According to Ms. Ly Viet Trung, Deputy Editor-in-chief of SGGP Newspaper cum Head of the Steering Committee for the Vietnam Earth Hour Campaign, since 2010 this campaign, officially chaired by SGGP Newspaper, has not only focused on inviting the public to save energy but also promoted practical solutions to reduce exhaust fumes which cause climate change, to increase green space, to improve water and air quality, to reduce plastic waste, and to lessen negative effects of pollution on susceptible communities.
Particularly, the organization board has synchronously adopted several supporting methods for the public to easily recognize environmentally friendly products, creating a healthy consuming habit for their neighborhood.
Understanding the usefulness of this special campaign, many students in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) have repeatedly participated in Earth Hour activities, saying that they are proud to contribute to improving the environment where they live.
Various projects such as Green Movement, Green Community, Green Destination, Green Connection, Green Neighborhood, Actions for Cleaner Air and Water, and Ecological School, have been introduced nationwide in the last few years. These have greatly helped to foster people’s awareness of the importance of the environment and possible actions to reduce the current pollution status.
This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, activities of the Earth Hour 2020 campaign have changed correspondingly. Volunteers are encouraged to carry out simple actions right in their neighborhood to protect the environment. Propaganda activities are launched online to avoid public gathering.
All activities will be recorded into short clips to submit to the organization board, who will then summarize them into a long meaningful video for sharing on international social networks.
Statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment reveal that on average, Vietnam releases around 12 million tonnes of household waste a year. It is in the list of top nations to release plastic waste in the world.
Director of HCMC Urban Environment Co. Ltd. (CITENCO) Huynh Minh Nhut said that environment protection has become more urgent than ever. Although several regions in Vietnam have been more determined to improve the environment quality and reduce plastic use, the actual decrease in plastic waste can only result from smart consuming habits of the public.
He added that such meaningful campaigns like Earth Hour should be stably maintained.
This year’s Earth Hour in Vietnam is going to happen at 8pm on March 28. At that time, the organization board will launch a livestream on the Facebook page ‘Gio Trai Dat Viet Nam’ (or Earth Hour Vietnam), along with information on SGGP Online.
“I hope that volunteers of this campaign will join hand with environment lovers in Vietnam and businesses like Thu Duc Water B.O.O Corporation, Tan Hiep Water Investment Joint Stock Co. to further promote actions to protect the environment in order to ensure the health of themselves as well as their community”, said Ms. Trung.
