Two Vietnamese men have gone to great lengths to clear their country’s beaches and streets of litter and pollution in the past few years.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

On a recent day, a middle-aged man, who usually goes by Tuan – his first name – only, was spotted by a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper contributor amidst high piles of rubbish and animal carcasses on a street located in La Gi Town in the south-central province of Binh Thuan.

The garbage emitted an intolerably foul odor and was riddled with ghastly maggots and mice.

Tuan meticulously picked up every piece of litter and put it into large sacks to be collected later by garbage trucks, while burning inflammable items himself.

A local said the neighborhood would be filled to the brim with litter but for Tuan’s silent work.

Some others said the man has no relatives and first showed up in the neighborhood a few years ago.

Almost every early morning and evening, he clears dumping grounds on the streets, which mindless people have turned into such improvised garbage bins.

Some have offered to hire him as a domestic worker, but he turned them down to spare time for garbage collecting.

As the streets are cleaned, he goes on to pick up litter on the beaches.

“I don’t mind the hard, dirty toil at all, but I’m saddened by the fact that people keep littering, even right after the sites have been cleared,” Tuan said.

Similarly, over the past few years Tran Xuan Mao, 70, has been a fixture on Nam O Beach in Lien Chieu District’s Hoa Hiep Bac Ward in the central city of Da Nang.

He has collected litter on the beach every day since 2010, when his children took him from his hometown to Da Nang so that they can take better care of him in his old age.

Mao said he began picking up litter on Nam O Beach while taking strolls there, and it has unknowingly become his habit.

Many residents observed that he has helped clear up the 3-kilometer Nam O coast, which spans from the Lien Chieu Bridge to a barracks located at the foot of the famous Hai Van Pass.

Tran Kim Xuyen, Mao’s daughter, said the family has tried to talk him out of the practice for fear of his failing health but he would adamantly not listen.

Binh, Mao’s wife, divulged he gets up around four or five every morning and tirelessly picks up litter until midday, even well into the evening sometimes when strong waves shove huge amounts of litter inshore.

Tran Xuan Mao, 70, has been collecting litter on Nam O Beach in Lien Chieu District’s Hoa Hiep Bac Ward in the central city of Da Nang for five years now. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“It’s sheer delight that locals and tourists can enjoy their pollution-free baths. I’ll keep up the work until I’m too frail to do so,” Mao said with a smile.

The Hoa Hiep Bac Ward People’s Committee has presented the old man with a certificate to acknowledge his remarkable contributions to environmental protection.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!