Plastic bag floating in Lake Ochid
I was traveling through Eastern Europe when I read on Ecowatch.com that Macedonia had banned plastic bags. Macedonia was our next stop and I couldn’t wait to see if it made a litter difference.
As we took the bus into Skopje, Macedonia we saw people carrying purchases in plastic. We were disappointed. I interviewed 3 people that could speak English. They claim an effort had been made to ban plastic bags, but “It didn’t work !’ They say the bags they now use are eco friendly. They couldn’t explain what that meant. No one was paying a fee for the plastic bags, and I never saw a paper bag. Macedonia is a poor country with high unemployment and a terrible litter problem. Before a bag ban could work an enormous amount of public education would be needed. I don’t think the economics of store owners nor the public is ready for such a big project to be successful .
Thousands of plastic bottles were floating down the Vardar River to the Aegean Sea.
Could this be an eco bag ?
As I have said before on these pages, the manufacturers of plastic need to be responsible for the recycling and clean up of their products. Many countries don’t have the resources to do what is right for our earth, even though it should be a top priority.
Bottled in Macedonia
I hope environmental groups will take Macedonia off their bag ban list. Being accurate is so important.
Health4earth 