Thai supermarket goes viral for ditching plastic packaging and using banana leaves instead


A supermarket in Chiangmai, Thailand has gone viral for using banana leaves as packaging instead of plastic. Netizens are praising Rimping Supermarket for its genius way of reducing its use of plastic! 

Facebook page Perfect Homes Chiangmai posted photos of fresh vegetables wrapped in the banana leaves in a post which has since gone viral, garnering over 15,000 shares so far.

The vibrant leaves are held together with a natural fibre string.

The post read, “Well done Veggie first and Rimping. Let’s hope there are more great ways to cut plastic!”

Hundreds of people took to the internet to praise the supermarket for cutting down on its plastic usage in an environmentally friendly way!

“Very attractive and practical,” one said.

“It can be done. Just takes effort and determination to save the work!!!!! Congratulations for leading the way,” another added.

While another commented, “Little steps make big difference. Change is coming well I hope for the better.”

While the move may seem innovative, it is a practice which has existed in southern Asian culinary culture for years.

In India, the banana leaf is used as plates for rice dishes, while Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China have also used the leaves for wrapping food.

“When I was small (in the 60’s) when we went to the wet market, the vendors would use large leaves (of a particular type of tree) and/or banana leaves. Hooray if we go back to that! And we would bring our own basket to put our shopping in,” a netizen said.

Unlike plastic, the leaves can easily decompose, while adding nutrients to the soil to grow new produce.

They make the perfect packaging too, as they are thick and flexible and can package items without breaking.

What do you think of the packaging? Should more supermarkets adopt this approach? Let us know in the comments.

Credit: World of Buzz