Trash for rice: Recycling event attracts dozens of Hoi An homemakers
Friday, November 05, 2021, 10:14 GMT+7
The Women’s Union in Hoi An Ancient Town hosted an event where local women could trade in trash for rice in order to gain a better understanding of the importance of garbage classification and environmental protection this week.
The union spent Wednesday morning helping women in the town, UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Vietnam, exchange bags of metal cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard boxes for rice.
Each woman who brought at least 50 metal cans, 50 plastic bottles, or 5kg of scrap paper and other recyclable materials to the event was gifted 5kg of rice.
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| A woman carries bags of 50 beer cans to exchange for 5kg of rice at the trash-for-rice event in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
Le Thi Tam shared that she first heard about the event in October and immediately began sorting her family’s recyclable waste, cans, and plastic bottles into separate bags.
“This give-and-take event raises awareness of environmental protection and garbage classification," Tam said.
"It’s really exciting,”
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| A woman handles bags of recyclables stacked on her motorbike at the trash-for-rice event in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
Nguyen Thi Anh Tho, vice-president of the Hoi An Women's Union, said that the main goal of the event was to encourage both union members and non-members to sort their waste and develop a ‘green habit for a greener habitat.’
“We also hoped the program would help ease some of the financial difficulties many women are experiencing because of the COVID-19 epidemic,” Tho said.
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| The trash-for-rice event attracted participants of all ages in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
"We will sell the waste to scrap dealers and put the money toward our ‘green environment fund,' which has supported disadvantaged women and children in the area for the past five years,” she added.
The money to buy rice for the event was raised from local organizations, individuals, and the union’s environmental fund.
The program wound up gifting 800kg of rice to event participants.
Since many of Hoi An’s landfills have been overloaded since last year, the program was a much-needed message about the impact that sorting garbage could have on the local community.
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| Ha, a Hoi An resident, happily carries a bag of rice she received in exchange for beer cans at the trash-for-rice event in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
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| An elderly woman carries a pack of rice received in exchange for cardboard boxes at the trash-for-rice event in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
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| Event organizers give a five-kilogram pack of rice to a local resident at the trash-for-rice event in Hoi An, central Vietnam, November 3, 2021. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
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| The recyclables collected at the event will be sold and the proceeds will be donated to the ‘green environment fund’ to support disadvantaged women and children. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre |
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