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The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau officiated today (June 27) at a children's workshop where they designed their own shopping bags.
The children's workshop is organised by the Environmental Protection Department as part of its publicity and educational campaign for the environmental levy scheme on plastic shopping bags which will come into force on July 7.
Mr Yau was pleased to see the overwhelming response to the childrenˇ¦s workshop held at Jusco Kornhill Shop this weekend.
"The aim is to educate children and their parents on the benefits of reducing the use of plastic shopping bags. The workshop not only provides a chance for children to show their creativity, but was also a valuable opportunity to encourage the next generation to bring their own bag," he said.
At today's ceremony, Mr Yau and other officiating guests including the General Manager of Television Broadcasts Limited Mr. Stephen Chan, shared their experience on ˇ§Bring Your Own Bagˇ¨ (BYOB) and various creative alternatives to plastic shopping bags.
"It's my pleasure to have all these guests at today's event, showing their support for this campaign. I hope everyone can bring their own bag and strive to make a better environment for our next generation,ˇ¨ Mr Yau said.
After painting the canvas shopping bags with the children, Mr Yau visited a convenience store and supermarket in Kornhill Plaza to see their preparation for the environmental levy scheme.
Up to yesterday, more than 2,900 qualified retail outlets have submitted their applications to register under the scheme.
Under the scheme, registered retailers are required to charge customers a 50-cent environmental levy for each plastic shopping bag provided. Prescribed retailers include major and chain supermarkets, convenience stores, personal health and beauty stores, and department stores.
Exhibitions and workshops have been held at different venues around Hong Kong since May, including Times Square, Tuen Mun Town Plaza and Olympian City 2. The section on creative alternatives to plastic shopping bags will be enriched with new ideas as the exhibition tours the city. They showcase various creative alternatives to plastic shopping bags, and displaying information on the plastic shopping bags levy which will come into effect from July 7.
The "Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags" pre-commencement ceremony will be held at East Point City on July 5. To increase the awareness of BYOB to the public, apart from the prize presentation of "My Dream Shopping Bag" design competition, a catwalk show will also be performed by Miss Hong Kong from Wai Yin Association at the ceremony. Creatively designed "bring your own bags" will be presented in the show.
Ends/Saturday, June 27, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:35
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