LookAtVietnam – Students who won US$2,000 for promoting environmental protection will spend the money to help stop people using plastic bags.

Plastic bags are used in most supermarkets. Bans on them or campaigns to re-use them are important for environmental protection.

The students are members of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) sponsored 3R-HN Club – Re-use, Reduce and Recycle – and are intent on changing people’s attitude to environmental protection through the use of eco-bags.

Inspiration

Project leader Dang Thi Lan Ngoc, 20, and her team launched the campaign after winning money website www.vicongdong.vn offered for the best contribution to “Give Me an Ecology Bag” contest earlier this year.

“We want to make people aware of the bad impact plastic bags have on the environment and gradually give up their habit of using plastic bags,” says Ngoc.

They began with surveys about the possible uses of EcoBags at the Ha Noi Amsterdam High School, the Ha Noi Economic University; inner-city Thanh Cong Ward and the Thanh Cong Market. The survey will target 300 students and housewives. The former because they are likely to be the most receptive and the latter because they are the major users of plastic bags.

“We daren’t think about a big change because this is just a small project,” says Ngoc.

“But by persuading people to use an EcoBag rather than a plastic bag, we hope we can contribute a small part into a bigger change.”

The team will also provide 1,500 free EcoBags made from used banners and backdrops to people taking part in the surveys.

JICA’s expert Hisashi Yamauchi who has worked with young members of the 3R-HN Club says plastic hinders waste management because it decomposes very slowly.

“Plastics, including banners and backdrops, are widely used in Viet Nam and produce heavy amounts of plastic waste.

“Their re-use should be a focus of their disposal and the EcoBags will help.”

Mature skills

The activities of the young team will promote a sustainable society in Ha Noi and Viet Nam, he says.

The team ranges in age from 15 to 24 but their organisational skills are very mature. Urban Environment Company assistant engineer – the company is a subsidiary of the 3R project – Le Minh Ngoc says the team has the capability to make the EcoBag a reality.

They have a leader; a finance board; a materials collection board; a communication board and more than 100 volunteers – most of them students.

Two-year 3R-HN Club voluntary member Nguyen Hai Ha says: “What encourages me most is the change in the attitude of people we met when carrying out our activities.”

Initially, many people did not welcome the survey kit. But the team’s patience and enthusiasm proved infectious and after gradual acceptance, many of those surveyed joined the activities.

“It’s not for fame; it’s not for the money, but for the enjoyment each of us feel in each useful part of the project,” says Nguyen Hai Ha. “It’s a win-win game.”

Adds Dang Thi Lan Ngoc: “If you love the environment, the best thing you can do is to take an EcoBag with you to the market.”

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News