Month: October 2016

The campaign to send some 22,000 Monaco homes by post “Un sac pour la vie” (A bag for life), is in full swing this week, compliments of the Monaco Government.
And Monaco Life is supporting the initiative by asking readers to spread the environmentally-friendly message. Take a creative picture of you with your new bag anywhere in Monaco and tag the photo in Instagram (@monacolife_) or Facebook (@monacolife.net) #sacpourlavie #monacolife. We’ll post various shots on our homepage and over the next month, the winning image will win a year’s subscription to Monaco Life’s Premium Service, which includes free access to Urbanologie.
Although a ban against the use of plastic shopping bags has been in effect in the Principality since June 1, 2016, Mme Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, launched the “A bag for life” initiative officially on September 7.
“There are 250 billion plastics bags in the Mediterranean sea,” Mme Gramaglia pointed out, and each bag takes 450 years to decompose. In Europe, each person uses on average 200 plastic bags per year.
“The Bag for Life campaign therefore has two meanings,” the Minister, in the presence of Mme Valerie Davenet, Director of the Environment, added. “First, a reusable biodegradable cotton bag you can use for life, and second, one less plastic bag in the Mediterranean.”
In a week’s time, a royal blue cotton bag, 35 x 35 cm, designed with the words “Un sac pour la vie, A bag for life” will be sent in the mail to each Monaco resident, with a letter from Mme Gramaglia explaining the initiative and an educational pamphlet about plastic bags and the environment.
“We want to convince people to use reusable bags,” Mme Gramaglia said. “We can’t wait for the change, we are the change.”
There are 200 stores in Monaco supporting the plastic bag ban campaign. But the “Sac pour la vie” bags will not be for sale or available from any shop.
A tasteful informative animated video in French will be released in parallel to raise awareness about the negative impact plastic has on the environment and to help promote the “A bag for life campaign”. An English version, with a young boy’s voiceover, is due to be released in the coming weeks.
At the beginning of the New Year 2017, there will be a further ban on disposable packaging plastic bags, like you use to buy fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, that are less than 30 percent bio-based materials (this will rise to 60 percent in 2025). And from January 1, 2020, plastic cutlery and disposable kitchenware will also be forbidden and replaced with utensils made from plant-based compostable materials, the new generation of plastic.
“It’s all about changing our habits,” Mme Gramaglia emphasised.
The ban on plastic bags also went into effect in France on July 1, 2016.
Article first published on September 7, 2016.

For the 6th consecutive year, Monaco became the “Pink Principality” on the first Friday of October as Pink Ribbon Monaco marked the beginning of breast cancer awareness month, a global initiative.
As a gesture of solidarity to breast cancer victims, the nightfall illuminations, donated in part by Sharkprod, included the Palace and Conseil National, the yacht club, the Casino, Hotel Métropole and the Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo.
“We are very grateful for the support we have yet again received from the Palace and the government, and from the Hotel Métropole Monte-Carlo and Société des Bains de Mer,” the association said.
Pink Ribbon Monaco works alongside the association Ecoute Cancer Réconfort (ECR), founded in 1992, under the Honorary Presidency of HSH Princess Stéphanie.
ECR members and volunteers ensure cancer sufferers and their families are “able to find the support – both psychological and financial – they need”. The also run a wellness centre, organise charity events and arrange hospital visits.
Monaco’s Princess Grace Hospital has one of the best digital mammography sensors in the world, a state-of-the-art technology that optimises early detection of breast cancer, as well as reducing the amount of radiation necessary for diagnosis.
At the inauguration of the imagining service in 2014, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Stéphane Valeri, thanked Pink Ribbon Monaco for its contributions to the fight against breast cancer through a number of events and donations. He added that “91% of cancers diagnosed by examinations carried out in this framework, every two years, are healed, and expressed his hope that this will come as close as possible to 100% in the near future.”
The 6th Pink Ribbon 5km walk for charity takes place March 2017.
Share your Pink Principality photos on Instagram monacolife_ and hashtag #pinkribbonmonaco.