Protect the environment from waste collection

(Baonghean) - Waste from beer cans, plastic bottles, and discarded paper will be sorted and collected by students to participate in the eco-saving program. This is a very meaningful program in terms of economy, society, and especially contributes to environmental protection. Therefore, all levels and sectors need to develop plans so that the program can spread more and more widely not only in schools but also in people's lives.

Since the morning, Ho Minh Quan, a 7C student at Quang Trung Secondary School (Vinh City) has been eagerly bringing beer cans and discarded paper to school to submit to his homeroom teacher. This is not the first time, but it has become a habit for Quan for more than a year now. “At first, I felt a bit hesitant, but the more I see the meaning of the program, the more I want to participate. When I presented, my parents were very supportive and even helped me collect all kinds of waste for me to participate. There were months when I collected so much that I had to ask my parents to take me to school by car,” Quan excitedly shared. In Quan’s hand at the moment is a plastic bag filled with beer cans, soft drinks, along with a bag of discarded paper and a plastic bag. This is the amount of trash he has collected in the past month, and only brings it to submit when notified by the school. Standing next to Quan was Nguyen The Phong, a student in the same class, who was also carrying a sack of beer cans and waste paper to hand over to the homeroom teacher. Phong said: We really like participating in this program because in addition to collecting waste and protecting the environment, we will also use the money from the sale to buy some very useful and practical school supplies and Team activities.

Not only Quan and Phong, but many students in class 7C, Quang Trung Secondary School were also very excited to participate. At first, they were shy and did not fully understand the purpose of the program, so their participation was just a formality, but after being explained and guided by the school and homeroom teachers, they participated very actively. Ms. Tran Thi Kim Loan, homeroom teacher of class 7C, said: In order for students to understand the benefits of the ecological saving program, teachers themselves must first set an example. And from there, the students in the class participated very actively. To encourage students, after each collection, students with good achievements will be promptly commended and rewarded in class and in front of the whole school. And the general view is not to force and emphasize achievements but to let students form their own awareness and voluntarily follow. At parent meetings, teachers discuss this content to help parents understand and help them. Many parents also participated enthusiastically, creating a widespread effect.

Quang Trung Secondary School students enthusiastically participate in ecological savings.

Quang Trung Secondary School is one of three schools that have just been awarded a certificate of merit by the Vinh City People's Committee for its achievements in participating in the ecological saving program. Although it is a school with a small number of students (380 students), the results of the school are outstanding. In the 2012-2013 school year, the amount of money accumulated from selling waste at the school was more than 10.5 million VND. On average, each student received nearly 27 thousand VND. In the first semester of the 2013-2014 school year, the total amount of money accumulated from selling waste at the school reached 7.2 million VND, on average, each student received more than 18 thousand VND. Ms. Le Thi Hoa Mai, Head of the Youth Union, said: This is a program that is both practical and raises awareness of environmental protection for students. After more than 1 year of implementation at the school, the effectiveness of the program is very large. Students are more aware of not littering, know how to collect trash to participate in the program and use money properly for their studies.

The Eco-saving program is an initiative of Marikina City (Philippines) in waste management and environmental education. The content of the program is that students collect and classify waste for recycling at home and bring it to school. These types of waste will be purchased centrally and the amount of money will be accumulated into points and recorded in the cumulative points of each student. Students can use it to exchange for tools for the learning process. Realizing the meaning of the program, in the 2011-2012 school year, Vinh City piloted it at 3 schools in Hung Dung ward. After 1 year of implementation, the results were surprising when many students and parents participated enthusiastically. The program has created a very good influence in life. The total amount of money accumulated by the 3 schools is more than 80 million VND. The eco-saving program has created a movement among students as well as the community about classifying and collecting recyclable and reusable waste.

From the effectiveness in Hung Dung ward, in the 2012-2013 school year, the City People's Committee decided to expand the program to 51 primary and secondary schools in the area, reaching a rate of 100%. In that school year, the total amount of money accumulated from selling waste by students in the city was 447 million VND. On average, each student saved from 10-17 thousand VND. In the 2012-2013 school year, the collected waste was 3 types, including: beer cans, plastic bottles and waste paper.

Vinh City is the first city in the country to implement this program. The results achieved are the driving force for the program to be increasingly expanded and have more influence on the awareness of the community. However, it must be seen that, although it has been 2 years since its implementation, the direction of all levels and sectors is not specific and clear, leading to confusion and difficulties in the implementation process at schools, such as not specifying specific ecological days, arbitrary purchasing, some localities lack attention to direction, have not established a steering committee and have not developed a specific implementation plan... From here, awareness of the program among the people, especially parents and students, is still limited, and there is not a high consensus. Some schools still implement it in a perfunctory manner, without a plan, superficially, and irresponsibly, so the implementation results are not high. Therefore, in the coming time, all levels and sectors need to further promote this program and learn from its implementation so that the program can achieve increasingly high results.

Pham Bang