VietNamNet Bridge – Youth Union members in Vietnam, with their ambition and creativity, play an enthusiastic role in protecting the environment.

Young people help clean up rubbish on the beach in the southern province of Ben Tre. Young people across the country play an important role in protecting the environment. — VNA/VNS Photo Huynh Phuc Hau

Last weekend, blue-shirted volunteers (the colour characteristic of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union) worked on the vast fields of Dong Dao Village in the province of Bac Giang.

They were young people participating in a Hiep Hoa District Youth Union campaign to clean up pesticide packaging. Many farmers, after spreading the chemicals, discarded the boxes around their fields.

According to the deputy secretary of Hiep Hoa District Youth Union, Nguyen Van Tung, every year, local farmers plant three to four crops. The packaging of used pesticides and fertilisers were thrown away.

Not only an eyesore, the chemicals have the potential to affect land and water resources, as well as people’s health.

"This problem has existed for a long time, while the dangerous behaviour is often overlooked by farmers,” he said. “Local authorities have tried to stop farmers doing this many times but it hasn’t worked. The local youth union came up with the idea of placing bins around the fields,” he said.

In order to spread this idea, the youth union members organised talks for local farmers. After one month, the green fields were no longer littered with empty containers. 

Tran Thi Men, a farmer in Hop Thinh Commune, said “Since the local youth union launched the campaign, people are more aware of their actions. Bags of rubbish are collected by young people to be disposed of properly.”

"The local environment is cleaner," Men said.

Currently, there are 18 bins for used pesticide boxes on the fields of Hiep Hoa District.

Tung said several youth unions from neighbouring districts had shown interest in the idea and it would be expanded soon across the province.

On the 88th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union,  the secretary of Nghe An central province’s Youth Union, Pham Tuan Vinh, said the youth union received attention and leadership from the provincial Party Committee, and they were gradually developing and had made worthy contributions to the cause of nation-building.

Vinh said that volunteer activities would be the highlight of Nghe An Province to affirm the pioneering and exemplary role of youth union members.

The youth union members have focused on implementing movements in order to bring into play the bravery of the young generation in many fields.

In recent years, the central province of Quang Binh’s Youth Union has set up 200 volunteer teams to respond to flooding and storms. They also organised rescue drills for natural disasters and epidemics.

Secretary of Quang Binh Provincial Youth Union, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, said besides planting and protecting trees at schools and in residential areas, many union members were growing forests for economic development.

Nguyen Quang Huy, secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Youth Union said volunteer activities had been expanded, becoming a highlight of the youth union members last year.  

He said the union members implemented different volunteer movements, including providing warm clothes and blankets for poor people in mountainous regions, food for disadvantaged families and people with disabilities in Hanoi, Lao Cai and Phu Tho provinces. They also helped build roads in Ha Tinh, electrical infrastructure in Phu Tho, and cleaned up beaches in some central coastal provinces.

This year, the ministry’s youth union will continue to organise and develop the youth volunteer movement to attract more young people living in poor areas, according to Huy.

Source: VNS