Top 15 Severe Environmental Destruction Actions in Vietnam

Littering is one of the bad habits among Vietnamese people, from the elderly to the young - the future owners of the country. We can find waste everywhere from small items like cigarette butts, candy wrappers, to large and small trash bags. Especially, this phenomenon occurs even on major streets, sidewalks, or even just a few steps away from public trash cans. The image of people sitting on buses, coaches, or trains throwing garbage onto the street is not unfamiliar, or in a restaurant where trash bins are readily available under the table but lovely guests casually throw trash on the floor are typical actions of littering.

This is essentially a consciousness issue that Vietnamese people need to find a solution to prevent the problem of littering from affecting the current living environment.

Deforestation in Vietnam is one of the major issues facing the country. According to the 2005 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Vietnam ranks second in the world in terms of deforestation rates, following only Nigeria. The loss of forests is attributed to the weakness and corruption in forest protection efforts, as well as collusion, complicity, and facilitation by relevant authorities and forest rangers, who have aided illegal logging activities. Deforestation methods have become increasingly sophisticated and blatant, including forest conversion and approval of investment projects that have sparked public outrage but have been deliberately ignored by the authorities. Despite the government's efforts to protect and reforest, Vietnam's forest cover has been steadily increasing since 1996, but the proportion of natural forests in the total forest area has decreased.

The issue of deforestation is not new to Vietnam, but it continues to occur daily. Human greed drives indiscriminate logging, leading to landslides, soil erosion, and severe ecological disruptions, including the loss of habitats and food sources, ultimately resulting in extinction of species.

Another concerning action related to the awareness of Vietnamese citizens is the practice of waste incineration. Most individuals engaging in this behavior either do not consider the consequences or are unaware of the seriousness of their actions.

After waste is collected and sorted by garbage trucks, it is often disposed of by incineration to reduce landfill space. The lack of standardized waste treatment facilities is mainly due to insufficient supply to meet demand. Consequently, waste incineration sites can be found in open fields, especially on rainy or humid days when the smoke from burning waste persists, polluting the environment and posing long-term health risks to the community.

Outdoor waste incineration not only affects the urban aesthetic but also pollutes the air and increases local temperatures, adversely impacting community health and the environment due to the presence of persistent organic pollutants. This practice has serious implications for air quality and immediate health risks for those directly involved in waste incineration.

Household waste comprises everything that people no longer use or intend to discard. Waste can be solid (trash), liquid (wastewater), or gas (exhaust fumes).

Landfills are breeding grounds for many types of disease-causing bacteria, which can be transmitted by some insects and animals living in landfills. Exhaust fumes and wastewater also cause respiratory, skin, and lung diseases. Waste has serious adverse effects on nature. Many organisms die after ingesting plastic waste or getting entangled in it. Moreover, land and water contaminated with waste become toxic, hindering the growth and development of plants and animals. Landfills affect the landscape and emit foul odors, causing discomfort. Environmental pollution of soil, water, and air.

Currently, waste is not sorted at the source, and the waste collection system is inadequate. Garbage trucks are only equipped in urban and densely populated areas, while in remote areas, waste is not collected but dumped haphazardly on roadsides. The current waste treatment methods mainly involve incineration and landfilling, significantly impacting the environment.

We may still encounter the situation where household waste is piled up openly day after day or where wastewater is directly discharged into rivers not only in rural areas but even in major cities like Hanoi. Over time, this waste will severely affect the air and water environment in that area and neighboring regions.

The alarming situation of overusing chemical pesticides and inorganic fertilizers in agricultural production nowadays can lead to risks of food safety, environmental pollution, soil degradation, especially the issue of pest resistance.

The overuse of pesticides

The exploitation of natural resources involves using them to drive economic growth, sometimes with negative consequences such as environmental degradation. It began on an industrial scale in the 19th century when the extraction and processing of raw materials (such as mining, steam power, and machinery) outpaced pre-industrial sectors. In the 20th century, energy consumption increased rapidly. Today, about 80% of global energy consumption is sustained by the extraction of fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas.

