Team Sweden has been ‘Plogging for the Planet’ in Vietnam

Plogging is exercise and caring for the environment all in one and in connection with World Cleanup Day today 17 September, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe highlights Team Sweden’s efforts to help resolve the problem of waste. 

The Ambassador writes:

150 million tonnes of plastic are contaminating our ocean. In weight, the plastic that ends up in the ocean every year is equivalent to 85 000 blue whales. If we continue to litter the way we do now, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.

Plastic waste has become a matter of great international concern. Vietnam is not the only nation to face the problem of plastic pollution amid the Corona pandemic.

The pandemic has changed consumption habits and lockdowns contribute to an ever increase in online shopping and delivery services. One of the consequences is the substantial amounts of plastic waste produced, especially single-use plastic.

According to a recent World Bank survey, plastic items accounted for 94 percent of all solid waste collected at 38 riverbank and coastal sites in Vietnam, the majority of which were single-use plastics. The plastic consumption rate per capita in Vietnam rose ten times between 1990 and 2019. On average, a Vietnamese person now consumes 41.3 kilograms of plastic in a year.

Every year on World Cleanup Day, vast amounts of waste are removed from the environment around the world. And it reminds us that it is not just about cleanups. It is an occasion for us to think, share and act in a way towards the vision of a waste-free world and believe that together we can make a positive change.

Combining jogging with picking up litter is an activity that’s been picking up pace in Sweden and Team Sweden has been #PloggingforthePlanet on many occasions over the last years except under lockdown.

In the photos below the Ambassador is plugging with SANV (Sweden Alumni Network Vietnam – SANV) around the shores of West Lake on 7 November 2020 – rowing instead of jogging.

With Vietnam Youth Union and SANV around Lang lake on 16 November 2020 and with the Embassy team – cleaning for Tet – 8 February 2021.

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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