Vietnam is smothering in plastic

Meet Mr Loi. He’s been catching fish off Mui Ne on Vietnam’s southern coast for almost seven decades. There are many things about the view from his village and hundreds of others along Vietnam’s coast that haven’t changed much during those years. They're a big draw for camera wielding tourists seeking out local life. In just two decades though, something has changed. Plastic. Vietnam’s coast is smothering in it. There are piles of it on the sand where Mr Loi and his fellow fishermen drag out their round coracles each morning. There are piles of it on beaches all over the country. Resorts tend to clear their own patch of beach, which usually means a bigger pile of rubbish away from where they're located. Despite the tourism dollars coming in, local governments seem unable to coordinate a plan to keep beaches clean. And when you swim in the sea, you’ll find yourself regularly colliding with plastic too. It’s an environmental disaster - and a tourism disaster. And it reaches well beyond the beaches and into Vietnam's cities and towns as well. And while everyone knows about it, nobody seems to be able to do anything of substance about reducing the amount of plastic in use and making sure it doesn’t find its way into the waterways and the sea. Plastic is a problem the world over - but its use in Vietnam is even more commonplace. As is its presence in the country's waterways.