Vietnam was one of the most pristine places I’d even seen–in the 1990s. Today the country, once renowned for its pristine beaches and waterways, has suffered heavily from the plastics explosion of the past few decades. Take a look at this photo of a beach in Nam Dinh:
Photo by Nguyen Viet Hung, via VN Express
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Or this one in Binh Thuan:
Photo by Nguyen Viet Hung, via VN Express
Incredibly, the plastic waste reportedly grows by 2,500 tons a day.
Thankfully, a handful of supermarkets in Vietnam are attempting to move away from plastic. One of the most-pernicious, least-recycled/recyclable forms is the plastic film that food is often wrapped in. So supermarket chains including Lotte Mart, Saigon Co.op and Big C, following a trend taking root in neighboring Thailand according to NextShark, have started wrapping produce in banana leaves rather than plastic.
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Image via Facebook/perfecthomes
Impressively, Lotte Mart is reportedly working on how to use the banana leaves to wrap meat as well.
VN Express reports that the banana-leaf-wrapping is seen by the supermarkets as experimental, so there’s no word if it will stick. With any luck it will take root. I’d imagine most people would rather rinse a little road dust off of a vegetable than attempt to clean one of those beaches in the future.
Source: core77