‘Plastic Bag Free’ day at all Central Food Hall and Tops outlets on July 3

[snoop1130]

‘Plastic Bag Free’ day at all Central Food Hall and Tops outlets on July 3

By The Nation

 

 

Central Food Hall and Tops on Monday announced a complete “Plastic Bag Free” day in all 193 branches nationwide on July 3, as part of “International Plastic Bag Free Day”.

 

The Marine and Coastal Resources Department, meanwhile, has revealed that a survey of plastic pollution from January to June found that the amount of garbage found in the waters off Thailand’s coastal provinces had increased, and that most of that waste was made up by plastic bags – with 15,154 pieces found. 

 

Including other plastic waste, the total amount of plastic trash found during the six-month exercise totalled more than 60,000 pieces.

 

Central Food Hall and Tops have acknowledged the problem and responded to the government’s “Reducing Plastic Bags Campaign” by announcing a 100-per-cent “Plastic Bags Free” day next Tuesday. 

 

The supermarket chain expects to reduce the use of plastic bags by some 500,000 units that day alone.

 

Phattaraporn Phenpraphat, executive vice president for marketing & public relations of Central Food Retail, said: “The world is drowning in an ever-growing amount of garbage and plastic, and the problem is getting worse every year … Without proper waste-management strategies, Thailand is now the sixth-biggest contributor to plastic trash on ocean floors among 192 coastal countries worldwide. 

 

“The recent tragic news story about the death of a short-finned pilot whale, found in a Songkhla canal having swallowed at least 80 plastic bags, finally brought interest and awareness to people about the gigantic plastic problem.”

 

“Central Food Hall and Tops acknowledge this problem, especially the one-time use of plastic bags, and are campaigning to urge customers to use reusable cloth grocery bags and decline plastic bags. We want to be seen as a green retailer that shows responsibility and gives full support to all initiatives to solve environmental problems. 

 

“We announce that on July 3, which is ‘International Plastic Bag Free Day’, we are not giving plastic bags to our customers in all branches of Central Food Hall, Tops Market, Top SUPERSTORE, Tops Daily and Tops Online. Customers are urged to bring their own reusable cloth grocery bags and will receive eight bonus points on their The1Card point, which amounts to Bt1,” Phattaraporn explained.

 

“For customers who forget to bring their own shopping bag, we have prepared paper boxes, completely free of charge. To help the environment and support the campaign, you can also purchase a reusable cloth grocery bag,” she added.

 

“During the campaign day, the number of used plastic bags will reduce by a whopping 500,000 bags. And that’s just for one day! It is our intention to start convincing and encouraging all Thais to use reusable cloth bags and to not only decline plastic bags, but to stop using them completely,” the executive VP said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30348573

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-6-25

[RotMahKid]

Yes, THAT will help only one day, it's like a drop in the Ocean.  Just do it all days in the year, like Makro does!

[janclaes47]

I wonder when they gonna do that at big c.

 

Just returned from big c extra where i bought 5 articles and had 7 bags.

[bluesofa]

The bag shown in the picture - with a whale on it - is that a cloth bag, or just a 'reusable' bag? It looks completely white on the inside, leaving me with the impression it's not cloth.

Also I'd think that 29 Baht for a cloth bag does seem rather cheap?

 

I really do hope this impetus doesn't fizzle out. I seem to remember we had a few 'bag free days' a couple of years ago?

Will 4 July show a return to issuing plastic bags I wonder?

 

[duanebigsby]

8 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

The bag shown in the picture - with a whale on it - is that a cloth bag, or just a 'reusable' bag? It looks completely white on the inside, leaving me with the impression it's not cloth.

Also I'd think that 29 Baht for a cloth bag does seem rather cheap?

 

I really do hope this impetus doesn't fizzle out. I seem to remember we had a few 'bag free days' a couple of years ago?

Will 4 July show a return to issuing plastic bags I wonder?

 

The reusable bags at Tesco on sale are recycled plastic not cloth. But if you get one to use it'll be the last bag you'll need

 

[stubuzz]

The free bags i get are used to line the bin. If i don't use the free bags, i will have to buy bin liners.

[Chris Lawrence]

Look at the trolley. Its got most items with packaging some not bio-degradable. Then there is the plastic wrap that the supermarket uses to wrap food. Good community citizen; think not.

[duanebigsby]

12 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

The free bags i get are used to line the bin. If i don't use the free bags, i will have to buy bin liners.

That's an issue indeed. What we can do is reuse and recycle as much as possible, accept a minimum of bags and throw  as little waste as we can away. 

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, duanebigsby said:

That's an issue indeed. What we can do is reuse and recycle as much as possible, accept a minimum of bags and throw  as little waste as we can away. 

Can anyone suggest a better alternative to those very large 30" x 40" black plastic bin liners?

 

[duanebigsby]

7 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Can anyone suggest a better alternative to those very large 30" x 40" black plastic bin liners?

 

I don't know. I use them but as little as possible. I don't put recyclables in them because my place has bins for recycle. Curious as to response as well.

[stanleycoin]

Thays a nice photo op.

Wonder what store will be next up the photo shoot ramp. 

 

Thailand caring about there enviroment.  Nah. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stanleycoin]

20 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Can anyone suggest a better alternative to those very large 30" x 40" black plastic bin liners?

 

Maybe some smaller ones. 

[stanleycoin]

57 minutes ago, duanebigsby said:

The reusable bags at Tesco on sale are recycled plastic not cloth. But if you get one to use it'll be the last bag you'll need

 

i just cant see hurds of Thais going into tesco, big,c and so on, with reusable bags

Sorry but they are way to lazy and selffish to do it.

