October the 6th, 2022 - The Zagreb Z Centre (Centar) shopping mall has introduced a praiseworthy and very environmentally aware move by which people can come and swap their harmful plastic bags for material ones which can be used repeatedly.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Zagreb Z Centre is allowing people to become a concrete part of the green transition and has been doing so since the end of September. It will allow people to engage in the eco-action called ''replace your bag/vrecicu zamijeni'' until October the 9th or until supplies run out.

With this commendable campaign, everyone who brings in ten plastic bags to the Zagreb Z Centre will receive an eco cotton bag as a gift, the design of which is by a 12-year-old girl, Lara, a member of the much more environmentally conscious generation.

With the mentorship and support of Jelena Lasic, a qualified designer who completed her design studies at the renowned Parsons School of Design in New York and throughout her career collaborated with huge international names such as Dolce&Gabbana, Donna Karan and Cavalli, the newly created Zagreb Z Centre canvas bag is a unique example of collaboration between generations.

"With this project, we wanted to encourage people to come and be an active part of the change because plastic waste is increasingly polluting the seas and, according to research, there could be more plastic than fish in our seas and oceans by 2050. Today, there are more than 150 million tonnes of plastic dumped in our seas, and 730 tonnes of waste are thrown into the Mediterranean alone every single day. As much as 49% of the waste in the seas is single-use plastic such as plastic bags, plastic cutlery, plastic bottles, etc. As plastic represents a serious blow to the health of our planet, we thought that we should try to put an end to it with our example - even if it only involves small steps taken within each household,'' explained Mirna Cavrak Talapko, the marketing manager of the Zagreb Z Centre.

According to her, the plastic bags collected in cooperation with the Vestigium Association will be given a new life. More specifically, they will be turned into seating pads intended for younger visitors to the children's shows often organised within the Z Centre, and in addition, in accordance with the principles of sustainability in business, the facility also plans to reduce the use of plastic through all future activities, especially regarding the creation of decorations inside the shopping centre specific to changes in scenography during different occasions and seasons.

In this year's first campaign, people can freely join in by bringing in ten clean plastic bags of any size to the Zagreb Z Centre and exchanging them for a reusable cotton designer bag. The exchange will take place with the employees located on the ground floor of the ''North/Sjever'' building near the elevator, from Monday to Friday from 17:00 to 21:00 and twice on Saturdays and Sundays - from 10:00 to 14:00 and then from 16:00 to 21:00.

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