November 17, 2019

Natural Plastic Alternatives

An environmentally preferred alternative being implemented in the Chang Mai market is to wrap the vegetables in banana leaves rather than plastic!

In addition to many initiatives being introduced across the globe to reduce the use of plastics – single use plastics, non-biodegradable plastics and one of the biggest culprits, supermarket plastic packaging – a small market stall in Northern Thailand is doing its bit to assist in the reduction of the use of plastic.

Whilst it’s not widespread in use yet, it’s an example of one store doing what they can to make an impact. It is a very good first step.

Hopefully others will follow suit…

One of the sights you invariably see at supermarkets is be individual fruits or vegetables packaged in plastic. An environmentally preferred alternative being implemented in this Chang Mai market is to wrap the vegetables in banana leaves rather than plastic!

“These were simple pictures taken of my mobile phone of a what I thought was a great idea. I certainly was amazed when they went viral”

This method has gone viral, with over 11,000 shares in less than two days.

The man who took pictures in this market in Chang Mai, Simon from Perfect Homes Chiang Mai Limited, had this to say about the pictures.

In addition to the Northern Thailand market, Holy Lama have developed the use palm leaves from the areca palm to create the oyster-like cases for their handmade soaps. The leaves fall naturally from the areca palm, then they are collected and moulded into the desired shape. Brilliantly environmentally friendly as they use a natural waste product of the areca palm and the final packaging product is biodegradable.

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A Berlin startup Arekapak is developing palm leaf packaging for food such as fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts.

While most have praised these new initiatives, some have pointed out that this doesn’t appear to be making much of an impact of the eradication of plastic packaging – but it will – if each person made changes in their lives with regard to how they use/purchase and dispose of plastics, collectively it would deliver a positive impact on this significant issue affecting us all.