Persistence, effort...
Having just returned to Co To of Quang Ninh, Ms. Thu Phuong (Hanoi) feels the landscape and environment of this famous tourist island district are more beautiful.
From the port to the beaches, then to Co To Con or Thanh Lan islands, it is very difficult to find garbage, especially plastic bottles, as before.
This is also the common feeling of tourists when coming to Co To Island recently.
That achievement is not easy to achieve, but it has been achieved thanks to efforts over time, with many measures to reduce waste, especially plastic waste, improve the tourism environment, develop tourism products in a sustainable, green - clean - beautiful direction.
Many activities have been carried out regularly, methodically and in a routine manner such as: "Sea Clean" Campaign, "Green Sunday" movement, or waste classification at source, organic fertilizer cultivation from household waste...
In 2022, Co To island district will implement the project "Co To island district has no plastic waste". After only 2 years of implementation, very positive results have been shown: Step by step, overcoming and improving environmental pollution, especially plastic waste.
The project has spread widely among all classes of people, especially those doing service and tourism business, because only environmental protection and good landscapes can help develop sustainable tourism.
One-time plastic bags and plastic items are gradually being replaced with environmentally friendly products that are easy to decompose and gradually move towards saying no to disposable plastic items.
In August 2022, Co To propagated and encouraged visitors and people not to use plastic bags and disposable plastic bags. From January 1, 2022, the People's Committee of Co To district stipulates that visitors do not bring plastic bottles, plastic bags, materials that are at risk of environmental pollution on the island. Accordingly, as soon as the first port of Ao Tien, visitors were informed through the public speaker system about not carrying plastic bottles and plastic bags on board to the island. From September 15, 2023, Co To forbids visitors to bring disposable plastic to the island.
Many hotels and restaurants on the island also use glass bottles instead of plastic bottles.
Along with that, every Friday, organizations, students, owners of service and tourism businesses clean up trash at beaches, residential areas, etc.
... and the results
Ms. To has implemented green criteria for restaurants and hotels in the district.
Not using plastic bags, classifying waste, not using disposable plastic bottles are the first and final criteria, which are mandatory to be recognized as a tourism establishment that meets the green criteria.
When recognized as meeting the green criteria, it is like a green book on Facebook, proving that the facility is reputable and responsible for the community.
Currently, Co To continues to develop tourism products and services that meet green criteria, including: plastic-free tours, tourism programs combined with garbage collection...
"Tourism is the key industry of Co To. Our income is largely based on tourism and services, but if you want to develop sustainably, in addition to good services and products that need to protect the landscape and environment. Therefore, we determine that we will always actively join hands to protect the environment and landscapes of Co To" - a owner of the facility on Co To Island.
According to the representative of the Department of Culture - Information and Tourism of Co To district, accommodation and tourism service establishments participating in striving to meet this criterion not only create a unique feature of the locality but also contribute to the conservation and promotion of marine biodiversity.
Green, clean sea, and little garbage on the shore are what can be seen when coming to Co To in recent years.
Not only that, during this time, some rare marine animals occasionally appear near Co To beach after many years of absence such as: Sea turtles, pork. Many coral reefs are recorded to be recovering and growing well.
This is a sign of the increasingly better marine environment, including measures to increase waste treatment and environmental protection, especially the marine environment in Co To.
