Looking at the small pretty garden located in a residential area on Morrison Street in Phuoc My Ward, Son Tra District, Da Nang, not many people think the garden used to be an abandoned dumpsite full of rubbish.

A board of garden rules board is designed by the team members themselves on a discarded wooden plank. Photo: T.PHUONG

The turning of vacant land into a community garden is part of the ‘Zero Waste Community’ project which has been carried out since February 2022. The project has attracted the participation of nearly 1,500 people.

Covering an area of 330 m², the land area is divided into 3 areas for growing medicinal plants, flowers and vegetables. Most of the plants are contributed by members of the community.

At around 5:00 pm every day, members of the ‘Zero Waste Community’ project come to each surrounding household to collect and sort waste, and compost to plant trees.

Ms. Vu Hong Thanh, co-founder of the ‘Zero Waste Community’ project in Da Nang, hoped that the activity will raise public awareness about ensuring environmental protection, promoting the classification of solid waste at source, and making the use of waste to plant trees, thereby helping to reduce a large amount of domestic waste.

After sorting the waste, Ms. Vu Hong Thanh, co-founder of the ‘Zero Waste Community’ project in Da Nang, is putting organic waste into a hole for composting. Photo: N. QUANG

In the garden, trash cans are always placed according to the instructions on waste classification, which is convenient for people to sort their trash. Photo: X.HAU

An area is designated for growing medicinal plants such as lemon and lemongrass which can help people treat common flu and cold. Photo: X.HAU

In addition to medicinal plant and vegetable growing areas, there is an area earmarked for growing flowers in order to beautify the garden. Photo: T.PHUONG

Reporting by N.QUANG, X.HAU, T.PHUONG - Translating by M.DUNG