Sustainability Advertising in Hong Kong
Mike Catherall
August 24, 2006
In Hong Kong, they have recently introduced a campaign to stop using plastic bags on the first Tuesday of every month. This is a great idea, mostly for awareness about something we don't really consider in our everyday hustle and bustle. If nothing else, it will reduce the consumption by that much twelve times a year, and let us all breathe a little easier in the long run.
When you really think about how many bags the average person uses the numbers are alarming. Factories around the world manufacture 4.5 trillion bags a year. To top that off, each year, residents of Hong Kong go through 33 million plastic bags, which is about five per person per day. That's a lot of landfill and forest.
Plastic bags are made of polyethylene and are hazardous to manufacture. They can take up to a 1,000 years to decompose. In addition to filling landfills and polluting the air they have been linked to flooding in poorer countries due to clogging and provide a brilliant breeding ground for mosquitos, thus indirectly contributing to malaria in these areas.
In Ireland they adopted a policy where plastic bags cost one euro at the checkout counter. When it came time to decide between a half pint at the local or the newfound use of the chin to carry product, they opted for merriment and consumption droppd by an incredible 90%.
The campaign to stop using bags on the first Tuesday of every month is still in its infancy, but it is a good idea. What it ineeds is a wild guerilla advertising campaign to really get people talking. We'll see what direction it takes as it unfolds.
When you really think about how many bags the average person uses the numbers are alarming. Factories around the world manufacture 4.5 trillion bags a year. To top that off, each year, residents of Hong Kong go through 33 million plastic bags, which is about five per person per day. That's a lot of landfill and forest.
Plastic bags are made of polyethylene and are hazardous to manufacture. They can take up to a 1,000 years to decompose. In addition to filling landfills and polluting the air they have been linked to flooding in poorer countries due to clogging and provide a brilliant breeding ground for mosquitos, thus indirectly contributing to malaria in these areas.
In Ireland they adopted a policy where plastic bags cost one euro at the checkout counter. When it came time to decide between a half pint at the local or the newfound use of the chin to carry product, they opted for merriment and consumption droppd by an incredible 90%.
The campaign to stop using bags on the first Tuesday of every month is still in its infancy, but it is a good idea. What it ineeds is a wild guerilla advertising campaign to really get people talking. We'll see what direction it takes as it unfolds.
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