Vietnam is facing an increasing number of environmental pollution challenges including air, water, and

solid waste. Major factors contributing to these problems include a high population growth rate, rapid
urbanization, accelerating industrialization, weak enforcement of the laws on environmental protection,
and a lack of education and cultural awareness.

I. Problem
1. Water pollution
- A reason for water pollution in Vietnam is that many companies and enterprises cannot manage
rubbish and then pour wastes into rivers and streams, which the government can’t control at all.
Meanwhile, rivers and streams are two main sources of water for use.
- In some remote areas, a lot of people don’t have clean water to use. They have to use the water
from the river and it contains some substance that affects health. Few households are supplied
with piped water and hygienic latrines. Most people use water from hand drug wells.
- Water pollution can destroy farming and kill animal around the source like fish and some aquatic
life. Water pollution can kill plant life, plants died when they were irrigated with water containing
heavy chemicals.
2. Air pollution
- The most noticeable reason for the pollution is Vietnam traffic. There are too many vehicles in
Vietnam with the number of motorbikes consumption ranked as the fourth in the world, especially
in urban areas such as Hanoi capital and Ho Chi Minh city. The smoke and dust from those vehicles
are destroying the fresh air in these cities. Moreover, Vietnam is developing in the direction of
industrialization and modernization, so dust is significantly increased.
- Air Pollution includes particles of soot, organic hazardous material, heavy metals, acid aerosols and
dust. The smaller particles are more dangerous because they are more easily inhaled. Humans have
to face many diseases such as asthma, cough, rhinitis, pharyngitis or even lung cancer as exposing
to air pollution.

II. Idea solution

- Public transportation vs personal vehicles: cut down the number of personal motobike, car on a
street at same time and reduce dirty exhaust smoke efficiently. This protects the environment by
keeping the air, water, and land cleaner.
- Choose Fuel Efficient Vehicles: help the environment while potentially saving you money on fuel
costs at the pump.
- Conserve energy: save the environment from degradation by reducing the amount of fossil fuels to
be burned.
- Plan more Parks and green tree over HCMC: filter pollutants and dust from the air, they provide
shade and lower temperatures in urban areas, and they even reduce erosion of soil into our
waterways.
- Get rid of heavy industrial area: move all heavy industrial factories to far HCMC and have strong
law to force every factory have permitted air filter before exhausting to natural environment.
III. How to help? (as a student)
- Bring your own reusable bottle
- Say ‘No’ to plastic bags

When plastic bags are disposed to the environment, they clog drains and waterways,
threatening our urban system and causing flooding problem → Bring your own reusable
shopping bag and carry it everywhere

- Say ‘No’ to plastic straws → you can buy a cute bamboo/ glass/ steel straw which are easy
to clean with a special brush.
- Enjoy your meal at eateries/ restaurants instead of takeaways
- Purchase local and eco-friendly products: You can find a variety of cute eco-friendly
products available in our country: fabric tote bags, handmade soaps, bamboo straws,
wooden utensils, and several local organic products!

Make sure that none of them is made of illegal materials. And check carefully to ensure that
they do not have a ‘Made in China’ tag.