“Go vegetarian for the environment” campaign kicked off last Wednesday in Hanoi and is set to launch in the rest of the country on October 10, to highlight how meat production contributes to global warming.
The campaign is spearheaded by Do Thi Thu Trang, a graduate student of environmental science at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry in the central province of Thua Thien Hue, and sponsored by Live & Learn Vietnam, an environmental education-focused NGO involved in community development.
Tuoi Tre spoke to Do Thi Thu Trang who is also the president of Hue’s environmental club GREACT Hue.
What inspired you to launch this campaign?
When I was a sophomore at Hanoi National University, I wanted to conduct research on vegetarianism and the environment but could not for a number of reasons.
Later I attended the 2010 Vietnam Youth & Sustainable Development Summit organized by Live & Learn Vietnam and learnt about many youth-initiated activities around the world. I became motivated to do something meaningful. I did some research and presented my ideas to other summit participants. I was happy that many people liked my idea and wanted to join.
What difficulties did you encounter in realizing this campaign?
As I began, I realized that although the concept of “climate change” is very popular, many still do not understand its causes and effects. Many still think of melting glaciers as something that happens somewhere faraway. Some people believe that a vegetarian diet does not provide enough energy and nutrients. Above all, people’s eating habits are hard to change, but we’ll do our best to make a difference.
How do you carry out this campaign?
We use relevant websites such as vegvietnam.com and Facebook to get our message out. We set up booths at environment-related festivals and events to inform people about the campaign. Also, as part of the campaign, we encourage participants eating vegetarian food alone, in group, with friends, colleagues or family and whether at home or at vegetarian restaurants to illustrate their experience with a story, message or photo. We reward good stories or photos.
How do you rate the feasibility of the campaign?
This is a 5-month campaign. The purpose is to help people understand, adopt and maintain monthly vegetarian habits. We also want them to continue once the campaign is over. I believe that the campaign will reach a lot of people.
Currently many international campaigns are addressing climate change such as United Nations Environment Program’s Billion Tree campaign, Global Campaign for Climate Action’s TckTckTck project and the 350 campaign to keep carbon dioxide emission under safe limits.
2010 is the United Nation International Year of Youth and I think Vietnamese youth are ready to join young people of the world in their global efforts to prevent climate change.
