Around 90 per cent of the 53 shopping malls, commercial buildings and government facilities monitored by Greeners Action across Hong Kong this past month distributed the plastic freebies during the rain, mostly citing the need to keep their floors dry and preventing falls.

The average quantity distributed at the entrance of these buildings was about 288 every 45 minutes. Around 7 per cent of the venues had staff dishing the sheaths out to tenants or shoppers even if they were not sought.

Factoring in that tally and the average 576 hours of rainfall between June and September recorded each year by the Observatory, a total of 14 million umbrella covers would be doled out at the 53 properties.