Ms. Hong 'loves trash'

From discarded organic waste, Ms. Trinh Thi Hong in Da Nang has researched and created a multi-purpose, environmentally friendly biological product, while also creating jobs for hundreds of disadvantaged women for nearly ten years.

Eat with trash, sleep with trash

Unlike the demeanor of a director or a scientist , Ms. Trinh Thi Hong, Director of Minh Hong Biotechnology Joint Stock Company (Minh Hong Biotech) in Da Nang City is extremely simple, cheerful and ordinary. If you don't ask carefully, hardly anyone knows that she has just finished grade 9 and is currently fighting the terrible disease of breast cancer.

Ms. Hong was born in 1965 in a poor family of 10 siblings and she lost both her parents when she was only 1 month and 8 days old. Her childhood was full of hardships, struggling to earn a full meal, and because of that, her education was unfinished. Growing up, getting married, Ms. Hong went to work as a factory worker and regularly participated in local women's work.

Ms. Hong (in blue shirt) is sharing her experience in composting organic waste with women. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

In 2011, a garbage truck in Hoa Minh broke down for several days, causing garbage to pile up on the street, emitting a foul smell. At that time, Ms. Hong thought about recycling organic waste. After that, Ms. Hong attended a training course at the Poor Community Development Conference in the Philippines and was fascinated by the model of recycling organic waste into biological products by Japanese women. Returning home, she researched and learned how to turn organic waste into detergents. For many days, she ate and slept with garbage, painstakingly researching to find a way to ferment and process waste into biological products.

Ms. Hong said: "Even in my family, everyone stopped me from researching garbage. My husband even told me if I was crazy to do this, to leave it to the scientists. But I thought it was not too difficult, many places in the world women have done it themselves, so I was determined to do it."

The input materials are leaves, vegetables and fruits mixed with 10 kg of water, 300 grams of sugar and starch and incubated in a sealed container for 1 month. After that, the crude solution is obtained but still has a foul smell. It needs to be incubated for about 45 days and through the stages of filtering, sterilizing, and mixing in turmeric starch extract, eggplant, lemon or soapberry to produce a dishwashing and floor cleaning solution that meets standards, cleans quickly and smells good. "The formula of 3 sugars, 3 wastes, 10 water took me 4 years to find. My first product is 2T dishwashing liquid which has the advantage of being gentle on hands, saving water and has a reasonable price," Ms. Hong shared.

Not resting on her success, Ms. Hong continued to upgrade the product to create fragrance and clean residue. Currently, Ms. Hong has up to 8 products such as floor cleaner, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid... with different scents. The product has been welcomed and highly appreciated by women in Hong Minh ward, especially in terms of its outstanding cleaning properties, non-sticky hands, and environmental friendliness. In addition, the biological product also helps save water during the cleaning process because it requires fewer rinses than regular soap, has less foam, is less greasy, and leaves a pleasant essential oil scent.

Currently, Ms. Hong owns 8 biological products made from organic waste. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Get rich with women from trash

Despite 4 years of hard work in research, Ms. Hong did not "hide" the formula but shared it with thousands of women across the country with the hope of creating a livelihood for them to escape poverty. The reason she did this was because she was also taken care of by society in the past, so she wanted to repay her kindness. In 2016, Ms. Hong joined the Danang Business Incubator and was provided with a lot of knowledge about business management and development, after which she founded a company.

Ms. Hong's company buys raw products at a price of 3,500 VND/liter from households, thereby helping each household earn an additional income of 3-7 million VND/month. With the above model, Ms. Hong's company has created jobs at home for about 150 women in difficult circumstances in Da Nang City, processing 1,308 tons of organic plant waste at the source/year, accounting for about 60% of organic waste in the community.

"Currently, Minh Hong Biotech has successfully researched and applied 3 technologies in 1 product including Nano technology, biological technology (Enzyme) and herbal essence technology, helping the product quality not only be good but also outstanding, bringing customers safety and environmental protection as confirmed: Nano antibacterial, biological stain removal, herbal essence to protect the skin", Ms. Hong said.

In addition, Ms. Hong shared her experience at training sessions organized by the Women's Union at all levels such as in Hung Yen, Thai Nguyen... "I wrote down the detailed formula and brought it to each women's union branch so that they could produce it at home. Besides helping to recycle a large amount of organic waste discharged into the environment, vegetable residue and wastewater from Minh Hong's products can also be used to fertilize plants, water plants, and kill mosquito larvae without causing harm to water sources," Ms. Hong said.

Ms. Bui Thi Kim Van, living in Hoa Minh ward (old) said: "Previously, leftover vegetables and fruits were often thrown everywhere. If they were not cleaned up after a few days, they would rot and smell bad. Since learning how to compost from Ms. Hong, women have followed suit. Every family has a few bins of raw compost and then brings them to Ms. Hong to process into biological products, then takes them home to use. This saves a lot of money, organic waste in public places has decreased significantly, and the environment has improved significantly."

Ms. Hong gives gifts to women in difficult circumstances. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Wholeheartedly for the community

If it was only for the purpose of enriching herself, Ms. Hong would have become a billionaire long ago. When she first completed the formula, some businesses came to offer to buy Ms. Hong's formula for 5 billion VND, a huge amount for a poor woman. However, Ms. Hong did not hesitate to refuse, not because she was worried about losing the copyright, but because she was afraid that she would not be able to help other women escape poverty. "5 billion to buy a house, buy a car, enjoy it all and it will all be gone and only for myself. Keeping it to share with other women not only helps protect the environment but also helps them rise up, I find it much more meaningful," Ms. Hong said with a gentle smile.

Ms. Hong is a speaker at many startup forums. PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Ms. Hong is also the Vice President of the Lien Chieu District Charity and Children's Rights Protection Association. She has had many initiatives to support the community, such as the Charity Capital Contribution Group, which has helped nearly 250 households borrow capital to develop the economy, the 2T Savings Group model, meaning saving and utilizing, which has raised more than 200 million VND to support health insurance and livelihoods for poor households, or the Young Pioneers Environmental Protection Team model, spreading love for the environment among children...

As the Chairwoman of the Danang Women's Startup Club, Ms. Hong has also shared her experiences and provided support in many ways to help many women start their own businesses successfully over the years. In 2019, Ms. Hong was honored to be one of the 10 outstanding Vietnamese women selected by the Vietnam Women's Union.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chi-hong-yeu-rac-185250708133736144.htm