Another non-renewable resource exploited by humans is underground minerals such as precious metals, mainly used in industrial production. Intensive agriculture is an example of a production method that adversely affects various aspects of the natural environment, such as deforestation in terrestrial ecosystems and water pollution in aquatic ecosystems. As the world's population grows and economic growth occurs, the unsustainable depletion of natural resources through raw material extraction becomes an increasingly concerning issue.

Vietnam is a country with diverse and abundant resources. However, overexploitation not only makes those who engage in this activity illegal but also depletes the country's resources, leading to serious consequences such as earthquakes, landslides, and especially changes in the Earth's structure resulting in natural disasters and atmospheric changes.

The development of livestock farming, especially intensive farming, is a correct policy to turn livestock into a commodity production industry, producing in chains, and connected to the market. However, the development of large-scale farming also requires strict management by authorities, local governments, and especially addressing the challenge of environmental pollution caused by livestock waste.

This situation occurs in most rural areas in Vietnam. Livestock farming can range from small-scale with one or two herds of livestock or poultry to larger-scale farms with thousands of animals. Livestock wastewater is discharged directly into the environment without treatment, causing aesthetic loss, environmental pollution, and providing favorable conditions for disease-causing bacteria to thrive.

Medical waste is any waste that contains infectious materials (or materials that are potentially infectious). It includes waste generated by healthcare facilities like doctor's offices, hospitals, dental practices, blood banks, and veterinary clinics. Medical waste can contain bodily fluids like blood or other contaminants. The Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 defines medical waste as any waste generated during medical research, testing, diagnosis, immunization, or treatment for humans or animals. Examples include glass, bandages, gloves, discarded sharp objects like needles or scalpels, and gauze and paper products.

Hospitals are places for healing, yet they also generate a significant amount of waste that affects the environment the most. Some hospitals dispose of medical waste through conventional means or even directly into the environment. Additionally, they sell these wastes to collectors for recycling them into items that return to our daily lives. This action directly impacts human health and also pollutes the environment.

Managing medical waste is a daily challenge for healthcare providers. It's often complicated by other concerns such as HIPAA, epidemiology, potential civil litigation, and state and local regulations. Because at MedPro Waste Disposal, we aim to help providers become better stewards, we are exploring key concepts about medical waste.

Industrial waste is waste generated from industrial activities, including any materials that become useless during the production processes at factories, industries, refineries, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and debris, bricks and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap wood, and even food waste from restaurants. Industrial waste can be solid, liquid, or gaseous. It can be hazardous or non-hazardous. Hazardous waste can be toxic, flammable, corrosive, reactive, or radioactive. Industrial waste can pollute the air, soil, or nearby water sources, ultimately leading to ocean pollution.

Industrial waste is often mixed with municipal waste, making accurate assessment challenging. The United States alone estimates up to 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste generated each year. Most countries have enacted laws to address industrial waste issues, but enforcement and compliance vary. Enforcing legislation on this matter is always a challenge.

In the course of daily living, at the current pace of development, humans inadvertently pollute water sources with chemicals, waste from factories, and industrial plants. Individuals using groundwater by drilling wells, when they stop using them without sealing the boreholes properly, allow dirty water to flow in, contaminating the groundwater.

Industrial plants release industrial smoke and dust into the air, polluting the air. When it rains, these pollutants mix into the rainwater, causing water pollution as well.

Lastly, and most dangerously, radioactive waste severely impacts human health, as seen in the recent mercury leak at the Rang Dong factory fire.

Among the sources of air pollution in urban areas nationwide, exhaust emissions from transportation activities stand out. Among all types of vehicles, motorcycles and scooters account for the largest proportion and also constitute the largest source of pollutant emissions.

Explaining the root cause of the issue, according to experts, motor vehicles using gasoline and diesel as fuel generate various toxic gases through leakage, evaporation, and fuel combustion such as VOCs, Benzene, Toluene...

