15 November 2025, Mui Ne Fishing Village, 70 participants
Reported by Lê Đoàn Ngọc Hân, Lê Đỗ Thanh Tú
Main image: Group photo with all participants
The No Plastic Mũi Né Project launched its first Beach Clean-Up initiative on 15 November 2025 at Mũi Né Fishing Village, bringing together youth, schools, community organizations, and environmental partners to promote coastal stewardship and responsible waste management.
Supported by Xanh Việt Nam Community, GRAC Technology, MorEco, Bùi Thị Xuân – Mũi Né High School, and Dong Phuc Á Châu, the initiative provided high school students with hands-on environmental experience while strengthening collaboration between local and Saigon-based teams. Through youth leadership, coordinated logistics, and on-site engagement, the activity aimed to reduce coastal plastic pollution, raise environmental awareness, and empower young people to take an active role in long-term community action against plastic waste.
Key takeaways
- Environmental Impact: The initiative successfully collected 300 kg of plastic waste, directly improving the local coastal environment while raising awareness of marine pollution and responsible waste management.
- Youth Empowerment and Leadership Development: Participants gained valuable hands-on experience in teamwork, multitasking, and leadership, strengthening their confidence and capacity to take initiative in environmental and community-based actions.
- Team Coordination and Community Engagement: Strong collaboration between the Saigon and Mũi Né teams encouraged active community participation and highlighted the power of collective effort. Beyond the clean-up itself, the initiative served as an important platform for social connection and personal growth. Participants reported building new friendships, developing coordination skills, and gaining meaningful first-time experiences. The shared pride of carrying out a green initiative for their hometown fostered a strong emotional connection, reinforcing environmental action as a source of identity, self-esteem, and long-term motivation.
Main highlights
Date: 15 November 2025
Venue or location: Mui Ne Fishing Village
Organizer and co-organizers: Xanh Việt Nam Community (Xanh Việt Nam), GRAC Technology (Grac Tech), MorEco, Bùi Thị Xuân – Mũi Né High School, and Dong Phuc Á Châu (Asia Uniform)
Participants: Students and Teachers from Bùi Thị Xuân – Mũi Né Highschool
No. of participants: 70 participants (including volunteers and teachers)
Activities implemented
Building the Local Organizing Team
Before the clean-up event, the project launched an open recruitment call for a local organizing team in Mũi Né, targeting high school students from Bùi Thị Xuân High School –Mũi Né. This step aimed to promote youth empowerment by giving students opportunities to take on leadership roles and actively contribute to an environmental initiative. The recruitment form received 60 applications, and the project selected half of them to ensure that the team consisted of students who demonstrated genuine commitment, initiative, and alignment with the project’s values. In coordination with the school, we agreed that participating students would receive school conduct points and a certificate of contribution from the project. Grade 10 students accounted for the largest proportion of applicants (45%), reflecting their strong enthusiasm and willingness to engage in environmental activities, followed by students from Grade 11.
The project recruited from three departments: Media, Logistics, and Coordination. According to the application results, the Logistics Team was the most in-demand position, attracting 56.7% of all applicants. Students who selected the Logistics Team commonly expressed their preference for working behind the scenes to ensure smooth and well-organized operations. Many highlighted their strengths in careful planning, attention to detail, and a desire to support others quietly yet effectively. They believed that the Logistics role would allow them to maximize these strengths while contributing meaningfully to the project. Applicants also emphasized their motivation to develop practical skills such as time management, checklist building, teamwork, problem-solving, and event organization, as well as their interest in directly engaging in green actions with their peers.
After forming the local organizing team in Mũi Né, we delegated leadership roles to the organizing team members from Saigon. This approach allowed all project participants to practice leadership, task management, and responsibility, ensuring that every member could actively develop essential skills while contributing meaningfully to the project’s success.
Collaboration & Partnership
The event was made possible through strong partnerships: Xanh Việt Nam Community supported communications and equipment provision; GRAC Technology contributed technical guidance and essential supplies; MorEco ensured that all collected waste was properly recycled; and Bùi Thị Xuân – Mũi Né High School facilitated active student participation. In addition, uniform sponsorship from Dong Phuc Á Châu helped unify the organizing teams and reinforce a shared sense of identity. Listed below are the profile of our partner in this project:
- Xanh Việt Nam Community (Xanh Việt Nam) is a non-profit organization founded on August 25, 2019, by Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Anh. It operates on a national and international scale, with a permanent team in all 63 provinces and cities and a volunteer base of over 50,000 members. On April 14, 2021, Xanh Việt Nam Community officially became a member of the National Volunteer Networks, directly affiliated with the National Volunteer Center (under the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee).
