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More than half a million disposable plastic bags used in Croatia until 11:00 today

08.10.2022.

Almost every third person in Croatia carries their groceries in disposable plastic bags. Are you one of them?

As part of the #musthave Initiative, on Saturday morning the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Fond went to the market to warn, together with the vendors, the public about the excessive use of single-use plastic bags. A digital counter was set up on Dolac market and started counting at the crack of dawn. At 11:00, the counter was stopped to show the total number of disposable plastic bags used until that moment – it showed an alarming tally of 510,571.

“We wanted to draw the attention of vendors, buyers, and passers-by to the problem of excessive use of plastic bags, which are often used for just twenty minutes before being thrown away or, which is even worse, dumped in the environment. They pollute the soil, waters, and seas, and the resulting microplastics ends up on our plates. This initiative is aimed at raising the awareness of the citizens about the massive amounts of plastic we use and offering them a more sustainable alternative at the same time. So, we handed out reusable bags for fruit and vegetables to the customers on Dolac to show them that changing daily habits for the better was simple, easy, and possible,” said Anamarija Brstilo from the Public Relations Service at the Fund.

The vendors on the farmer’s market joined the Fund’s initiative by wearing the “NOplastics” T-shirts, and by putting their produce into reusable, recycled bags. They agreed that it was very important to do all we could to preserve our environment because this had a direct impact on our health. Famous Croatian influencers contributed to this initiative, and on their channels and social networks they will continue educating the citizens about the impact of plastic bags. The goal is to use their social media posts to influence and encourage the citizens to embrace positive changes and suggest compelling alternatives to plastics that can be used with no fuss.

As we are all aware of, the fast pace of our lives brought on the trend of daily impulsive shopping, and this habit results in the accumulation of disposable plastics. This was corroborated by the 2021 data from the study conducted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, which established that every third person in Croatia used disposable plastic bags to carry the groceries they bought at the shops. Accordingly, any alternative to single-use plastics today is a definite #musthave, which is underlined by the initiative’s motto “If you like to be on trend, sustainability’s your friend”. Fashion dictates trends. Each and every one of us with rational choices and a change in our daily habits can help sustainability become our most important trend that will bring about a positive change in the world we live in.

“Don’t be part of this shocking statistics. Plastic is a useful material, but as with all other resources, we should use it responsibly and sensibility. The least you can do is to take your bag with you when you go shopping,” said the representatives of the Fund.

More about the project Project to promote promoting reduced use of plastic bags | Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (fzoeu.hr)