Living Zero Waste in Saigon

last updated January 10, 2019

Ever since pitching a plastics-alternative marketplace at the YSEALI Summit 2018, I can’t stop seeing our copious waste of single use plastic. It’s estimated that 1 billion straws are used everyday worldwide, enough to cover the earth’s circumference 5 times. And that’s just straws.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where I live, 9 million plastic bags are used every day – double the amount that was used 4 years ago. And Vietnam is a growth market for plastics. The country’s per capita consumption of plastic products (40-45kg/capita) is half that of Thailand’s and one-fourth that of Japan.

Plastic is difficult to separate, clean and recycle, and has a limited number of recycling life cycles compared to glass and metal. About 6 billion pounds of plastic bottles get thrown away every year worldwide, and only about 30% is recycled. Of that 30%, just one-fifth is processed to create fresh plastic bottles. So only 6% of recycled plastic bottles become new plastic bottles.

Plastic is not biodegradable, so plastics clog landfills and seep into groundwater. In Ho Cho Minh, 20% of plastics ends up in landfills, and given the city’s shortage of recycling systems and facilities, we can assume most of the remaining 80% ends up in the rivers and ocean where it takes hundreds of years to decompose, leeching toxins into the food chain.  

This problem is deeply personal to me because I love Vietnam, its people and its amazing food, much of which comes from the water. Just in this little corner of the world, growing plastic use could harm the livelihood of millions and threaten the country’s food security. Vietnam is already the fourth worst ocean polluter of plastics in the world.

Highlands Coffee, the most ubiquitous coffee chain in Ho Chi Minh, uses one plastic cup, lid and straw for each serving of coffee. And you know how much Vietnamese love their ca phê sũa đá. The current rage is bubble tea, which all popular chains serve in single use plastic. All this plastic, used for 5 minutes and then discarded, where it will take hundreds of years to degrade.

I find it maddening that there may be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 – all this less than 100 years after we began mass consuming plastics. 

Reducing waste will require government policies, innovation in packaging and recycling industries and most importantly, consumer behavior change. In this post, I’m focused on the latter. It might be a small difference, but if enough of us can change our habits, we can show an alternative way forward that wastes less.

The 5R’s of Zero Waste Living

The first step is to become aware of our habits of consumption.

I got this 5R model from Zero Waste Home:

• Refuse what you do not need
• Reduce what you do need
• Reuse by using reusables
• Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse
• Rot (compost) the rest

The key insight of this framework is that awareness of consumption – not recycling – is the key to sustainable living. We should question each purchase and the entire life cycle of the products we use. Do you need it? Can it be reused? And then if necessary, recycled or rotted?

Identify Your Use Patterns

Each person’s situation is different. Most critical is to identify your common single-use patterns and find replacements or work arounds.

My Living Situation:

• Live alone
• Eat mostly plants
• Carry a backpack for work
• Ride a motorbike for transportation
• Travel a lot so want to minimize stuff

My 4 Most Common Single-Use Plastic Scenarios (and Workarounds)

• Late night convenient store runs (carry extra bag in backpack and motorbike)
• Grocery shopping (bring reusable mesh produce bags, find wet markets that sell in bulk)
• Using plastics to store food (buy glass and silicone containers, beeswax wraps, and re-usable silicone microwave covers)
• Food delivery (eat AT restaurants, order less delivery and takeout, carry extra bag in backpack and motorbike)

So What if You’re Not Perfect? Just Get Started

I have found the following items to be indispensable wasting less on a daily basis:

Starter Pack

1. Bag with reusable bags (less single use bags)
2. Drink Thermos (less single use drink containers)
3. Handkerchief (less single use tissues)
4. Mesh bags (less single use produce bags when grocery shopping)

I don’t use straws and never pack food to eat at work, so I don’t need to carry reusable utensils or a lunch pack.

I’ve saved countless plastic bottles (and money) by carrying my thermos. And bringing along a few mesh produce bags while grocery shopping is easy.

Here you can find a list of my essentials.

Living Zero Waste in Saigon

So back to the 5Rs. In Ho Chi Minh, this could mean:

Refuse what you do not need

• Learn these Vietnamese sayings
  • không cần ống hút, cảm ơn (don’t need a straw, thank you)
  • không cần túi, cảm ơn (don’t need a bag, thank you)
  • không với đồ nhụa, cảm ơn (no plastics, thank you)
• Join Zero Waste Communities in Ho Chi Minh for support and inspiration
  • Zero Waste Saigon (Facebook group)
  • ReThink Plastic Vietnam (Facebook page)

Reduce what you do need 

• Donate clothes and extra stuff

Reuse + repair goods 

• Reuse what you have
• Buy reusable, recyclable containers practical to your living situation
  • Recommended Zero Waste Vendors in Ho Chi Minh
    • Organik House (7F Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Bến Nghé, Quận 1)
    • Zero Waste Saigon (17 Hàn Thuyên, Bến Nghé, Quận 1)
    • Refill Station(83 Xuân Thủy, Thảo Điền, Quận 2)
    • Green Around the Corner (32 Trần Ngọc Diện, Thảo Điền, Quận 2)
    • Lock & Lock
• Get stuff fixed and support local craftsmen
  • Get your bags fixed at Thành Tâm, 784 Nguyễn Định Chiểu, Quận 3 (8am-12:30pm, 2:30-6pm)
  • Clean your shoes with Mr. Laundry for 60,000 VND. 42 Đường 54, Thảo Điện

Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce or reuse

• Studying Ho Chi Minh’s recycling system to get a better understanding – stay tuned!

Rot the rest

• Have worms eat your garbage! Turn your food waste into “black gold.” Here’s my beginner’s guide for worm composting inside an apartment
• Get red wiggler worms from Anphu Earthwormto turn your food scraps into compost
• Buy a commercial worm bin, make your own, or get one custom made by Gagaco Vietnam

“With every purchase, the entire life cycle of a product should be evaluated, including recyclability. When buying new, we should choose products that not only support reuse but also are made of materials that have a high postconsumer content, are compatible with our community’s recycling program, and are likely to get recycled over and over (e.g., steel, aluminum, glass, or paper) versus downcycled (e.g., plastics).”

Bea Johnson, Zero Waste Home

Resources

Zero Waste Mindset + Tips

• Outsmart Waste
• Zero Waste Home
• Going Zero Waste
• Vietnam has a Plastic Waste Problem. Here’s what’s being done

Moving towards zero waste in Saigon will forever be a work in progress, so please let me know your suggestions, resources and additions in the comments below. I will keep this guide as up to date as possible!