China News Service Qinghai Gangcha, March 5th, title: Three years of plastic ban on the shores of Hubei, Qinghai: "small measures" create "big civilization"
Author Li Juncai Xiang Shijie
Although it is the beginning of spring, on the northern shore of Qinghai Lake, known as the "Plateau Sapphire", snow still covers the "coastal Tibetan city"-Gangcha County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.
The plastic bags that used to float in the wind will no longer be seen on the clean and tidy street.
The "plastic ban" that started three years ago has now become a conscious action of the masses, and the "small measures" to ban plastic have created a "big civilization" for ecological protection in this rich and beautiful coastal Tibetan city.
In the early morning of the 5th, Yin Zhuoma, a resident of Shaliuhe Town, came to the vegetable market to buy vegetables. There was a stack of big red cloth bags hanging at the checkout area. When the boss Xu Hairong was about to put the vegetables into the new cloth bags, Yin Zhuoma stopped The boss said, "You don't need to get a new one. I have one that I used yesterday." He took out the same red cloth bag from his pocket and put the vegetables in it.
In Gangcha County, in recent years, using cloth bags to store things has become a common habit of the common people and businesses.
The picture shows the eco-friendly packing bag in the bun shop.
Photo by Cai Xiangshi
Today, Gangcha County has rich pastures and beautiful surroundings, and people here are enjoying the benefits of plastic bans.
After experiencing the tremendous changes in the grassland and the human settlement environment before and after the plastic ban, Zhang Yurong, the director of the Gangcha County Market Supervision Administration, who was the main focus of the "plastic ban" work, was deeply moved.
In his memory, a few years ago, the grassland in Gangcha County was seriously degraded. When cars passed by on the street, dust and plastic bags were thrown up. The county town and the surrounding grassland were covered with various plastic bags, and it was encountered with strong winds. , Plastic bags are flying all over the sky, and even white plastic bags are flowing in the Shaliu River.
“Before I worked at the grassroots level, and I witnessed the death of cattle and sheep on the grassland for no reason, especially near roadsides and riverside herders’ homes. There were frequent deaths of cattle and sheep. At first I didn’t know the cause of livestock deaths, and no one too much. Concerned that with the increase in livestock mortality, everyone feels the seriousness of the problem, and only after checking did they know that the cattle and sheep accidentally ingested plastic bags and caused the death." Zhang Yurong said.
In October 2019, the Gangcha County Party Committee and the County Government decisively implemented the ban on plastics and issued a "plastic ban" in a timely manner, requiring the production, sale, and use of disposable non-degradable plastic products to be banned throughout the county.
The implementation of the "plastic ban" has become a specific action for the "Seaside Tibetan City" to continuously polish the ecological "background color". In addition to the ban on disposable plastic bags, Gangcha County will also use disposable plastic tableware according to actual conditions. Included in the list of banned plastics.
"The stores in the county now use this kind of biodegradable red environmentally friendly shopping bags. Although the cost of each bag is relatively high, it will not affect the environment. It is our obligatory responsibility to ban plastics." Said Tan Min, the center manager.
The picture shows people consciously using environmentally friendly shopping bags.
Photo by Cai Xiangshi
Zhang Yongxiao, the owner of a steamed bun shop on the roadside, introduced her packaging bag: “In the past, the steamed bun shop used disposable plastic bags for take-out. Now we order them from the Internet and replace them with paper lunch boxes. The cups and straws for milk tea are all It is paper-based. Although the cost is a bit high, we think it is worth it in order to protect the home."
Sanitation worker Yang Youlian, who cleaned the Cultural Square in Gangcha County, carefully replaced the bag full of debris. In her opinion, it was not other garbage that had the greatest impact on the urban environment and the most difficult to clean, but various plastic bags. .
Sometimes when the wind blows, the plastic bags in the trash can are blown up and fall into the grass, green belt, or even hung on the treetops. Picking up plastic bags is particularly troublesome.
Zhang Yurong introduced that in order to allow the public to gradually adapt to the process of removing plastic bags, the plastic banning law enforcement team established at that time adjusted 10 public welfare posts to the law enforcement team to enhance the overall ability of plastic ban work.
At the same time, through door-to-door publicity, daily law enforcement, government investment, county-wide participation, etc., the ban on plastics was fully implemented. At that time, the government also purchased environmentally-friendly shopping bags and distributed them to shops in the county and surrounding towns for free. Mainly "white pollution".
“Now, more than 2,300 shops in Gangcha County use highly degradable red cloth bags. It has become a habit for the masses to use environmentally friendly, recyclable red cloth bags and woven bags, which makes the environment around Qinghai Lake more beautiful. The death caused by accidental ingestion of plastic bags never happened again." Zhang Yurong said.
(Finish)