"Green House" - House of Love

Community spread

From the pilot model deployed by the Provincial Women's Union, up to now, "Green Houses" have been present in communes and wards and have become a bright spot in the movement of "turning trash into charity funds". The "Green Houses" are designed with sturdy steel frames, with locks, covered with iron mesh, and placed in convenient locations such as: Markets, schools, cultural houses...

Nenh Ward Women's Union gives bicycles to students in difficult circumstances.

At 6 a.m., at the yard of the Cultural House of Nuoc Gioi village (Lang Giang commune), a lot of scrap has been gathered. After morning exercises, the women started sorting and packaging the scrap they had just brought. Carrying a bag full of plastic bottles, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh shared: “In recent years, sorting garbage at home has become a habit. I tie up all the bottles, plastic cans or cardboard and bring them to the “Green House” on schedule. Lang Giang commune currently has 12 “Green House” models.

Recycled waste is collected weekly and monthly, then the association will sell it to raise funds to support its members. This fund is used by the women's associations to buy bicycles for poor students; support chickens; and issue health insurance cards to disadvantaged women.

Not only residential areas, many schools also implement the above model. Recently, the Women's Union of Canh Thuy Ward donated 4 "Green Houses" to schools: Canh Thuy Secondary School, Canh Thuy Primary School, Tu Mai Secondary School and Phung Hung residential group. Teacher Tran Thi Uyen, Principal of Canh Thuy Primary School said: "The model both raises funds and educates students about environmental protection habits and waste classification at source. On the first day of the school year, we deployed it to all grades for students to implement."

In Tram Lo ward, besides the "Green House", many residential groups have implemented the "Love Bag" model, with the same purpose of sorting recyclable waste, raising funds to help women and disadvantaged students, and reducing the amount of waste released into the environment.

Practical effectiveness, towards sustainability

Every day, the entire Bac Ninh province generates about 2,000 tons of household waste, of which 15-20% is plastic waste, nylon waste, and recyclable waste paper. If not sorted from the beginning, most of the waste will be buried or burned, wasting resources and increasing the risk of pollution. In the context of rapid urbanization and high population density, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills is of particular importance. The "Green House" model contributes to solving this challenge. Thanks to sorting at the source, collected waste becomes both an economic resource and helps reduce pressure on waste treatment plants. Every year, from hundreds of "Green Houses", women's associations in the province earn hundreds of millions of VND.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Nenh Ward, all branches have implemented the model, organizing an average of 2 collection sessions per month. This time alone, the whole ward collected more than 6.2 tons of scrap to sell for fundraising. With that funding source, along with socialization, the Union donated 12 bicycles to students in difficult circumstances. Vu Quoc Tu, a student at Quang Chau Secondary School, was moved: "This is a very precious gift for me. The bicycle helps me get to school faster, without having to walk."

The great significance of the "Green House" model is to form the habit of waste classification in the community - the foundation for building a circular economy, recycling waste into production materials. This helps save treatment costs, reduce pollution and create more economic value. It is estimated that if recycled waste is collected properly, Bac Ninh province can save tens of billions of VND in costs each year, while creating more jobs in the collection and recycling sector. For the model to be effective, the Party Committee and the government need to plan reasonable locations, financial transparency in fund management; diversify the use of the fund such as scholarships, sustainable livelihoods; promote communication associated with the criteria of "cultural family"; mobilize businesses to participate in investment, replicate the model, turn waste into resources, contributing to the development of a green economy.

Article and photos: Hoai Thu

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/ngoi-nha-xanh-ngoi-nha-nghia-tinh-postid427083.bbg