A South African idea which has really cleaned up the environment here.

[randomness]

At the supermarket (and, I guess, most other places), you have to pay for plastic bags. It's only on the order of 10-15 cents (1.3 to 2 US cents) a bag, but vaguely annoying.

It wasn't until I talked to Jason, a South African on the bus with me, that I found out why this was. It turns out that not only do you pay for the bags but if you turn them in you can get a small amount back. "There used to be so many plastic bags along the roads we used to call them the national flower of South Africa," he said.

The contrast with Swaziland, where I've just been, is striking. There, plastic bags still litter the countryside. Here in South Africa, you can see some other litter, but not a plastic bag in sight.

It's a little thing but it seems to work.

Comments

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

Remember what the roadsides around here looked like before they reintroduced deposit bottles and cans in the mid 70's?

[chhotii.livejournal.com]

Did the government pass a bag-deposit law, or did stores do this on their own accord?

[cunning-vixen.livejournal.com]

They're about to do this here in New Zealand, I think.

Speaking of which - are you a friend of tafkar? I'm a friend of hers who lives in NZ. It sounds like you're heading to my isolated rock...if you want the skinny about what's good in Auckland, feel free to get in touch. I'm bad on LJ but good on e-mail.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

The government passed a law.