Supermarkets in Asian Countries Are Replacing Plastic Bags with Banana Leaves

Supermarkets in Vietnam, just like those in Thailand, are replacing plastic bags with banana leaves.

A supermarket located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, used an environmentally friendly method to pack its food products. When this packaging method was posted on their Facebook page last week, it received a tremendous amount of praise.

After this excellent and admirable idea became extremely popular among internet users, the topic also went viral among supermarkets in Vietnam.

Major supermarkets in Vietnam such as Lotte Mart, Saigon Co.op, and Big C have also started experimenting with replacing plastic bags with banana leaves, just like the supermarkets in Thailand.

According to a branch representative from Lotte Mart, this method is still only at the testing stage. However, they stated in an interview with VnExpress that they are also planning to implement the replacement of plastic with banana leaves nationwide in the near future.

This packaging method is not intended for fruits and vegetables, but rather for wrapping products such as meat and fish freshly.

Shoppers are also unanimously praising these kinds of efforts.

"Seeing vegetables wrapped so beautifully with banana leaves like this makes me want to buy a lot more than I usually would," said a shopper named Hoa. "This initial step is a reminder to all of us citizens to carefully take care of our environment."

According to VN Express, this replacement of plastic has also been welcomed by many shoppers, and it also helps reduce environmental pollution.

Big C supermarket is also using bags made from compostable cassava starch that can destroy bacteria.

Vietnam, which ranks fourth in the world for dumping plastic bags into the ocean, is in great need of such efforts.

According to a recent study, the amount of garbage bags discarded by the Vietnamese people amounts to more than 2,500 tons in just a single day.

According to a report by Vice, eliminating or reducing the use of plastic bags has become a trend in Asian countries.

South Korea recently introduced reusable containers for shoppers to use instead of plastic bags.

Supermarkets in Singapore are also carrying out measures to reduce the public's use of plastic bags.

In China, the use of thin plastic bags has been restricted since 2008, and after more than a decade, the use of plastic bags has decreased by about 66 percent.

Source: nextshark.com