- Collaborative Media Partner: Xanh Việt Nam actively supported the project’s communication efforts, helping expand its reach and visibility.
- In-kind Sponsor: They provided essential clean-up equipment, including grabber tools and gloves, ensuring safe and effective waste collection for volunteers.
- GRAC Technology (Grac Tech) is a pioneering Vietnamese company applying smart technologies (Big Data, AI) to build zero-waste cities and promote the circular economy. The company focuses on digitalizing waste management, running community programs like Green Point, and developing SaaS solutions for governments and businesses. For Beach Clean-Up 01, Grac Tech served as a key strategic partner in three roles:
- Technical Advisor, providing expert knowledge on waste management and recycling to enhance the event’s educational and operational effectiveness.
- Media Partner, helping expand the event’s visibility through their communication network.
- In-kind Sponsor, supplying specialized garbage bags to ensure safe and efficient waste collection.
- MorEco is a recycling enterprise based in Biên Hòa that transforms plastic waste into new recycled products. Through processes such as sorting, cleaning, shredding, and remolding, MorEco turns discarded plastics into useful items like furniture, bins, and household products. As a project partner, MorEco received all waste collected from the Beach Clean-Up. The materials were transported to their Biên Hòa recycling facility, where they were processed and repurposed into recycled products, ensuring the waste was not only removed from the environment but reintegrated into a sustainable production cycle.
- Bùi Thị Xuân – Mũi Né High School served as a key institutional partner throughout the project. Most activities were carried out directly at the school and engaged its high school students as the primary participants. The school’s support enabled smooth coordination, strong student involvement, and consistent implementation of educational and environmental activities across the entire campaign.
- Dong Phuc Á Châu (Asia Uniform) is a reputable uniform manufacturer and supplier in Vietnam, with over 25 years of experience collaborating with domestic and international brands. In this project, Dong Phuc Á Châu served as a sponsoring partner, providing 50 uniforms for the organizing team in Saigon and the local organizing team in Mũi Né. This support not only ensured a consistent and professional appearance for all team members but also fostered a sense of unity and teamwork throughout the event.
Clean-up 01
The first clean-up event commenced with the organizing team gathering at 7:00 AM, during which the founders distributed necessary waste-collection tools and conducted attendance checks. A total of 70 participants joined the clean-up. The activity lasted approximately 30 minutes, during which participants successfully collected 300 kg of plastic waste. All collected waste was then transported to MorEco for recycling.
Outcome
Our Achievement
The first clean-up event produced significant outcomes for both the environment and the project team. Environmentally, 300 kg of plastic waste were removed from the local area, contributing to a cleaner and healthier Mũi Né community.
For the team, the event offered invaluable practical experience. Both the Saigon and Mũi Né organizing teams participated in a meaningful first-time activity, gaining hands-on exposure to event management. Team members developed essential skills including teamwork, multitasking, leadership, and problem-solving, while also experiencing youth empowerment by taking active responsibility for the event’s success.
The event served as a reflective learning opportunity, highlighting the importance of collaboration and initiative. Organizing team members expressed increased confidence in coordinating future activities and recognized the tangible impact that collective effort can have on both the environment and the local community.
News Coverage
After our beach clean-up activity, our initiative was reported by Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper and Giáo dục Thời đại Online (Education and Times Online):
- Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper: This leading multi-media conglomerate, which includes the daily newspaper, Tuổi Trẻ Online, and Tuổi Trẻ Cuối Tuần, is the official voice of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (Thành Đoàn TP.HCM) and is ultimately owned by the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee (Thành ủy TP.HCM). Its involvement ensured the message reached a mass audience and official channels.
- Giáo dục Thời đại Online (Education and Times Online): This publication is the official voice of the Ministry of Education and Training (Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo). Its coverage highlights the project’s relevance to the educational sector and its potential impact on student and youth awareness.
