30 years of Green Sunday: Journey for a greener Bac Ninh City

Since its inception, Green Sunday has gone through 30 years, a journey long enough to affirm the vitality of an action movement for a greener Bac City.

After 30 years, Green Sunday still has a strong vitality, creating hygiene habits, contributing to building a green lifestyle in the community - Photo: K.ANH

Marking that journey (1994 - 2024), the City Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City recently held a discussion on "Solutions to develop the Green Sunday model in the current period".

Green Sunday is not only about cleaning up trash and canals but also many other activities through suggestions and orders from this discussion. There are many practical ways to do it and we need to continue to encourage youth union members to have good activities and ways of doing things towards Net Zero for the future.

Mr. NGO MINH HAI (Secretary of the City Youth Union, Chairman of the Vietnam Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City)

Enduring vitality

From the first Green Sunday program in Tang Nhon Phu A commune, Thu Duc district (now Thu Duc city), the 155th Green Sunday has been completed throughout Ho Chi Minh City. In 2017, this model was replicated nationwide by the Central Youth Union.

Green Sunday, as said by Doan Truong Quang, permanent vice president of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, can be called a "national brand".

The name of the program has not changed since its first launch. And not only in the number of times it is organized, the key is that the program is maintained, expanded, has many new models, good practices, simple but closely connected activities, bringing practical effects to people's lives.

"Green Sunday has received the attention and direction of Party committees, close coordination from authorities and organizations at all levels, and mobilized the participation and consensus of all classes of people, bringing lasting vitality and creating a certain impact on raising community awareness," said Mr. Quang.

Sharing at the seminar, many units also recognized that the sustainable approach associated with practical needs in residential areas, factories, and schools has contributed to changing behavior, gradually building a green lifestyle.

Ms. Ngo Nguyen Ngoc Thanh - Deputy Head of the Department of Environmental Protection (Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City) - said that the youth force has shown its pioneering role in creating solutions and appropriate methods to participate in solving environmental problems in localities, agencies and schools.

"You have applied technology and promoted the positive aspects of social networks to communicate many activities to spread messages of environmental protection and climate change response in the community, contributing to improving the effectiveness of the city's environmental protection programs," said Ms. Thanh.

Connecting the community

Mr. Nguyen Van Dua - former Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee - assessed that Green Sunday has contributed to making the city more beautiful, everyone participates and loves the city more. It can be seen through the Green Sunday model that the education of young people to build a green lifestyle for the community.

Green Sunday is also one of the solutions to gather young people, connecting young people from many areas, including clubs - teams - groups. According to Mr. Dua, Green Sunday also leaves a community relationship when everyone works together to make the neighborhood where they live greener, cleaner and more beautiful. "That is the community relationship. From a certain perspective, the Youth Union - Association can also reach young people on the internet to participate in Green Sunday" - Mr. Dua said.

"But what is after Green Sunday?" - Mr. Dua asked and answered how to make the people of the city change their green living behavior, so that at some point Green Sunday... becomes unemployed because everyone has maintained a green, clean, and beautiful lifestyle. "I think to celebrate the 50th anniversary of national reunification, the City Youth Union continues to call on young people, including those on the internet and everyone to practice a green lifestyle, build a green city" - Mr. Dua suggested.

From the reality in the area, Mr. Nguyen Khac Quoc Huy - Secretary of the Youth Union of Ward 8, District 10 - said that the locality regularly cleans up residential areas, combining youth and residents to build habits for everyone. Along with cleaning up alleys and streets, they also plant trees, do not litter, and call for green living by limiting the use of single-use plastic items.

"We choose to communicate and educate children about green lifestyles so that they themselves will become propagandists in their families and surrounding communities," said Mr. Huy.

Gathering a group of young people to act for the environment

Green Sunday has recorded the cooperation of a number of clubs - teams - groups of young people who love environmental protection activities. Some clubs later came under the same roof of the Vietnam Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Green Saigon Club shares how you persistently collect trash, declaring war on the black canals. That is, install trash barriers and return to collect trash every one or two months, clearing the flow and restoring the green color to the canals.

You do not hesitate to soak in the black canal in protective suits with the hope of spreading the message not to litter but to join hands to protect our living environment.

Professional applications

Green Saigon Club chooses to declare war on black canals, returning green to the city - Photo: K.ANH

Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University) Trinh Dong Nghi said that specialized faculties with in-depth knowledge of the environment, biology and materials have pioneered research and proposed solutions to improve urban landscapes, handle pollution and move towards sustainable development.

Students of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology operate a "childhood nursery" to research plant ecosystems suitable for urban conditions, helping to reduce the temperature effect and improve air quality. From there, they build green tree and hydroponic models and install them with students at some primary schools in the city to help improve the environmental landscape.

Meanwhile, students of the environmental faculty have a project, a green semester journey to guide students in sorting garbage and planting trees. Students of the material science and technology faculty research and apply research and development projects on biodegradable materials. They share the benefits of using products made from biodegradable materials that help reduce environmental impacts, opening up new directions in sustainable resource use.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/30-nam-chu-nhat-xanh-hanh-trinh-vi-tp-bac-xanh-hon-20241112110220964.htm