A Can Tho Knees-Up

Adventures in the Mekong Delta

We had a fun time in the Mekong Delta, including a bit of karaoke and a boat trip. However, the overwhelming impression of the region is that the amount of waste in the river system is staggering.

There are many green (non-native) water hyacinths floating around but if you look closer you will see that they are entwined with large amounts of rubbish. While the watermelon scent of the wet hyacinth flowers is appealing, the long fluorescent bulb floating nearby is far from it.

The traditional tiny boats launched down river are mostly made from plants but parts of the offerings are not fully degradable. This could easily be fixed by reverting back to purely natural materials.

We’ve not seen much evidence of recycling here. However, we have seen lots of ingenious reuse. For example, old tyres are turned into rubbish bins, which unfortunately don’t see as much use as they should.

It would appear that this is a case of the broken windows theory. When there is so much waste around there is little incentive not to join the herd and fishing it out seems like a thankless task. Some people are clearly making an effort but it will take time to change a culture.

Discarded waste has been a running theme of this trip and is a problem in many countries. However, the sanitation seems particularly poor in this region.

The Mekong Delta is also one of the regions to face big challenges from our stresses on the environment. For more information, you can watch this BBC video from late last year or this article from 2015.