Get rid of all plastic bags at all stores, and 5 minutes latter Somchai and his family will be selling plastic bags at the store enterance / Car park and people will buy them.

They wont change in the next 10 years.

 

[duanebigsby]

29 minutes ago, stanleycoin said:

i just cant see hurds of Thais going into tesco, big,c and so on, with reusable bags

Sorry but they are way to lazy and selffish to do it.

Get rid of all plastic bags at all stores, and 5 minutes latter Somchai and his family will be selling plastic bags at the store enterance / Car park and people will buy them.

They wont change in the next 10 years.

 

ALL Thais are lazy and selfish?

Westerners were lazy and selfish about this issue too until public awareness and gov't regulation started to turn the tide.

Schools are almost all recycling and kids are learning about the environment. 

Will it happen overnight? No. But it will happen.

[Jingthing]

People are gonna freak out!
 

I had a recent experience on a small order at checkout. I had a bottle of bleach and some food. I asked the guy to not put the bottle of bleach in a separate bag from the food. He looked like he was going to have a stroke. He then shook his head in disgust and separate bagged the bleach. 

[duanebigsby]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

People are gonna freak out!
 

I had a recent experience on a small order at checkout. I had a bottle of bleach and some food. I asked the guy to not put the bottle of bleach in a separate bag from the food. He looked like he was going to have a stroke. He then shook his head in disgust and separate bagged the bleach. 

555 It's gonna take some time. But it's gonna, hasta, must change.

[mok199]

its the 364 days that remain...do we need a ''pie chart and photo opp each and every day..''WAKE UP'' ...ooops thats been grandstanded already..

[VBF]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

People are gonna freak out!
 

I had a recent experience on a small order at checkout. I had a bottle of bleach and some food. I asked the guy to not put the bottle of bleach in a separate bag from the food. He looked like he was going to have a stroke. He then shook his head in disgust and separate bagged the bleach. 

Actually, that particular example, i might have separated the bleach from the food, unless I was 100% sure that the bottle of bleach was properly sealed.

Just sayin'.......

[Jingthing]

39 minutes ago, VBF said:

Actually, that particular example, i might have separated the bleach from the food, unless I was 100% sure that the bottle of bleach was properly sealed.

Just sayin'.......

100 percent? Oh geez. How about 99.99999999999999999999999?

[VBF]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

100 percent? Oh geez. How about 99.99999999999999999999999?

To you already?  

[Jingthing]

The food was also of course ... packaged. 

Bleach comes in sealed bottles. There is no rational reason to worry about the seal unless you're packing the bottle in your airplane baggage. 

[VBF]

Just now, Jingthing said:

The food was also of course ... packaged. 

Bleach comes in sealed bottles. There is no rational reason to worry about the seal unless you're packing the bottle in your airplane baggage. 

You're right - all things being equal, but even in UK, I've had the very occasional bottle of something poisonous (shampoo, cleaner, even bleach) show evidence of possible leaks. When I shop I simply separate foods from non-edible (poisonous) items. However small the risk THAT's one not worth taking, IMO.

 

Other than that though, i agree, the fewer bags the better, so, for example, I'd happily pack toothpaste or utensils with food - even if it did have a problem it wouldn't be dangerous.

[samsensam]

 

all journeys start with one small step, but they could have set a more challenging objective than one day bag free.

[VBF]

8 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

all journeys start with one small step, but they could have set a more challenging objective than one day bag free.

I'm inclined to agree but as a commercial organisation, perhaps they thought "what if nobody visits the store, or only visit to look, not buy on that day because of this?"

If it doesn't attract any interest, they won't lose too much, if it does, maybe they'll be encouraged to do it again, and also encourage others to follow suit.

 

As you so rightly say - "All journeys......"

Edited June 25, 2018 by VBF
Spelling

[stevehhd]

  Some suggestions. Make something trendy/ fashionable and people will follow. Make it "cool" to be environmentally  conscious  by using pop stars, film stars etc. Give out the first eco friendly bag for free and make it easy to carry and fashionable. Turn up at your 7/11 without one and you can buy a new one for 49Thb and instead of giving stamps to collect and cash in against products based on how much you spend.... Give out the stamps for every time you use the bag. Give out things like something small and upwards based on how may times you use the bag and collect stamps.  I don' know??? 50 stamps a new bag saying "I recycle...Do you ?" With a picture of someone or something trendy on it. Have a catchy slogan endorsed by some current icon and an upgrade system so they get a better bag the more times that use. The old bags can drop in a bin to be recycled . Make it so everyone wants to get the 5 star platinum rating and a t-shirt ( Made from environment friendly materials).

 

Good idea ?

 

Steve

[VBF]

OP/Mods:

 

Would it be a good idea to link this thread with this one?

 

 

Maybe combine them?

[graemeaylward]

It is a start! But if it can be done for one day, it can be done every day. When I was a lad, we took our own bags, small string bags which fitted in a pocket, but expanded as we filled them! They lasted for years! Take your own bags!!!!

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Prairieboy]

13 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Yes, THAT will help only one day, it's like a drop in the Ocean.  Just do it all days in the year, like Makro does!

1 day = 0.28% of the year.  The other 99.72% will continue as normal!

[wayned]

I think that the reason that Makro is the only food chain store that still has security guards at the entrances/exits to the parking lots is that Makro do not bag groceries.  If they didn't have the guards I imagine that every other pickup truck would be exiting with a shopping basket in the back!

[newatthis]

9 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

all journeys start with one small step, but they could have set a more challenging objective than one day bag free.

One small step is better than nothing. When we see them doing it on a Sat and Sun, we'll know that they're getting really serious.