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An Eco-Friendly, Plastics-Free Way for Supermarkets to Package Vegetables

Thailand and Vietnam are using big-ass banana leaves

By Rain Noe - November 11, 2019

in Packaging | Sustainable Design

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

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

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.

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Shrikara Kaudambady

3 years ago

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Noe, good initiative. In India on coastal regions wrapping vegetables, fruits and even food was a widely used practice. Even now, it is used this way but to a lesser extent, thanks to plastic bags. One tip is, the banana leaf can be slightly heated, so that, it doesn't get torn easily. (In our native it used to be very common practice, to avoid the leaf tearing apart)

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Becky Johnson

3 years ago

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This is just amazing initiative. I hope more and more countries become aware of this plastic waste issue and move towards natural packagings

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Donald Jones

3 years ago

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Stop and Shop started using really nice bags with handles for ten cents a piece. Why am I PAYING THEM FOR BAGS. JUST BRING BACK THE OLD PAPER ONES. I COIULD PUT MY NEWPAPERS IN THEM FOR RECYCLE.

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- Nathan D.
  
  Donald Jones
  
  3 years ago
  
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  Bring your own bag. The concerns of the four newspaper subscribers left in the world are never going to be socially relevant again.
  
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Bradley Johnson

3 years ago

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How about we just buy veggies by weight and skip all the sticker labeling, and packaging (plastic or otherwise)?

Looks nice though.

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- Chris Ference
  
  Bradley Johnson
  
  3 years ago
  
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  You would still have to put the veggies in a plastic bag, right?
  
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  - Bradley Johnson
    
    Chris Ference
    
    3 years ago
    
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    When I shop farmer's markets, I place the items in a canvas tote. I guess it would get more complicated at super markets. They would probably need a new process. Maybe a basket that hooks to the inside of your cart specifically for veggies?
    
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John Dolittle

3 years ago

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I like the way these banana leaf wrappings look, fancy. But like many fancy things it seems to be also very impractical and expensive.

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