New lifestyle: Reducing plastic use

By Cora Leong

Have you ever heard about buying packed lunch with no plastic lunch box? Do you know how many disposable plastic products are used per day in Macao and what are the damages and outcomes for our world?

Stuffbox Natural Friendly Store (Stuffbox) is the first store with the theme of reducing plastic use in Macao. It started on May 6, 2014 and mainly sells reusable plastic products, such as reusable utensils and bags.

Pun Hio Kam is the storekeeper of Stuffbox, who observed that Macao people have the demand of reusable utensils and bags. He started the business as an online store at first. However, he noted that customers would prefer to experience the products such as the texture and size in a real store because those products were new to them and they never used them before. Therefore, he resolutely launched an entity store.

Pun devotes himself to promoting the concept of reducing plastic use in Macao. He also opened a Facebook group, which is Macao Less Plastic Lifestyle. "I will provide my own reusable utensils and bags for the take-away, but many people think that I am foolish. This makes me feel that the power of an individual is minimal, but the power of a collective is huge. There should be more motivations for people to safeguard our environment. This is the main purpose of opening this group," he says.

He wants people in this group to share the experience of reducing plastic use in order to make people aware of environmental problems. People need to know that there are lots of alternative solutions rather than maintaining the current situation. "Many people have the consciousness of reducing plastic use, whereas they have low practical action. In a rapidly developed society, the first considerations are time and convenience, then environmental protection. Although there are only a few groups of people who are concerned, they still influence others step by step. Action is important to encourage others to choose a life of reducing plastic use," he adds.

There are many places that started to promote the concept and legislate policy measures to limit people's use of plastic. Hong Kong has already imposed a plastic bag tax to reduce plastic use since 2015. Taiwan has reduced the plastic use and restricted seven categories of plastic since 2002 and expanded seven more categories for reduction in 2018.

The Macao government also encourages Macao citizens to reduce waste at source. It held a public consultation aiming to promote a system of restricting the use of plastic bags. However, the legislative progress is still sluggish. On August 31, 2018, some citizens initiated a joint effort to urge the legislation on plastic use and pollution in Macao. They pressed the government to strengthen measures of environmental protection and set up a scheme of replaceable plastic products.

Pun pointed out that the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) is engaged, through a collaborative fundraising, in an education program to advocate environmental protection. Hence, they would have funds for some environmental activities, such as a no-straw campaign. "I think Macao can set up a similar environmental fund to facilitate more actions," he says.

"In the future, plastic use reduction will become an essential part in environmental protection which will lead Macao to a better city development. When it is a global trend, Macao will also go forward to follow it," he says.

"I hope more restaurants would passively provide plastic products and people would prepare reusable utensils and bags in daily life. Moreover, I hope more public events can also support the action and refuse disposable plastic," he adds.

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