This is a good practice I'd picked up from an old woman from Hong Kong. I later discovered from talking to a few more Chinese people that it's a common practice among them. Not in my family, though -- I don't know why we didn't do it, although it should be a good practice in the humid tropics, I'd think.
I was looking after this old woman at the time (some 15[?] years ago now): visiting her weekly to deliver the fresh veg I'd buy en route for her from a stall in north London that she said was the best value for money; cooking lunch and eating it with her; then giving her massages for her aches and pains; cooking dinner and eating it with her, to keep her company. A day dedicated to her as a self-volunteered occasional carer.
Her four children didn't seem to want to spend time with her, let alone have her under their roof, leaving her to live on her own (in her 80s at the time I met her) in a sheltered housing block of flats that costs an arm and a leg in maintenance and service charges, taking her out only very occasionally for a meal, like once or twice a year, according to her.
The first thing she'd do as soon as I arrived was to whip out newspapers and wrap up the veg -- leafy or root veg. She didn't even need to put them in the fridge. They'll stay fresh for longer.
My analysis: the newspaper absorbs excess moisture which prevents (or slows down) rotting, yet at the same time keeps enough moisture in, which slows down the drying out. Storing the veg in a plastic bag keeps the moisture in, which will result in the veg rotting, I'd found from my own mistakes of doing this.
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