Côn Đảo works toward greener tourism

Hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists visit Con Dao every year. This growing influx has placed increasing environmental pressure on the island, especially from plastic waste. In response to this challenge, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province is implementing many decisive solutions.

The lingering burden

According to the latest data from the Con Dao District People's Committee, the island generates 20 to 25 tons of household waste each day. However, the island's only waste treatment plant can manually incinerate about 4-5 tons per day. Most of the remaining waste is forced to accumulate, with the volume of untreated waste already exceeding 100,000 tons, becoming a long-standing environmental burden for many years.

Of particular concern is that plastic waste accounts for a large proportion of the total waste. Due to their slow decomposition, if not properly treated, these types of waste will pollute soil, water, and air, and negatively impact the marine ecosystem – a vital resource for the island district.

Its remote location at sea makes transporting waste to the mainland highly impractical due to prohibitive costs. Meanwhile, on-site treatment relies on outdated technology, causing toxic emissions and affecting community health. Changing consumption habits remains slow due to cost barriers and convenience.

In this context, raising community awareness is considered the most fundamental and effective solution. 

Many localities nationwide are adopting a grassroots approach, starting with communication and advocacy, and piloting in specific areas before widespread replication. Con Dao district, with its position as one of the key and highly symbolic tourist destinations, has the opportunity to lead this journey.

Shared responsibility

Following the directive of the Chairman of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial People's Committee on promoting the goal of reducing plastic waste, especially moving towards the complete elimination of single-use plastic products in Con Dao, the Department of Science and Technology recently sent a document to telecommunications companies requesting support in communicating to the community.

Accordingly, the Department of Science and Technology proposed that Viettel and Mobifone branches in Ba Ria - Vung Tau  send SMS messages to all residents and visitors in Con Dao throughout 2025. 

The message urges everyone to join hands in limiting the use of single-use plastic products, contributing to preserving a green, clean, and beautiful Con Dao environment. The messages, sent under the name of the Provincial People's Committee, will be in both Vietnamese and English. 

At the same time, local authorities and organizations are simultaneously implementing community communication activities. One standout is the "Green Offerings Basket" campaign, calling on residents and tourists to use environmentally friendly materials when making offerings at spiritual sites, completely replacing plastic bags, foam boxes and plastic items. This campaign is now in its fourth phase. 

The amount of plastic waste released into the environment has decreased compared to the same period last year, especially at spiritual tourism sites, which were once "hotspots" for waste.

The spirit of environmental protection in Con Dao is also bolstered by many innovative public mobilization models. Since May 2022, the "Trash for Gifts" initiative, organized by the District Youth Union in collaboration with WWF Vietnam and Six Senses Con Dao, has become a regular activity. By early 2025, the program had collected over 2.2 tons of recyclable waste, with milk cartons from schools alone accounting for over 1 ton, demonstrating the strong spread of the model to the younger generation.