With the love of nature, the love of beauty in the simplest things, and with the desire to make the place where they live and work more beautiful, the Trash Hero group has carried out 70 trips to pick up trash and clean the environment for nearly 2 years.

Ms. Mai Thi Kim Anh (middle), who is in charge of the Trash Hero Da Nang Group, and volunteers picking up trash to clean up the environment.

The Trash Hero group was founded in 2022 by Ms. Bui Thi Linh and her husband, Mr. Benjamin Lawson, an American nationality. Initially, the group had about 10 members who were volunteers and friends of Ms. Linh and her husband.

As a member of the group from the early days, Ms. Mai Thi Kim Anh who is in charge of the group, said that the group was established in September 2022 with members who were foreign tourists, foreign ex-pats living and working in Da Nang, volunteers and local people. The group has so far performed 70 trash cleanup operations in the city, mainly in public parks, beaches, areas under the Thuan Phuoc Bridge, coastal streets, and residential areas.

In late April, despite hot weather, the group members got actively involved in cleaning up Nguyen Huy Chuong Street in Son Tra District.

After about 1 hour, dozens of trash bags were moved by the group to the gathering place.

Every Saturday afternoon, group members are present at the predetermined location; receive gloves, bags and trash pickers; and start cleaning up the environment.

Ms. Kim Anh added that all group members were very enthusiastic. Whether it's sunny or rainy, they always arrived at the meeting point on time and pick up trash. It is the enthusiasm and awareness of environmental protection of foreign expats in Da Nang that has made her fall in love with the meaningful activity and stick with the group for nearly 2 years.

After more than 2 years of the operation, the group has so far had more than 50 members. Despite their different jobs and social status, all volunteers wish to contribute their time and efforts to make the place where they live and work cleaner and more beautiful.

According to Mr. Phoenix Transtar, 49-year-old American nationality, cleaning up trash to protect the environment and helping the community is a way to "practice gratitude for life." Not only does he actively collect trash, he also invites many of his friends to participate in the environmental protection activity when they have the opportunity to travel to Da Nang.

Among the active members of the group, Mr. Taras Kurian and his wife Anastasiya, both from Russia, have lived and worked in Da Nang for more than a year.

Sharing about the reason for participating in the activity, Mr. Kurian said "Even though I have only worked and lived in Da Nang for a short time, I really love Da Nang. Da Nang is very beautiful but there are many places where people carelessly litter. Going through streets full of trash will be very uncomfortable. I hope people will be conscious of not littering to make the living environment cleaner."

“Many foreign tourists coming to Da Nang enthusiastically getting involved in picking up trash and cleaning up the environment, so why can we be indifferent to where we live” Ms. Kim Anh noted.

In the coming time, the group hopes to connect with more individuals, groups and localities in protecting the environment. The group's message is to call on the community to be aware of throwing trash in the right place; limit the use of plastic items, nylon bags and items that are harmful to the environment; and use environmentally friendly products and items instead, she added.

Reporting by LINH DAN - Translating by M.DUNG, V.DUNG