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The Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, today (August 28) visited a community centre in Sham Shui Po to promote the message of "Bring Your Own Bag" (BYOB) for shopping, as part of her district tours to enhance public understanding on green living.
Dr Poon visited the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council Sham Shui Po District Elderly Community Centre in Pak Tin Estate and distributed environmental bags to senior citizens. She reminded them that the Environmental Levy on Plastic Shopping Bags came into force on July 7 by showing them posters and video footage.
She also hosted a quiz at the centre to improve senior citizensˇ¦ knowledge on environmental protection.
ˇ§The latest statistics show that more than 80% of people, including the elderly, are taking their own shopping bags since the implementation of the environmental levy scheme on plastic shopping bags. The result is encouraging,ˇ¨ she said.
Dr Poon thanked the elderly for their strong support and commended them as good examples for the younger generations.
The Environmental Protection Department has been organising various promotional and educational activities since May to promote the green message of BYOB to people of different age groups and introducing the environmental levy scheme to various sectors of the community.
Under the environmental levy scheme, registered retailers are required to charge customers a 50 cent environmental levy for each plastic shopping bag provided. These retailers include major and chain supermarkets, convenience stores, personal health and beauty stores, and supermarkets in department stores.
Ends/Friday, August 28, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:43
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