Published July 24, 2026
From used tyres, paint and more than 150 days of volunteer labour, Liên Mạc ward built its first recycled playground — where children play and learn that “waste is a resource”.
Weekends in Lien Mac Ward seem happier now that the first playground made from recycled materials has been built. It carries a spirit of dedication to give the children of the area not only a place to play after school, but also a place to learn more about recycling and to love the environment more.
Specifically, over the period from June to August 2022, the Green Development Support Center GreenHub joined forces with the social enterprise “Rolling Dreams” (Lăn bánh ước mơ), Lien Vu Company, together with local socialized funding and more than 150 workdays of labor from residential group officials and Ward Women's Union members, to inaugurate the “Recycled Playground for Children” in Lien Mac Ward, Bac Tu Liem District. It can be said that this is the first time in Lien Mac Ward that a recycled playground has mobilized such a diverse pool of resources, being built with the contributions of the project, the local government, and social enterprises alike!
As an activity proactively proposed by the locality to improve the state of the residential area, the authorities of Lien Mac Ward mobilized resources themselves and handed them over to the residential group level so that the playground could operate sustainably. Sharing about the motivation that drove the Women's Union to accompany the recycled playground effort, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Huyen - Chairwoman of the Lien Mac Ward Women's Union - emphasized the lack of playgrounds for children in the area as well as the wish to find a way to make use of the recyclable waste there:
In addition, the authorities and nearly 100 surrounding community residents also took part very enthusiastically, from clearing the space to gathering, transporting, painting, and recycling the tires, contributing 150 workdays to help build the playground. During this process, nearly 7 million dong was donated by officials, members, residents, and businesses in the area, greatly assisting the process of completing the project. After completion, the playground was handed over to the residential group, the Youth Union, and the Women's Union in Hoang Lien 2 to jointly manage and maintain.
She also said that after the playground was inaugurated, this location has reached almost all households in the area, including the three residential groups Hoang Lien 1, Hoang Lien 2, and Hoang Lien 3. Among them, these three residential groups have more than 1,000 households and there is one secondary school with about 600 students enrolled.
Residents living near the recycled playground also expressed very positive attitudes about the project. According to parents living in the area, before the recycled playground, most of the common activity areas were equipped with exercise machines, with no colorful play structures dedicated to the children. Ms. Tan - a member of the Hoang Lien 2 Women's Union, in Lien Mac Ward - representing the residents living around the playground area, said:
“From the day the project staff came to install the structure until it was finished, in the morning those of us with small grandchildren all come out here to play, and the ladies from the collective housing come too, letting the children play for more than an hour. In the afternoon, the secondary school students come back; they love this environment very much - everything is new, and there are many toys different from the neighboring groups, so the playground is really lively and crowded!”
Accompanying the local government, GreenHub and the LSPP project made great efforts to turn the recycled playground into a place of environmental education for the children. Ms. Huyen expressed her belief and determination to spread this model even more widely so that in the future, young people across all of Hanoi can both play to their heart's content in a safe playground and grow to love the environment more and learn how to give waste a new life! It can be said that the LSPP project's funding of the recycled playground model has contributed to reducing the amount of waste, recycling surplus old materials, and visually conveying the message “waste is a resource” - raising the awareness of residents in the area of Lien Mac Ward, Bac Tu Liem District.
We had thought of building a playground out of tires. Because we could mobilize tires within the ward and mobilize officials, women's union members, and residents to together make a playground that both saves on funding and creates a play spot for the children in the ward, after hard study hours or on Saturday and Sunday days off.
— Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Huyen, Chairwoman of the Lien Mac Ward Women's Union
Our site is in its growing season — some content is still being updated. Thank you for visiting early.