Supermarkets in Hue City respond to the month of no plastic bags

Plastic bags have long become an indispensable item in everyday life. According to a recent study, plastic bags were born in the early 1970s and have gradually become a popular product worldwide, associated with people's inherent habits in daily life. In the past, people's shopping habits were quite simple, just a few banana leaves, a straw strip to wrap a bunch of vegetables, a piece of meat; or using sedge bags, plastic baskets to hold fish, bunches of vegetables, onions... now plastic bags have been chosen to replace.

The question of why plastic bags are so popular is simply because they have the characteristics of being convenient, durable, moisture-resistant, waterproof, as well as strong bearing capacity...

In Vietnam, according to statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment , about 1.8 million tons of plastic waste and more than 31 billion plastic bags are released into the environment each year, but only 17% of them are reused (2018 data).

Over-reliance on plastic bags has created many negative impacts on the environment and human health. Many studies have shown that burning plastic bags will create dioxin and furan gases, these are two toxic gases that can cause poisoning, immunodeficiency, birth defects in children, and even cancer. If using plastic packaging to store hot food, heavy metals in the bag such as lead and cadmium will seep into the food, causing liver failure, lung cancer, liver cancer, etc.

In addition to health effects, the use of plastic bags creates significant environmental hazards because they are difficult to decompose in the natural environment; some plastic bags never decompose unless exposed to direct light.

Since 2021, the Project (DA) “Hue - Plastic-reducing City in Central Vietnam” has been developed with funding from WWF-Norway (through WWF-Vietnam) and received by Hue City. The expected result of the project is that by 2024, Hue will become a Plastic-reducing City with 70% of solid waste classified at source, collected and treated; at the same time, reducing 30% of the amount of plastic waste lost, including plastic bags, into the environment. Recently, Hue has implemented many practical programs and activities to reduce plastic bags and single-use plastic waste into the environment.

Responding to the International Day of No Plastic Bags, the “Hue - Plastic-reducing City in Central Vietnam” project coordinated with local supermarkets to organize the event “No Plastic Bag Month” with the theme “Green shopping, healthy living”. This “No Plastic Bag Month” event lasts until July 31, 2024, to encourage consumers to proactively reduce the use of plastic bags when shopping by bringing their own bags, environmentally friendly bags or reusing plastic bags. Thereby, it aims to change behavior and form the habit of bringing personal shopping bags, reducing plastic generation and pollution in Hue City.

Participating in this event, many people shared that reducing the use of plastic bags when shopping is a small act but creates a big change, contributing to building the habit of "green shopping", developing a circular economy , so that the environment is increasingly sustainable, Hue City is increasingly bright, green, clean...

Article and photos: SONG MINH