Each weekday morning,  the schoolyard of Hoa Tan Tay Primary School bursts with energy as laughter  echoes between classrooms and  students rush in clutching small personal reusable water bottles—a small  but powerful sign of change. 

Photo: Ms. Huynh Thi Kim Lanh – Vice Principal of Hoa Tan Tay Primary School.

At the heart of this change is Vice Principal Huynh Thi Kim Lanh. Moving with purpose, she guides groups of students through waste-sorting activities every week. Her warm smile and calm determination have turned environmental lessons into something relatable, practical, and even fun.

Having grown up in a rural village surrounded by nature, Ms. Lanh developed an early and deep respect for the environment. That connection fuels her mission today —not only to teach but to inspire a love for the natural world in her students and help them build lifelong habits to protect the environment, starting with the smallest everyday actions.

For years, Ms. Lanh wondered how to create lessons on reducing plastic waste that would really connect with students and motivate them to adopt sustainable behaviors beyond the classroom. When the Phu Yen Department of Education and Training and GreenHub launched a Zero Waste contest in 2022, Ms. Lanh embraced the opportunity to encourage teachers to organize activities urging students to limit single-use plastic bottles, straws and bags.

Photo: Ms. Lanh judging the entries in the Recycling Contest organized by the school.

Despite a strong start however, the school’s efforts remained at a grassroots level and failed to generate long-term change due to a lack of funding, specialized solutions, and technical expertise. 

"Despite our best efforts, we still lacked the tools and a systematic approach to address the problem at its root," Ms. Lanh shared.

After the Phu Yen Department of Education and Training issued the “Zero Waste – Green – Clean – Beautiful – Safe School and Classroom” Plan for the 2023–2025 period,  Hoa Tan Tay Primary School was selected as one of three pilot schools for the "Zero Waste School" model, supported by GreenHub in 2024. Seizing this opportunity to fulfill her long-held dream, Ms. Lanh quickly took action.

Photo: Ms. Lanh and the students participating in an extracurricular lesson on Waste Sorting organized by GreenHub.

With in-depth consultation from GreenHub, the school implemented a comprehensive series of practical solutions: issuing regulations to reduce plastic use and classify waste, organizing extracurricular activities, integrating environmental education into lessons through visual teaching aids, establishing a drinking water refill system, and installing compost bins for organic waste. Every change was bolstered by the concrete actions of teachers.

Photo: Students participating in an activity to learn about composting methods at school.

"If we want students to change their mindset, teachers must set an example first," Ms. Lanh affirmed. 

"Now, at all meetings and events, the school no longer uses plastic bottles or single-use plastics. Every teacher has their own personal water bottle."

These efforts quickly yielded tangible results. Students have developed the habit of bringing personal water bottles, properly sorting waste, and spreading environmental education  to their famiiles. Beyond plastics, hundreds of kilograms of organic waste is now processed directly at the school each month too, significantly reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill or burnt.

What makes Ms. Huynh Thi Kim Lanh happiest is not the numbers, but the genuine change in the mindset and actions of each student, colleague, and even parents. With her tireless contributions, Ms. Lanh’s initiative "Measures to Implement a Zero waste School" was recognized by the District Innovation Council, and she was honored with a Certificate of Merit for the "Clever Mass Mobilization" Model and Example in 2024 by the Party Committee of Hoa Tan Tay Commune.

Photo: Ms. Lanh receiving the Certificate of Merit for the Exemplary "Clever Mass Mobilization" Model in 2024, awarded by the Party Committee of Hoa Tan Tay Commune.

As Ms. Lanh believes, "Change does not start with grand slogans, but with quiet actions taken every day.”

Hoa Tan Tay Primary School continues to nurture these habits every day — not as a one-time campaign, but as a way of life. Looking ahead, Ms. Lanh and her colleagues plan to deepen environmental education across all grade levels and engage more parents through community clean-up days and workshops.

For Ms. Lanh, true impact lies not just in what students learn today, but in how they carry those values forward — shaping a future where caring for the environment becomes second nature, both at school and at home.

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The project “Reducing Plastic Waste through Zero Waste in Phu Yen province” was implemented by GreenHub and supported by Pacific Environment Vietnam.