods to residents living in flood-hit villages in Thuong Hoa Commune, Minh Hoa District, the central province of Quang Binh.

Images of the Black Rock Area before and after the cleanups

In active response to appeals made by the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and tourism beaches for environmental cleanups at the peninsula-located Da Den (Black Rock Area) early this year, SUP Da Nang was highly appreciated as one of the most active participating groups.

“Because the terrain at the Black Rock Area is quite rugged, large boats are not allowed to access this site. Therefore, we had to use standup paddle boards as a means of transport for carrying large bags of collected litter”, said Huy.

Standup paddle boards carrying a large number of rubbish bags

Such highly meaningful trash-cleaning activities done by SUP Da Nang, indeed, contribute to keeping the environment clean and beautiful, and convincing others to do the same and to behave environment-consciously by doing the smallest deeds.

In fact, there is no denying that permanent change will only happen when people stop littering instead of waiting for others to clean up.