Spreading the message of green living
According to a report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the world produces about 430 million tons of plastic each year, of which more than 2/3 are single-use products, quickly becoming waste, polluting the ocean, seriously affecting the ecosystem and human health. In Vietnam, it is estimated that about 1.8 million tons of plastic waste are generated each year, but only about 27% is recycled, the rest is buried or burned, causing waste of resources and many potential environmental risks.
Recognizing the harmful effects of plastic waste on the environment and public health, many young people have proactively participated in activities to reduce plastic waste.
Giap Tung Duong - a 12th grade student at Ha Trung High School (Thanh Hoa) is one of the young people who actively participate in environmental protection activities, especially against plastic waste.
Duong said that he has participated in environmental sanitation activities organized by the school such as sweeping the school campus and surrounding areas. The school also has regulations prohibiting students from littering in public spaces and regularly launching movements to plant and care for trees and flowers to build a green - clean - beautiful learning environment.
Not only stopping at school, Duong also proactively spreads a green lifestyle in daily life. When I go shopping, I use cloth bags instead of plastic bags, the plastic bottles I don't throw away but reuse or recycle.
The male student shared that he was especially impressed with the large-scale garbage collection campaigns on rivers and lakes organized by volunteers and hoped to have the opportunity to participate to contribute to spreading awareness of environmental protection.
Many individuals and organizations have also proactively participated in garbage collection and classification activities to reduce the burden on the environment. Established in June 2022, the Tagom environmental protection project was born from the personal concerns of Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh - co-founder of the project.
At that time, Linh noticed that many organizations and clubs had participated in garbage collection, but almost only focused on a few popular types of garbage, while groups of garbage that were difficult to recycle had not been thoroughly treated.
Thanks to perseverance and openness, Tagom has gradually built trust with recycling partners, thereby expanding the classification station, transportation process and post-collection treatment system.
At the same time, Tagom established a clear process, starting with instructing people on how to classify and clean garbage at home, then bringing it to the station. Here, volunteers will support and guide more detailed classification, before transferring waste to the warehouse for collection and finally bringing it to recycling plants.
Green lifestyle nurturing from school
No longer a wall slogan, the green lifestyle is now seeping into every lesson, activity, and extracurricular activities. Schools are becoming the cradle to form a sustainable thinking for future generations from the smallest things.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huyen - a teacher at Nghi Kim Primary School (Nghe An) said that environmental protection awareness education has now been integrated throughout the teaching process, especially in subjects such as Nature and Society, ethics or Experiential Activities.
In each lesson, we try to integrate environmental topics from lessons about animals, plants, islands... to topics of green living, thrift, and waste classification. For primary school students, they can easily receive messages through images, stories or familiar situations, thereby forming small habits such as not littering, knowing how to classify and recycle used items" - Ms. Huyen said.
In addition, the school also regularly encourages students to participate in painting competitions and write articles on environmental topics launched by the Youth Union. Thereby, they have the opportunity to express their awareness and initiatives in protecting the green planet.
Sharing about this issue, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thang - Deputy Director of the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Policy Strategy, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that the application of environmental protection content in the education program at all levels has been strongly and effectively implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the past - Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
From primary to high school, environmental protection education has been integrated through both formal and extracurricular activities. These activities contribute to raising awareness and forming a sense of responsibility for students in reducing waste, especially plastic waste" - Mr. Thang said.
Mr. Thang affirmed that young people are the core force, playing an important role in environmental protection and reducing plastic waste. In recent times, many initiatives initiated by young people have created a great influence in the community.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is stepping up coordination with the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to implement practical action programs. On the occasion of World Environment Day June 5, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organized a photo contest with the theme "Green City" focusing on the contents of reducing emissions, adapting to climate change, developing a circular economy and limiting plastic waste" - Mr. Thang shared.
