Hanoi (VNA) - Around one thousand plastic bottles have been turnedinto colourful toys and useful teaching tools under a social project recentlyinitiated by Vietnamese architect students.

Funded by the Coca-ColaCompany and Golden Gate restaurant brand, the project has also receivedtechnical assistance from the Collaborative Art & Architecture Library(Agohub).


The project aims to create acreative playground for children, particularly those in rural areas, to maketheir own toys while raising public awareness on reducing plastic waste andprotecting the environment.

“We have seen the linkbetween the rising tide of plastic waste, and the demand for children’splaygrounds in rural areas. As architects, we wanted to take advantage of ourskills and the available materials to create a playground for children to maketheir own toys, while parents can learn from the model and help their childrenin creating” said Nguyen Huyen Chau – Agohub co-founder.

The project is part of efforts being made by Vietnamese young people to reduce plastic waste in the context of plastic waste becoming an urgent issue globally.

Roughly 8 million tonnes ofplastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year.  Vietnam is listed among top five sourcenations.

 

According to international studies, it takes up to 100 years for plastic bags to be decomposed in the nature. The figure is over 400 years for plastic bottles. By 2050, the ocean will have more waste garbage than fish if no action is taken from now.

Under the project, the architecture students have turned around 1,000 bottles into kid toys. They also make complicated teaching tools, such as pulley systems and water running games.

Pham Ngoc Chau Anh, 10, a Hanoistudent, said she was amazed that plastic bottles can be turned into such usefuland beautiful toys.

Since its launch in June, theproject has drawn great attention from the community, particularly youngpeople.

Ngo Thi Hoa, Head of LittleStars Kindergarten in Hanoi’s Hoang Mai district, took her students to see themodels, thus giving her students an environmental lession.


“From the activity, we learn howthey can turn plastic bottles into useful toys. It is necessary to teach kidsenvironmental lessons and recycling. They are the ones who will keep our planetclean and green,” Hoa said.

The project aims to recycleat least 5,000 bottles by the end of this year. Participants hope that individualsand restaurants will help them collect more plastic bottles so that the projectcan run sustainably for time to come.-VNA