Society

Part 3: The special journey of waste in building green - clean - beautiful new rural areas

Author: Thanh Quynh - Thanh Nga | Technique: Diep Thanh • September 20, 2025 17:19

Through the skillful hands and sense of responsibility of women, waste has been "revived" in a new journey - a journey that contributes to cleaning the environment and changing the face of the new countryside.

Author: Thanh Quynh - Thanh Nga
Technique: Diep Thanh
Publication date: September 20, 2025

Part 3:
The special journey of waste in building green - clean - beautiful new rural areas

Through the skillful hands and sense of responsibility of women, wasteSatisfiedOkay“revive"on a new journey - a journey to contribute to cleaning the environment and changing the face of the new countryside.

"Nurturing" life from waste

In Dong Can land of Dai Dong Thinh Son hamlet, Do Luong commune, more than 300 dragon fruit trees of Ms. Nguyen Thi Sau's family (born in 1969) are growing green and lush. This is the third crop of trees that have produced sweet and fragrant fruit. Ms. Sau's dragon fruit is really popular, and is purchased by traders right in the field. One thing that makes this dragon fruit garden special is that all the fertilizer used for the trees comes from the family's organic waste.

While skillfully covering each dragon fruit tree with straw, Ms. Sau smiled and shared that she had developed the dragon fruit growing model on this rice field since the end of 2022. At that time, the amount of fertilizer that the family used was usually manure or chemical fertilizer. However, using manure makes the plants susceptible to disease, while using chemical fertilizer is costly and the soil is easily degraded.

Then, at the end of 2023, she was instructed by the Women's Union of the commune on how to make bio-fertilizer from waste, and her model turned a new page. From the amount of organic waste such as leftover food, vegetables, spoiled fruits, and corn leaves, she cleverly put them in the compost bin withmicrobial productsAfter just a few months, the waste has been composted into loose organic fertilizer and can be put into use.

Cherishing the juicy dragon fruits, Ms. Sau said that since using fertilizer from organic waste, the dragon fruit area has significantly reduced pests and diseases, saving costs while increasing the quality of the fruit. After seeing the effectiveness of the model, people in the area have also applied it together. From her success, Ms. Sau has coordinated with the women's associations at all levels in the commune to replicate this model.

Ms. Sau and the women here not only make bio-fertilizers to serve the family's growing needs, but every Sunday, they will help the Do Luong commune's waste collection team collect and transport about 15 tons of organic waste in the commune to Doi Choi farm - a typical high-tech agricultural farming model of Do Luong commune located in the old Thinh Son commune. This amount of organic waste is processed by the farm into bio-fertilizers, contributing significantly to caring for the farm's crop system, helping the 15 hectares of vegetable and fruit cultivation of Doi Choi farm to grow greener and greener.

To date, women in Do Luong commune have more than 3,200 models of waste classification and treatment at source. These models not only contribute to cleaning and beautifying the landscape, but also reduce environmental pollution from chemical fertilizers, creating sustainable green economic models. Each passing day, many creative models of women in waste treatment have been gradually replicated, contributing to the implementation of criteria in the process of building new rural areas in localities in a sustainable manner.

WhenTurn trash into useful gifts

Not only turning waste into bio-fertilizer, through the skillful and dedicated hands of women, waste is also transformed into valuable gifts to support unfortunate lives. This is clearly demonstrated in Thuan Trung land. Following Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien - Vice President of the Women's Union of Thuan Trung commune, we were present at the family of Ms. Le Thi Huong (born in 1976), in Thuan Ly hamlet - a difficult situation that has received a lot of valuable support from the scrap sale fund of women's unions at all levels.

Ms. Huong is a poor household in the commune, having to raise a child with a serious illness, so her situation is extremely difficult. Understanding that, the women's associations at all levels in the commune agreed to use nearly 3 million VND from the waste collection fund to give her a flock of breeding chickens, to support her family in developing a livestock model. Now, Ms. Huong's family's flock of chickens has grown well, each weighing around 3 kg. With a clever production rotation method of both selling meat chickens and breeding chickens, Ms. Huong's family has an additional stable source of income to develop the economy.

Also in 2024, from this fund, women in Thuan Son commune also bought a pig worth nearly 3 million VND to give to the family of Ms. Tran Thi Tien (born in 1991) - a single mother in difficult circumstances in Thuan Dong hamlet. Although the gift was not too large in terms of material, it was a meaningful source of encouragement for Ms. Tien to ease the current difficulties.

Recently, the practice of sorting waste to raise funds for women in difficult circumstances has become a valuable habit for families in Thuan Trung commune. The amount of inorganic waste is carefully sorted by families into two main types, recyclable inorganic waste such as plastic bottles, cans, cardboard, books, old newspapers will be collected by the association and sold to scrap yards. As for clothes, blankets, old rags, the women in the association will also collect them to sell to motorbike and car washing facilities. The money collected will be added to the association's fund to buy seedlings, animals and insurance cards to give to members in difficult circumstances in the commune.

On average, each year, 30-35 million VND is generated from this activity to carry out meaningful activities. Since 2021, 34 women in difficult circumstances have been awarded health insurance cards and breeding chickens and pigs. Along with that, the women's associations have given gifts to support 22 poor students to go to school to study well. From seemingly worthless garbage bags, the women here have turned them into a source of livelihood, into useful work for the community.

In Chau Khe commune, the environmental protection movement associated with new rural construction is concretized by the model of collecting and treating livestock and poultry manure. If in the past, livestock waste was often discharged directly into gardens and canals, causing air and water pollution, now it is collected and treated appropriately by households. This method not only completely solves the stench, keeps the village cleaner, but also creates a source of organic fertilizer rich in nutrients for the fields. Thanks to that, the soil is improved to be loose, the plants grow well, and the yield increases significantly.

From these specific changes, Chau Khe people often proudly call this the model of "clean village, good fields" - both improving the living environment and increasing the efficiency of agricultural production, contributing sustainably to the journey of building new rural areas in the locality.

Looking at the whole province, the implementation of the Project "Propaganda, mobilization, and support for women to participate in classifying and treating waste at source and limiting the use of plastic bags in Nghe An province in the period of 2023 - 2027" has been bringing practical results in the construction of new rural areas.

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To date, the Women's Union at all levels has maintained over 400 models of waste classification at source, over 700 models of turning waste into useful things, and at the same time supported 5,760 households to build hygienic toilets and 9,636 households to access and use clean water. These figures not only reflect the efforts of the Union at all levels, but are also vivid proof of the role, responsibility and creativity of Nghe An women in joining hands to preserve the environment, cultivate green - clean - beautiful villages, contributing to creating a sustainable new rural appearance.

Hoang Thi Thu Hien - Member of the Central Executive Committee, President of the Provincial Women's Union, Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province

From models of waste sorting at source, composting, to collecting scrap to raise funds to help members in need, Nghe An women have quietly written a special journey for seemingly worthless garbage bags. It is not only environmental initiatives, but also sharing, love for the land, and responsibility for the community. Little by little, these ordinary women are collecting good things, cultivating the appearance of a new green - clean - beautiful, sustainable and affectionate countryside.