Participation in traffic activities in Vietnam is one of the main factors leading to serious environmental pollution. The amount of exhaust emissions from vehicles is increasing day by day, especially in major cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City,... Traffic congestion during peak hours or heavy rain is also a factor contributing to the increased emissions into the environment.

The increasing demand for usage leads to a growing amount of plastic waste, nylon bags released into the environment, while the management, collection, and disposal of waste are not timely, so the phenomenon of burning plastic waste, nylon bags is still very common. When burned outdoors, it will produce many toxic gases, including dioxins and furans, which are extremely toxic substances capable of causing breathing difficulties, affecting the endocrine system, reducing immune function, disrupting digestive function... Especially there is a risk of cancer when exposed frequently.

Nylon bags and single-use plastic products, used for a very short time then discarded, but these products have long-lasting non-biodegradable properties, their harm is extremely large not only to human health but also to the environment, the ecosystem on Earth. According to researchers, it takes from 500 to 1000 years for a nylon bag to decompose in the natural environment. Meanwhile, the amount of plastic waste discharged into the environment is very large, nearly one-third of the plastic bags waste every day is not collected, processed. The consequence is that plastic waste, nylon bags are everywhere, causing serious environmental pollution and providing conditions for the emergence and development of various diseases.

Imagine a time when you and your generation unanimously say no to plastic containers, plastic straws, plastic cups... then surely the next generation - your offspring - will act like you. It's not a distant scenario at all.

According to statistics from the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, it is estimated that over 1 million tons of straw, crop residue, and agricultural by-products are generated annually in the city. Of this, over 37% is burned directly in the fields by farmers. Experts also warn that burning crop residue causes fine dust pollution. This is a very concerning type of pollution. In the smoke from burning straw and crop residue are tiny dust particles, coal ash, CO, CO2, SO2, NO2... The smoke from burning straw and crop residue is pungent, causing tears, irritation in the throat, making people inhaling the smoke prone to coughing, sneezing, nausea, shortness of breath... Smoke from burning straw and crop residue often does not burn into flames, so it produces a lot of CO (carbon monoxide). This is a very toxic gas that can cause death. People who inhale a lot of it for a long time can alter the structure of the respiratory system, making them prone to lung infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer...

Not only affecting health, burning a lot of crop residue at the same time will heat up the atmosphere, making the temperature hotter, pushing the temperature higher. In Hanoi, the situation of too many high-rise buildings compared to other localities has led to this phenomenon. Therefore, air circulation is worse, while the level of air pollution in Hanoi is high due to harmful emissions from engines and industrial zones not rising high but concentrating near the ground, so it is prone to phenomena of smog.

According to environmental experts, there have been studies worldwide on the harmful effects of burning crop residue on air quality in the region, as well as alternative solutions to burning crop residue. However, it seems that farmers still cannot access these results and still do not realize how harmful smoke from burning straw and crop residue is to the environment and health.

Currently, there are still many indifferent and irresponsible individuals who lack awareness in environmental protection, with the habit of indiscriminate littering everywhere, especially the dumping of waste into drainage systems, rivers, lakes, directly impacting the surrounding environment.

Environmental protection must begin with the people, with each household; because only when every member of each family has awareness and takes action to protect the environment, environmental issues can be better addressed. When each family properly collects household waste to the designated locations, it will have a significant impact on waste management at the local level, contributing to environmental preservation and the landscape of residential areas.

Urbanization has significant impacts on the ecology and economy of the region. Urban ecologists also observe that under the influence of urbanization, the psychology and lifestyle of residents change, leading to increased traffic congestion, higher investment costs in technical infrastructure, and negatively impacting social stratification as suburban residents may disregard the difficulties of urban areas.

The rapid industrialization and urbanization and the increasing population are exerting growing pressure on water resources in the region. Water environments in many cities, industrial zones, and craft villages are increasingly polluted by wastewater, emissions, and solid waste.

In large cities, household waste is also a significant contributor to environmental water pollution.