Green startup from water hyacinth

A typical project of producing An Nhien Huong herbal incense extracted from soursop peel and medicinal herbs by Ms. Huynh Le Minh Thu has excellently won the Third Prize in the Innovation and Startup Competition of Tay Ninh province in 2022-2023.

And recently, the Green Transformation project - turning water hyacinth into an environmental protection product, solving the problem of water hyacinth growing abundantly on the Vam Co Dong River, won First Prize in the 2025 Rural Youth Startup Project Competition in Tay Ninh Province.

Turning water hyacinth into an environmentally friendly product

Every year, at the beginning of the rainy season (late April, early May), water hyacinth grows and develops strongly on the Vam Co Dong River, causing significant impacts on people traveling by river, as well as the development of aquatic species.

Seeing this situation, for many years, Ms. Huynh Le Minh Thu, a Biotechnology engineer who loves environmentally friendly products, has always been struggling to find a way to utilize water hyacinth raw materials, turning them into souvenir products, and protecting the environment.

Ms. Thu and handmade products from water hyacinth

Ms. Thu said that she had cherished this project for a long time, but it was not until the 2025 Tay Ninh Province Rural Youth Startup Project Competition that she boldly started researching and realizing the idea.

Using machinery to produce herbal incense ingredients, Ms. Thu grinds water hyacinth and roasts it with herbs such as tea leaves, coffee powder, rose petals, etc. to color the product, then continues to grind this mixture into a fine powder.

From that source of raw materials, Ms. Thu mixed it with a type of glue to bind and shape it into a mold. The finished product was dried and coated with a layer of anti-termite solution to preserve it for a long time.

After many days of hard work, Ms. Thu has created many handmade souvenir products with high practicality in life such as coasters, cups; candle holders; pen holders; and mini bonsai pots.

Her rustic products associated with the meaningful story of "green handmade products" have convinced many people who love environmentally friendly products, in line with the development trend of agricultural production and tourism in the province.

Sharing the reason for wanting to start a business with handmade products from water hyacinth, Ms. Thu said that today's consumers have a high demand for giving unique souvenirs, so this gift will meet the needs of all ages, especially young people who have a passion and love for handmade products.

She gave Green Transformation water hyacinth products to friends and relatives to experience. Initially, the product received positive reviews from everyone about its durability and aesthetics.

Handmade products from water hyacinth by Ms. Thu

From the positive encouragement, Ms. Thu boldly brought her product to participate in the 2025 Rural Youth Startup Project Competition in Tay Ninh Province. Here, she proudly shared her small but meaningful research with the judges and the audience. She received many useful contributions from experts in scientific research and typical young entrepreneurs of the province.

The meaningful story of "green transformation" helped the project win the first prize of the contest and she excellently became the representative of the province's outstanding youth start-up to participate in the 2025 Rural Youth Start-up Project Contest organized by the Central Youth Union in the near future.

Join hands to build a sustainable green lifestyle

Currently, tourism in Tay Ninh province is developing strongly, associated with the trend of developing high-tech agriculture, along with the "green living" increasingly spreading among young people. This is the premise for Ms. Huynh Le Minh Thu's handmade water hyacinth products to be easily accepted by consumers and tourists.

The Green Transformation project from environmentally friendly water hyacinth contributes to raising community awareness of the importance of environmental protection, thereby promoting a more sustainable lifestyle, encouraging creativity in the community, helping people find new ways to reuse excess materials.

Ms. Thu believes that nature always carries within it the most sustainable solutions. Vietnam has abundant plant resources such as water hyacinth, which, if exploited properly, will not only contribute to reducing waste and protecting the environment, but also create economic value and jobs for local workers. That is the entrepreneurial path associated with responsibility for ecological sustainability that she always wants to aim for.

Chi hopes that the products she makes can gradually replace disposable plastic products, inspire a green lifestyle, creative recycling, and further, can become local green OCOP products, creating a stable source of income for people, especially women and rural youth.

Ms. Thu excellently won First Prize in the 2025 Rural Youth Startup Project Competition in Tay Ninh Province.

“Green consumption” is becoming a trend in many countries around the world, especially popular in developed countries and is spreading strongly to developing countries with average income or higher. “Handmade water hyacinth products are a call, an action to spread the message of environmental protection to everyone. I named this product Green Transformation with the meaning of green transformation, with the hope that the product will bring about a change in consumer awareness, helping everyone move towards a sustainable green lifestyle” - Ms. Thu said.

In preparation for the 2025 Rural Youth Startup Project Competition organized by the Central Youth Union in the coming time, Ms. Thu is making efforts to perfect the product such as learning more about solutions to process and reinforce natural materials to improve product quality; exchanging and learning more from experts, friends... thereby developing the project to build a "green brand" with Tay Ninh identity.

Linh San

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/khoi-nghiep-xanh-tu-cay-luc-binh-a189827.html