The ‘Hanoi Plastic-free Sundays’ campaign has been in effect for three years with positive results for the environment.
Before the campaign, most Hanoi citizens did not know the detrimental impact plastic bags have on the environment, but now most of them do.
The practice of reducing or not using plastic shopping bags has been implemented in many communes, wards and boroughs of Hanoi. Companies in the city such as Hapro, Canon, Panasonic and Kangaroo Mobile have also called on all their staff and workers to minimize the use of plastic bags.
At the Vincom Trade Centre in downtown Hanoi, nearly 5,000 signatures were collected from a wide range of shoppers to support the removal of plastic bags in daily life.
Nguyen Thi Binh, a resident of Hai Ba Trung district, said she has known about the harmful effects of plastic bags for a long time.
However, she said, there are certain difficulties in reducing the use of plastic bags. For instance, sellers do not offer alternatives to their customers and shoppers do not always go to the market from their homes, so they do not have any other bags available.
On average about 2,500 tonnes of plastic waste are discharged into the environment everyday. Yet, nearly two thirds of them are treated.
(VOV)
