Earlier this year, the Pacific Environment Vietnam team participated in the “Kitchen God Day” campaign which seeks to merge sustainability and traditional celebrations in Vietnam. The campaign aims to prevent plastic pollution during the Lunar New Year and educate the public about sustainable living practices during this traditional ritual. Over the years, the campaign has expanded beyond waste collection to include various forms of community education through cleanup activities and educational programming.

Kitchen God Day, referred to as Tet in Vietnam, is a traditional celebration on the 23rd day of the last lunar month. It is a time to express gratitude to the Kitchen Gods, who are believed to oversee the home and kitchen and mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year. In celebration, families often clean their homes, prepare offerings and host ceremonial gatherings to bid farewell to the Kitchen Gods as it is believed that these deities will report the family’s activities over the past year to the Jade Emperor as they ascend to Heaven. In Vietnam, it is also an occasion for the family to express gratitude and pray for peace and prosperity in the coming year. 

Families often prepare an offering tray that includes a live carp — believed to be the gods’ celestial transport — along with incense, betel leaves, votive paper and traditional foods. Previously, Kitchen God Day celebrations across Vietnam mostly used natural materials, such as banana leaves, paper and ceramic items, but increasingly single use and environmentally damaging items and materials like mass-produced votive paper, styrofoam trays, plastic bags and live carp sold in plastic packaging have been utilized during the celebration. In recent years, waste from the festivities, especially plastic bags, has increasingly been found polluting rivers and lakes after the celebrations conclude.

In 2017, Keep Vietnam Clean began this annual event to transform the festivities into a celebration of sustainability and environmental education. To date:

• 477 local residents and students have been trained on sustainable living
• 1010 volunteers have joined in on the campaign, and
• 13.5 tons of waste have been collected across seven collection sites

The campaign has also fostered artistic creativity with four art competitions focused on environmental protection, attracting 207 submissions.

This year’s event — sponsored by Pacific Environment and KVC, alongside local authorities, organizations and other social groups — included a series of powerful training and cleanup activities in Hanoi, Vietnam. Residents and volunteers worked to remove litter and trash and restore the natural beauty of the area while also learning best practices to live more sustainably. 

Around 150 participants, including government officials, local residents, social organizations and environmental enthusiasts, gathered in Hanoi to release fish, collect plastic bags and learn about water pollution. The event collected nearly two tons of waste, including plastic bags, votive paper ash and other waste that accumulated in part from the area’s local Kitchen God festival celebrations.

Participants in a cleanup event collect a variety of trash from the Red River in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Additionally, 115 union members joined a training session hosted by the Women’s Union of Bac Tu Liem District which featured lessons on sustainable living practices, waste collection and sorting guidelines, and the harmful effects of plastic waste dumping and burning on the environment and human health. Notably, the active participation, opinions and discussions from the attendees, especially local residents, demonstrated growing environmental awareness. Participants said that they were motivated to educate their families, friends and colleagues to adopt sustainable living practices at home, not only during the traditional Lunar New Year but also in daily life.

It’s especially encouraging to see women play a leading role in this shift. Through our training with the Women’s Union, we saw how knowledge, once shared, turned into actions — starting from the home and rippling outwards into the community. As we bring back and prioritize sustainable practices into long-held traditions like Kitchen God Day, we’re witnessing a growing movement across Vietnam — one where communities are not only embracing cultural values, but also taking ownership of environmental protection.