Green Gem Shop, a shop under Keep VietNam Clean, a non-profit organization co-established by James Joseph Kendall, an American expat famous for picking up trash in Hanoi, has collected second-hand items and sold them to raise funds for environmental protection activities since 2019.

The project is spreading awareness of fixing, recycling, and reusing old things instead of throwing them away.

The shop is nestled in a three-floor house on Lac Long Quan Street in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, where young people have drawn up projects to revitalize the city, reduce garbage and plastic waste, and study the reuse of second-hand products to protect the environment.

A huge volume of items is arranged in an orderly fashion in the small shop.

“At the beginning, the number of foreigners [visiting the shop] was higher, but now more local customers [visit it],” said Tran Nguyen Ngoc, a part-time employee at the shop, who is also a teacher.

At 9:00 am every day, she busily classifies and arranges items while receiving donations from residents across the northern region. After the project became well known, many people started to send their old items to the shop.

A foreigner from Hai Phong City, also in northern Vietnam, sent two bags of clothes which were ironed and made sweet-smelling. 

An attaché of a foreign embassy in Vietnam delivered several trucks of items to the shop, including a piano, before he returned to his homeland.

Ngoc joined Kendall’s club to pick up trash six years ago and has worked at Green Gem Shop since 2019 when it was opened next to her house. She spends all her free time working at the shop.

In the initial period, the job was unpaid as it was voluntary. The organization recently started paying salaries to members so that young people can work for the organization for a long time.

“This is a project for the community, but they have to cover their families’ expenses,” Ngoc noted, adding that the job at the shop is busy but she loves it.

Bui Ngoc Diep, director of the project, recalled the day the initiative to raise funds from the sale of second-hand products was launched, saying that they were collecting garbage but facing a shortage of tools.

A member suggested selling her items to have money for tools and the suggestion inspired the establishment of Green Gem Shop and even a recycling project of Keep VietNam Clean.

At the beginning, the shop had yet to become popular, so there were few donors and buyers. However, items now cover its two floors after three years.

The shop’s fan page on social media has seen its followers increasing.

“Earlier, many people did not favor second-hand items. The perception has changed as high-quality old items have attracted them. The awareness of protecting the environment has gradually improved. That is our goal,” Ngoc said.

At the shop, decorative plant pots are displayed for sale with the pots made of recycled plastic. Hundreds of books are put on shelves with most of them being English books presented by foreigners.

The shop also offers bags, footwear, and hats made of old jean clothes as well as hand-made earrings, necklaces, scented candles, brushes, cards, among others.

Ngoc said that a foreigner once shouted, “Why is it so cheap? I will pay triple!”, when making payment for an item or another customer said, “Do you know how much it is sold for in the market? Up to millions of Vietnamese dong,” when buying an item at the shop for VND200,000 (US$8.1).

Loyal customers can call to choose items in advance and take them later. Employees at the shop always remind customers to bring bags as it does not use plastic bags.

From hand-me-down items, Green Gem Shop has raised funds for Keep VietNam Clean’s activities.

“The shop’s total revenue reached VND600 million [$24,276] in 2022. After deducting space rental, electricity and water costs, and employees’ salaries, the remaining was submitted to the organization’s environmental fund,” Diep said, adding that thanks to the fund, Keep VietNam Clean’s projects have been conducted.

The shop is also a destination for university students who work as volunteers or apprentices.

As a case in point, Nguyen Thanh Ngan, a junior student of the National Economics University in Hanoi, and Nguyen The Anh, a third-year student of the Hanoi National University of Education, are apprentices of the organization.

“I am keen on volunteer activities. When I was in grade 11, I read about a foreigner devoting himself to cleaning Hanoi. I also wanted to improve my English skills, so I registered to join,” Ngan said.

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