Put the ball away!

I am re-reading Mr. To Hoai. The book “Old Stories of Hanoi” (2 parts) is nearly 700 pages thick. It cannot be said that it is not interesting. The writer has the talent to write well, and attract readers. Not just for a short time but for a long time. I like the writer’s storytelling style, sometimes dotted, sometimes meticulous, the way of observing characters and objects carefully and the art of using words. To Hoai deserves to be called a master, both familiar and strange.

Let me cite an example from many passages that are worth illustrating what I just said about the person who gave birth to the extremely famous “The Adventures of a Cricket” because it will be related to the story I want to discuss about the new countryside. In the first paragraph of the story “Market Cake”, To Hoai wrote:

When they got to the market, the children were dazzled by the stalls of food. There were so many things to crave. The golden star fruit, just seeing the strung star fruit made their mouths water. Not to mention the countless cakes and fruits, looking at them was overwhelming. The stalls of food in the suburban market. The baskets, the rickety poles, under the baskets, on the ends of the poles were tied banana strings, sticky rice straw and a whole basket of leaves wrapped on the trays. Dried lotus leaves, banana leaves to wrap popcorn, loose banana leaves, Indian almond leaves to wrap rice cakes, and areca and areca leaves to pair with rice balls. At that time, there was no newspaper, plastic wrap, rubber bands to wrap and tie like today...

Put the ball away!

Illustration: LE NGOC DUY

Oh my, how evocative a piece of writing is, Mr. To Hoai! From the perspective of today’s readers, the past and present are clearly cut into layers. Or further, when we think of the future of humanity if we put it in the context of concerns about an increasingly polluted living environment.

The thing that the writer mentioned in “Old Stories of Hanoi” is exactly what many people hope for today. Plastic wrap, now plastic bags (nylon bags) for goods and gifts are everywhere, from urban to rural areas.

New and not-so-new rural areas are facing the problem of plastic waste everywhere, and plastic bags are the most visible. At first, when they were first introduced, plastic bags were welcomed by people as a useful invention of modern life. Extremely light and convenient.

Traditional markets, supermarkets, and shops all use plastic bags to carry things home. It is a common sight to see a woman returning from the market carrying many plastic bags. Fish bags, meat bags, fruit bags, garlic bags, chili bags...

Each item comes with a plastic bag. Let’s calculate, every day when coming back from the market, that woman uses about 4 to 5 plastic bags, multiply that by how many bags she brings home each month. Those convenient plastic bags eventually end up in the trash for a specialized vehicle to take to a landfill (in urban areas) or pile up on the side of the road or bury in the ground (in rural areas).

I have been to many beautiful villages, with charming mountains and rivers, peaceful villages, and spacious houses, but there are piles of garbage along the roadside. Many plastic bags containing small and large garbage are piled up on top of each other, looking very unsightly.

The new countryside has changed the face of the countryside. You can imagine it even if you close your eyes. It can be said that compared to a few decades ago, it is a world apart. Electricity lights up the village and all the houses. There are no more thatched houses like in the not-so-distant past. Asphalt and concrete roads replace the dusty dirt roads and muddy rain roads.

The spacious, standard school is hidden behind the rows of green trees. The medical station must also be decent and beautiful, the old-fashioned thing is a thing of the past. Seeing the rural landscape like that, who wouldn’t be happy, the eternal dream of the owners of the wet rice civilization “a fragrant grain, a thousand bitterness” has become a reality.

The reality, though not splendid, is still very lovely and flickering. So lovely that some people want to come and live there. A place worth living, I have heard such admirations.

However, it is not necessarily true that many new rural areas are still in debt to environmental criteria. My district is the first unit in the province to achieve new rural status.

The peaceful town on the river that curves like a crescent moon where I live with my family has been a new rural area for several years now, but I hear it is still in debt to environmental criteria. The sight of cows roaming freely through the streets, pigs raised in crowded residential areas with a strong smell of feces has not ended. And, sadly, people have never said no to plastic bags.

It should also be known that, according to many documents, the familiar plastic bag is made from materials that are very difficult to decompose.

Surely when it was first invented, people did not fully anticipate its harmful effects. Plastic bags contribute to the greenhouse effect, when mixed with the soil, they will prevent plants from growing, leading to erosion of mountainous areas. Animals on land or in water that accidentally eat plastic bags cannot digest them and die, causing pollution to the ecosystem.

When burned, plastic bags produce two extremely toxic gases, dioxin and furan, which cause birth defects in children and weaken human immunity... I really shudder when reading these numbers: According to statistics from the United Nations, every year the world produces more than 400 million tons of plastic and consumes about 1,000 billion to 5,000 billion plastic bags. In Vietnam, according to statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, every year we use more than 30 billion plastic bags, on average each family uses from 5 to 7 plastic bags a day.

Perhaps, we should include in the criteria for building new rural areas the restriction and moving towards not using plastic bags. It is difficult, very difficult, but if we are united and determined, I think our people can do it. We can do it by “going back to the old days, doing things like the old days”.

Every woman, every woman, every girl going to the market or supermarket carries beautiful and eye-catching baskets and bags made of environmentally friendly materials because of their easy decomposition. Why not, friendly baskets and bags will protect this world.

At the macro level, I think the government should have determination and take concrete actions towards the goal of banning the use of plastic bags. The sooner the better. And each citizen, especially in the new rural areas, should voluntarily limit and stop using plastic bags. It would be great if the women's association took the lead in the campaign to encourage people to say no to plastic bags.

Then it will be like the old days, the baskets and the baskets following the women to the market. Paper and bags for wrapping things are only made of biodegradable materials. The old story told by Uncle To Hoai becomes a new story today. The story of the plastic bags that are absent from our lives.

Life without plastic bags is worth living. I sit and remember my mother in the past, when she came home from the market and called the big kids, the little ones, the little ones, the little ones to sit next to the small basket. Mom opened it, there was a fried cake wrapped in banana leaves, a handful of green rice wrapped in lotus leaves, a custard apple with its eyes wide open, a golden star apple with a fragrant aroma filling the three thatched houses... I miss the old days so much. How could I hope to "return to the old days" when plastic bags had not been invented yet?

Nguyen Huu Quy

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