“I used to think that not throwing away a few plastic bottles would not solve anything since numerous people out there have dumped so much into the environment. However, now I realize that making a difference in reducing plastic pollution even reducing one plastic bag can help inspire a positive life for myself and others."

Young people loving the environment have been eager to return to offline environmental activities. (Photo taken before social distancing due to COVID-19)

From an small action to a big dream

Bui Tien Thanh, a 4th-year student of Faculty of International Studies, University of Foreign Language Studies, University of Da Nang, is known by many friends as a guy who is very interested in the issue of plastic waste. Most of his friends currently no longer wonder why he asked the restaurant not to offer plastic straws and spoons to customers when going out with Thanh; even if a place uses a lot of plastic, Thanh will not come back there again. Thanh realized that each person can and should have a direct responsibility to contribute to reducing the harmful effects of plastic waste in their way.

Recently, the scientific research paper of Thanh and his friend Vo Hoang Bao An with the topic entitled ‘A study on consumer packaging reuse behaviour in Da Nang’ has just been awarded the first prize at the school level and was selected to send to the Ministry of Education and Training for award consideration.
Thanh chose his own path to research a different topic compared to other same school students due to his obsession after witnessing the severe flood in Central regional localities in 2019. He realized that climate change has caused many casualties, and floods also reveal tonnes of floating plastic waste that we ourselves have released into the environment. That image had urged Thanh to do something bigger than just reducing plastic waste in his daily life.

For the time being, Tien Thanh and his friend are developing a topic to submit to foreign journals and deploying another study that is also directly related to the reduction of plastic waste. Moreover, he intends to go abroad to study sustainable development after graduating since this is an inevitable global trend and he wants to make a practical contribution to it.

Inspiring young adults to act for the environment

What can be noticed among young people in Da Nang is that plastic waste reduction is not simply a volunteer movement at certain times, but it is contagious even during an outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you cannot directly collect garbage on Son Tra Peninsula, beaches, riversides, these young adults have also constantly organized or participated in online activities.

Being "stuck" in her hometown due to the pandemic, Nguyen Thi Thanh Bich, a 3rd-year student at the University of Economics, UD, has still been busy with lots of projects to reduce plastic waste. Thanh Bich was excited when many friends and relatives found the eco-friendly shopping bag that Bich received when participating in a nationwide online talk of an organization connecting young people who love the environment in November cute. It was even more fun when they have gradually changed their habits to use the same eco-friendly kind of bag to go to the market instead of using disposable plastic bags.

In addition, Thanh Bich has also participated in a bunch of activities of different projects and organizations with the participation of thousands of friends from all over the world. Being exposed to peers who always carry the flame of love for the environment, Bich feels strongly inspired. "Sometimes because I'm too thrifty with each plastic item, someone says I'm "crazy", but I'm glad that more and more friends are "crazy" like me," Bich shared.

Apart from that, Thanh Bich is also an active member of the Green University DUE project in the role of Deputy Head of the Project Organizing Committee. Currently, online programmes are still regularly organized such as the ongoing "Green Poinsettia " contest with the participation of 400 young people in Da Nang, the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City on the topic of knowledge and practice of plastic waste recycling.

In the upcoming times, the "Green Booths" project is going to be organized with the cooperation of businesses to bring friendly and suitable products to students. Moreover, a plan that is eagerly being launched is to collect and recycle milk cartons in primary schools, thereby educating children to love the environment by doing simple but useful things.

Having been fired by other inspiring people, now young people like Tien Thanh, Thanh Bich wish to spread that love for the environment to more people to have more actions to live an eco-friendly life.

Reporting by THU HOA- Translating by T.VY