Residents of Việt Nam’s big cities have been separating their garbage for recycling for years, in both their houses and public areas. — Photo tinmoitruong.vn

Waste classification or waste of time?

Residents of Việt Nam’s big cities have been separating their garbage for recycling for years, in both their houses and public areas. Children have been taught the difference between recycled and non-recycled waste.

However, many of them might be disappointed to know that their efforts are useless.

At a conference on waste held by HCM City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment on Sunday, Nguyễn Toàn Thắng, head of the department, said the waste classification was not as effective as expected. In spite of city’s efforts, garbage collection units have been mixing the separated bins before sending them to the city’s dump sites.

The reason is that some units lack the required facilities to recycle waste, and some residents do not classify waste correctly.

As a result, the trial of waste classification kicked off in 1998, has failed.

Each day, HCM City discharges 8,300 tonnes of waste - only 3,000 tonnes are recycled.

Thắng said the city has approved the implementation of a second trial period. It has required local authorities to draw up plans for waste classification, improving the capacity of waste collection units, and disseminating information to residents about how to do separate waste.

Let’s hope this phase is not a waste of time.

Cycling coffee shop

A young energetic businessman in central Huế City has launched a very special service for both sport lovers and coffee aficionados.

The City Circle Tour, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to help visitors discover the city in a very special way, allowing them to enjoy their morning coffee while cycling to discover the beauty of Huế City. At a cost of VNĐ50,000 (US$2.3), visitors get a seat on a tour bus, a pair of pedals, and a cup of coffee.

The bus has ten seats with ten sets of pedals, and it only moves when people start cycling. The tour lasts for one hour and half, including rest stops along the way.

The owner of the service has put together a one-minute video clip of his "mobile coffee shop", stressing its green, eco-friendly features and stress-relief advantages.

He may be right.

Research conbducted at the University of São Paulo, published this month, shows that a cup of coffee before or during a bike ride is good for boosting cycling performance and improving cycling speed.

However, visitors might have different thoughts, especially those who want to enjoy peaceful and tranquil moments with a cup of coffee.

Potential visitors shared their concerns after watching the video clip. “Do I have to cycle when I order a cup of coffee? What if I’m tired and want to stop cycling?”, one commenter wrote.

“It’ll put me in dilemma and I’d have to keep cycling to keep the manual bus moving. I can’t rest when others are  sweat cycling like hell,” another wrote.

How to burst bubbles

A 45-second video clip showing a road full of white bubbles in Hà Nội’s Hoài Đức District has gone viral. A thick layer of white bubbles, generated by a heavy rain, created a lovely scene.

But local residents feared the bubbles might not be as picturesque and innocent as they seemed - and might have been caused by a toxic chemical discharged from a certain enterprise. They therefore reported the case to the district’s authority.

The district’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment quickly sent a team to the site, and found that a worker at a nearby enterprise had dropped a can of dish wash liquid onto the road. The rainfall turned it into a magical scene.

Authorities collected the company’s waste water to check if it has been discharging untreated waste into the environment. And the area residents? They had their bubble burst. – VNS