THANK GOODNESS !!! At long last ........

From 'The Independent' ....

Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000 from Monday, as the world's toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect. The East African nation joins more than 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China, France, Rwanda, and Italy.

Plastic bags, which can take between 500 to 1,000 years to break down, also enter the human food chain through fish and other animals. In Nairobi's slaughterhouses, some cows destined for human consumption had 20 bags removed from their stomachs.  "This is something we didn't get ten years ago but now its almost on a daily basis," said county vet Mbuthi Kinyanjui as he watched men in bloodied white uniforms scoop sodden plastic bags from the stomachs of cow carcasses.

Kenya's law allows police to go after anyone even carrying a plastic bag. But Judy Wakhungu, Kenya's environment minister, said enforcement would initially be directed at manufacturers and suppliers. "Ordinary wananchi will not be harmed," she told Reuters, using a Kiswahili word for "common man".

I've often mentioned on my blog the massive rubbish dump in Kisumu, on ground between the Moi Football stadium and Nakumatt, the largest supermarket in town.   

And plastic rubbish is EVERYWHERE !   

The Kenya papers have said the people won't be able to carry home loose vegetables and small quantities of things like beans and lentils, or liquids such as milk and cooking oil without them being in a plastic bag .... BUT 50 years ago, we managed quite well !    We used cones made from newspaper for small items ... peanuts, lentils, etc., and local made shopping baskets for everything else.   Everyone recycled tin cans and bottles; they were a useful currency for children and workmen who collected them, and sold them to others who could convert them into new items.   

African made baskets in Kibuye market, Kisumu.   Most are straw, but the coloured baskets are made by recycling and using plastic strapping.     

And I found this next picture on the website of the African Fabric Shop, where they sourced bags made in Ghana .... out of recycled water plastic bags (yes, clean drinking water is sold in small plastic bags !)     http://www.africanfabric.co.uk/kits-books-special-items/trashy-recycled-bags

 

Plastic bags are NOT necessary for life to carry on !   We didn't have them years ago, and we don't need them now !    

End of lecture !