Going on a safari? One thing you need to know

Plastic waste is a problem all over the world, and some African countries are putting measures into effect to try to curb the plastic disaster. These countries include (but are not limited to):

• Kenya
• Mali
• Cameroon
• Tanzania
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Ethiopia
• Malawi
• Morocco
• South Africa
• Rwanda
• Botswana

The above countries are just some of those in the world that have banned plastic bags. While they did so over several years, all were led by problems with excessive waste in their counties. For example, at one point South Africa dubbed plastic bags as their “national flower” because of how they bloomed in bushes in trees across the nation. Not something you want to be your calling card as a country, so they, and other nations started banning them.

Some countries go quite far. For example, Kenya has probably the most strict ban in the world, with selling/manufacturing/importing plastic bags a serious crime with up to 4 years in jail or $40,000 fines. Using plastic bags can also get you up to a year or a fine of several hundred to about $1500 dollars. There have been hundreds of prosecutions of this ban, so the There are some exceptions (like medical waste bags, garbage bags, bead bags,etc, but not many).

You can still use ziplock bags for your toiletries if that’s what you’ve been using for TSA-style checks. But it sounds like other than that you should plan on having any bags confiscated at the airport. So if you usually take a plastic bag for your laundry or intend to get them at shops for purchased items, you may want to take reusable bags instead. Here are the ones I really like that are about the same size and weight of a normal plastic bag but can be used many times.