Plastic in Hanoi : the changing material textures of consumption and waste in Vietnam

In a comfortable house in central Hanoi six retired women discuss their memories of plastic. The meeting has been organized by Minh’s mother in response to our request to investigate how plastic has been introduced into Vietnam and how it has changed everyday practices. Dinh Thi Trung Dung put out a call to her local women’s committee for volunteers and now we find ourselves sitting around a table drinking tea and reminiscing about first encounters with plastic shopping bags and plastic bottles and a myriad of other plastic household items from stools to inside shoes. The conversation is lively and chaotic with lots of talking over the top of each other and laughter. It is somewhat slowed by the labour of cross –cultural communication, as Minh translates for the non Vietnamese speaker and tries to capture the diversity of insights and experiences, the unexpected associations and recollections that questions about plastic prompt.