On June 1st of this year, Tanzania banned plastic bags. Period. The whole country, every shop and vegetable stand. New little businesses weaving bags from sisal and hemp began to appear on street corners and in the markets. A couple of large manufacturers began to mass produce light-weight inexpensive cloth bags that are available everywhere for about a dime.

When Olais and I go on home visits, we always bring a few household staples for each family, and we used to carry them in plastic bags.

This year, we did this:

Buying Generic Cloth Bags

Isack, my driver and finder-of-all-things bought some of the new bags.

Packing the Bags

Zubeda, multi-tasking assistant extraordinaire at WAMATA, filled the bags with an assortment of non-perishable foods.

Ready, Set, Go!

The bags are organized now for the households we are visiting this week.

It’s just not that hard to do.

When the environment department decreed the change, the populace got on board. It’s not a civil liberties issue, it’s a save-the-planet issue. No reason why America can’t do it, too.

Carol