Environment: Doing something about Vietnam's plastic problem

Plastic pollution isn’t new. But awareness of just how catastrophic it is for the environment has grown in recent years - especially its impact on the oceans. It may be second only to global warming as a threat to the health of the seas.

Here in Vietnam, we’ve seen very little action. And that’s despite the fact that Vietnam has been identified as one of five countries responsible for more than 60% of the world’s plastic pollution. 

When you consider that barely any plastic was used in Vietnam 25 years ago, that’s a big deal.

I’m amazed to see global coffee chains here in Saigon, serving customers in plastic cups - even when they’re not taking out.

A few years ago I was working as a lecturer on a cruise ship. One afternoon had a an opportunity to take a dip in the ocean around 30kms off Vietnam’s central coast. The ocean was almost perfectly calm.

But when I hit the water, I was shocked to see how much plastic there was, in various states of decomposition - even so far offshore.

Photo: Mark Bowyer 30kms off Vietnam's coast we encountered clusters of plastic waste.

Photo: Mark Bowyer Plastic and other waste on the beach - Phu Quoc Island.

Photo: Mark Bowyer Clusters of plastic waste are a standard feature of a visit to Halong Bay.

So together with our sister business in Saigon, The Old Compass Cafe, Rusty Compass would like to take some steps to reduce plastic waste in the tourism industry. Over the coming months, we’ll be working with businesses in the tourism field, especially those recommended on our site, to explore ways that we can reduce our plastic waste. 

As you travel through Vietnam, you’ll notice plastic waste is everywhere - on city streets, in rural areas and on the country’s beautiful beaches. It’s bad enough as visual pollution. But the real damage of plastic begins in its production - which is energy and oil intensive. Then a huge percentage of the plastic we use ends up in the ocean.

If we can make some progress in reducing plastic waste in tourism and getting a wider conversation started outside the tourism industry, that’ll be a great result.

What we’ve done about plastic at The Old Compass Cafe.

Last year, when we opened The Old Compass Cafe in Saigon, we made a commitment to minimise the use of plastic. It wasn’t very difficult - yet we’ve achieved a big reduction in the amount of plastic waste we produce compared to other similar businesses.

We got rid of plastic water bottles and plastic wrapped moist towels, and you made a big dent in our plastic pollution output.

We provide our customers with free spring water (from a recyclable plastic tank). Customers can buy water from glass bottles if they wish. 

We don’t provide plastic wrapped moist towels. I find these perfumed towels pretty gross anyway, so that wasn’t a difficult decision. Our customers have to make do with old-school paper napkins.

Imported glass bottled water isn't really a solution if you’re concerned about environmental damage - the environmental impact of all that transportation is likely to offset any plastic waste reduction.

These were modest but highly effective steps. 

What’s next?

Plastic straws are the only plastic you’ll see in The Old Compass Cafe. We'd like to get rid of them too. At the moment we provide them on request. 

We don’t have a plastic-free kitchen yet either. But we’ve made a start.

There are campaigns under way across Vietnam to reduce plastic waste and clean up beaches. Let us know what’s happening in your community. Cleaning up beaches is important. Reducing our dependence on plastic is even more important.

If you own a cafe, restaurant or hotel and are taking steps to reduce your plastic waste, let us know. We’ll be inviting businesses we recommend to get rid of plastic water bottles and plastic wrapped towels too. We’ll let you know how we go.

We'll also look forward to hearing other innovative steps businesses are taking to reduce their plastic waste.

We’ll be updating this blog regularly with information about businesses joining this little campaign. We're sure travellers will be keen to support these businesses. From our early experience, travellers are well ahead of the industry when it comes to concern about these issues.