Những thay đổi cần được làm vì môi trường!

Changes are to be made with the environment!

Scientists all over the world are almost unanimous that our planet is facing a catastrophic climate crisis. While little things that we can do everyday are adding up and can make a difference we do need the ‘change-fighters’ to not only live by example but also to reconnect to the beauty of our planet and convince others that it really is almost closing time and we need law-enforcement to keep mother Earth open for life.

So when CHANGE contacted us we had no doubt that this is a good cause to be supported by Ekoko Vietnam. Little did we know at that moment……so let’s dive a bit into their history.

 

Miss Hong Hoang founded CHANGE in 2013. She has been the first Vietnamese to set foot on Antarctica in 1997. Her mission was and is ‘To promote and encourage the care and preservation of the environment through education and innovative communications that change habits and inspire community action in Vietnam’. Wow……that’s something else then the fashionable saying ‘zero waste’ People like Sir Richard Branson and Maggie Q by now are also engaged by her mission.

CHANGE now has become an incredibly active environmental non-profit organization based in Ho Chi Minh City. CHANGE promotes and encourages the care and preservation of the environment trough education and innovative communications that change habits and inspire community action in Vietnam. There are 3 focus area’s:

  • Fighting environmental degradation and climate change
  • Reducing illegal wildlife demands
  • Promoting sustainability

As we are committed offering products that support keeping the environment vivid and clean we know that many are always looking at what is happening behind the horizon but lesser at our front door. Vietnam is our home right? So let’s get some figures out just to increase our awareness of what is happening and see where we are with our country Vietnam.

Our Planet Earth

July 2019 was the hottest Month on record in human history

Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the last 40 years - One million species are being threatened

Air and water are polluted globally. Air pollution will take an estimated seven million lives in 2020, 1 out of 9 people globally lack access to safe water

Climate change will create world’s biggest refugee crisis: about 2 billion people may become displaced by 2100 due to extreme weather events

By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in oceans

Our HOME Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but it comes with ‘side effects’.

  • Vietnam ranks SECOND on the list of illegal wildlife consumption, only after China
  • Vietnam is the FOURTH worst polluter of ocean plastic waste
  • Hanoi and HCMC are amongst cities with the worst air quality - in 2019 Hanoi topped the chart on many days
  • Mekong delta is among the three deltas most threatened by sea level rise

Quite alarming all of this, isn’t it? But we just need to look around and we can see many of it. Personally I always take my bicycle to go somewhere. That has many advantages: stay fit, don’t co-pollute and slowing down makes you see more….more trash….more engines of cars and motorbikes running even at moments that they are just standing somewhere….so it needs vision and courage starting to change things.

The vision of CHANGE in the next decade looks like this:

  • Vietnam is no longer the ‘leading market for illegal wildlife products’
  • Hanoi and HCMC are out of the world’s top 30 most polluted cities
  • Vietnam is no longer among the top 10 worst ocean polluters
  • 20% of the population and 30% of businesses are aware and make practical behavior changes to reduce impacts on climate and environment. 

The year 2023 will mark the 10-year anniversary of CHANGE and their goal is ‘to build the most powerful and engaging environmental action movement in Vietnam & engaging 2 million Vietnamese people’

And this is also where we come in and need your help to help CHANGE as well.  All little things combined make a big thing. At ekoko you don’t find polluting packaging, single-use plastics are out and not to forget; no harsh ingredients in any of our products for daily use. Finally the ocean starts at the flush of your shower and kitchen sink.

Will you belong to the engaged 2 million people and help keeping us all alive? I sincerely hope so.