Today, September 9, all stores on Le Loi street, Hoi An ancient city in the central province of Quang nam, are using sedge and paper bags instead of plastic bags.

Also today, 10,000 families, organisations and tourists have committed to not use plastic bags.

On the day of no plastic bags, Hoi An people can exchange 20 plastic bags for one environmentally-friendly bag.

Nguyen Thanh Luu, Chairman of the Centre for Coping with Climate Change, which launched the Day without Plastic Bags, said: “This morning, we delivered around 15,000 environmentally-friendly bags, mainly from exchanging them for plastic bags. Local people, both the elderly, kids and young people participated in this programme enthusiastically.”

The exchange of plastic bags for environmentally-friendly bags will last until the end of the afternoon. The nine people who collect the highest numbers of plastic bags will receive awards at a gala in the evening.

Volunteers will ride bicycles along streets of Hoi An to tell people about the dangers of plastic bags and urge them to not use them on September 9.

The Day without Plastic Bags in Hoi An is the first event of its kind in Vietnam and the world.

“This event will be held annually on September 9. I hope next year, many other cities in Vietnam and other countries will join this event,” Luu said.