Vietnam was one of the most pristine places I'd even seen--in the 1990s. Today the country, once renowned for its pristine beaches and waterways, has suffered heavily from the plastics explosion of the past few decades. Take a look at this photo of a beach in Nam Dinh:

Photo by Nguyen Viet Hung, via VN Express

Or this one in Binh Thuan:

Photo by Nguyen Viet Hung, via VN Express

Incredibly, the plastic waste reportedly grows by 2,500 tons a day.

Thankfully, a handful of supermarkets in Vietnam are attempting to move away from plastic. One of the most-pernicious, least-recycled/recyclable forms is the plastic film that food is often wrapped in. So supermarket chains including Lotte Mart, Saigon Co.op and Big C, following a trend taking root in neighboring Thailand according to NextShark, have started wrapping produce in banana leaves rather than plastic.

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Image via Facebook/perfecthomes

Impressively, Lotte Mart is reportedly working on how to use the banana leaves to wrap meat as well.

VN Express reports that the banana-leaf-wrapping is seen by the supermarkets as experimental, so there's no word if it will stick. With any luck it will take root. I'd imagine most people would rather rinse a little road dust off of a vegetable than attempt to clean one of those beaches in the future.