About Cyperus malaccensis Lam.
Cyperus malaccensis, also known as short-leaved Malacca galingale, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the sedge family. It is native to South Asia and Oceania. This plant is grown in brackish land between saltwater and freshwater areas, mostly in Vietnam, and processed in Dongguan. In South China, Cyperus malaccensis was widely used for packaging goods, primarily before the 1980s. At that time, people wrapped goods in this sedge, and commonly used a long loop to tie the package to make it easier to carry with the index finger. Although it was largely replaced by plastic bags, it is still used to package zongzi and Chinese mitten crab. The shift to plastic bags occurred because liquid from packaged food can drip out during walking when this sedge is used. Today, few people continue to grow and sell Cyperus malaccensis. For packaging dry goods, it serves as a cheap, biodegradable, and easily available alternative to plastic bags. In 2007, Greeners Action, a Hong Kong environmentalist student group, launched a campaign aiming to get over 130 shops across 6 Hong Kong markets to use this sedge instead of plastic bags.
