Plastic waste is not biodegradable, which can only break into small pieces and float everywhere. With the exposure to sunlight, it may take many centuries to decompose. Those very familiar everyday small objects such as straws and bottle caps could take from 100 to 500 years to decompose; while it takes from 500 to 1,000 years for the flimsy plastic bags, and from 50 to 200 years for convenient foam cups to decompose, etc. Our environment and health are extremely negatively affected by plastic waste. It directly impacts soil, water, and air, which also creates favorable conditions for many disease-causing bacteria.

The "Straw’s Journey" project contributes to protecting the environment and reusing resources after the harvest by producing environmentally friendly paper products from straw.

That is the brilliant yellow of the sunshine and the wind, and of the ripe rice fields with the corpulent, firm rice grains. That is also the yellow of straw and the pleased faces of farmers on the harvest days. The scene of the countryside is bustling and animated but simply beautiful.

It is the brilliant golden color of the sunshine, the wind, and the ripe rice paddies with plump and firm rice grains; it is also the color of rice straw, and the happy smiling faces of farmers on the harvest day. The village scene is bustling and busy, but strangely beautiful.

Witnessing the international-prize winning students in Thua Thien Hue recently, it is easier to understand the idiom “Cannot make bricks without straw” and “No one can accomplish great things without teachers”.

Instead of using a turntable, the women move backwards around the piece to shape it. The pottery is not glazed but sundried and burned outdoors with firewood and straw for seven to eight hours, at about 800 degrees Celsius.