'Initiative tree' kills trash and nurtures green buds

Ms. Dao Thi Doan, Team Leader of Production Team No. 7 at the Lao Cai Environmental Enterprise ( thuộc Lao Cai Provincial Urban Environment Joint Stock Company), has been dedicated to brooms, garbage trucks, and transforming tree stumps into vibrant blossoms for nearly 30 years.

Overcoming all obstacles thanks to a love for the profession.

Phan Boi Chau Street in Lao Cai Ward (Lao Cai Province) is a street that is always clean and beautiful, even though it has many spiritual tourist attractions and attracts a large number of visitors from all over. This cleanliness is thanks to the environmental workers of the Lao Cai Environmental Enterprise, notably Ms. Dao Thi Doan.

Now 55 years old, Ms. Doan has been involved in garbage collection for 25 years. Originally from Nam Dinh (formerly), Ms. Doan moved to Lao Cai and considers it her second home. Initially, she worked as a seamstress, but in 2000 she applied to work as an environmental worker at the Provincial Urban Environment Joint Stock Company and has remained there ever since.

‘Cây sáng kiến’ diệt rác, ươm mầm xanh - Ảnh 1. — Ms. Doan has been involved in environmental sanitation work for 25 years.

"Garbage collection requires staying up late and waking up early. When I first started, my child was young, and my husband also had to go to work early, so I had to find many ways to leave my child with me while I worked. Fortunately, my family supported me so that I could stick with this job. I love sweeping the streets and have never thought about quitting," Ms. Doan confided.

Every day, while darkness still envelops the city streets, Ms. Doan and her fellow sanitation workers leave their homes and begin their work. The sound of brooms silently cleans every street and corner in the night. At the appointed time, she goes from house to house, ringing the bell to signal households to take out their trash. She greets everyone warmly, making them treat her like a valued guest in the early morning.

Throughout her years of service, regardless of rain or freezing cold, Ms. Doan has always diligently carried out her work, pushing garbage carts and sweeping every nook and cranny to prevent garbage from accumulating. During her sweeping duties, she has often accidentally found lost items belonging to residents and has always tried to return them as quickly as possible. "Many times I've found lost wallets, and I've taken pictures of them, posted them on social media, and brought them back to the factory to return them to the owners. Each time I do that, I feel very happy," Ms. Doan said.

Ms. Vu Thi Van, a resident of Le Loi residential area (Lao Cai ward), said: "Ms. Doan is like a friend to us every morning. Although her work is hard, she is always dedicated and cheerful to everyone. As a result, everyone voluntarily disposes of garbage on time and protects the environment according to her instructions."

‘Cây sáng kiến’ diệt rác, ươm mầm xanh - Ảnh 2. — Ms. Doan (right) and her colleagues plant flowers at the base of trees along the roadside.

Tree of initiatives for waste management

Not only is she known for her dedication to her work and her passion for environmental services, overcoming all the hardships and difficulties of the job, but Ms. Doan is also a source of innovative ideas within the agency. For example, in 2022 she came up with the initiative "Flowering Tree Trunks": planting flowers around the base of trees along the road helps reduce waste and weeds while adding vibrant beauty to the street.

"Initially, I went around asking for portulaca, vinca, and other flowers to plant and care for daily. I encouraged the women on the street to plant and care for them together. When we needed funds to buy seedlings, the women in the group would collect scrap materials and sell them to buy seeds. The model received support from the people and has created colorful plants along the street," Ms. Doan said.

‘Cây sáng kiến’ diệt rác, ươm mầm xanh - Ảnh 3. — The vibrant flower-lined roads in Lao Cai were planted by environmental workers and local residents.

Furthermore, given the frequent collisions between motorbikes and garbage trucks due to poor visibility at night, Ms. Doan came up with the initiative of attaching reflective stickers to garbage trucks. This small initiative proved immediately effective. When motorbike riders see the garbage truck from a distance, they can proactively avoid it, preventing unnecessary traffic collisions.

In particular, seeing that garbage trucks lacked braking systems, they posed a significant danger when descending slopes due to their heavy weight and high inertia, especially on hilly terrain. After much thought, Ms. Doan came up with the idea of equipping garbage trucks with braking systems to help the drivers descend slopes with peace of mind, preventing the trucks from rolling downhill and endangering other road users.

For sanitation workers, the broom is an indispensable tool. However, the brooms initially issued to the workers were quite stiff and difficult to sweep with. Based on this, Ms. Doan stripped the broom bristles into smaller pieces and braided them together, making the broom wider and easier to sweep with because it was softer, requiring less effort. This small but effective innovation was adopted and followed by other workers.

‘Cây sáng kiến’ diệt rác, ươm mầm xanh - Ảnh 4. — Ms. Doan was honored to receive the Vietnam Women's Award 2024.

For example, since 2015, the former Lao Cai City has had a policy of separating organic and inorganic waste at the source. However, getting people to develop the habit of sorting waste is not easy. Ms. Doan has diligently guided the women in sorting and using two separate trash bins. At the same time, she and the environmental women collect waste in two batches: the first batch for inorganic waste and the second for organic and recyclable waste.

Although it took extra time and effort to collect garbage twice, it helped the women see the determination of the sanitation workers in sorting waste, thus encouraging them to join hands in sorting garbage. "Protecting the environment is a shared responsibility of the whole society; sanitation workers alone cannot handle it all. Therefore, with the cooperation of the people, disposing of garbage on time, recycling plastic waste, taking care of flowerbeds, etc., it will help make the living environment much greener," Ms. Doan affirmed.

As the team leader, Ms. Doan also connects the women in the team, helping each other in times of difficulty. The team has established a fund from the sale of recyclable waste with the aim of supporting women in difficult circumstances or those who are sick, creating a solid and reassuring support system for the workers.

With her passionate love for her profession and useful initiatives in her work, Ms. Doan won the bronze medal in the Golden Broom Award competition presented by the Vietnam Environment Association in 2017; a commendation from the Prime Minister in 2021; and was one of the 10 outstanding Vietnamese women awarded by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union in 2024.