Rwanda Bans Plastic Bags to Protect the Environment

Rwanda has made big advancements in protecting the environment, and one of the ways it does this, is they have banned plastic bags. Here in the USA that might sound like an unthinkable thing, as most of us feel like we can’t be bothered with anything else for whatever reason, and a lot of us even save them and use them for various other things. But Rwanda is serious about the environment, and saving lives. The cost of recycling the plastic bags became too much, and people would end up burning them just to get rid of them, and this would release toxins into the air. Plastic bags also ended up causing big disasters in the past which took the lives of many. Having a cleaner environment also helps bring tourism to the country, which helps improve the economy. For all of these reasons, other countries should take steps towards at least reducing the amount of plastic bags used.





Sources:

Werft, Meghan. "How Eliminating Plastic Bags in Rwanda Saves Lives and the Economy." Global Citizen. Global Poverty Project, Inc, 22 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Police Corruption isn’t tolerated in Rwanda

Rwanda has a good reputation in corruption, and is considered the third least corrupt country in Sub-Saharan Africa according to a survey by Transparency International. In an effort to keep this reputation and to ultimately keep the citizens of Rwanda in the right hands, Rwanda’s government has fired 200 police officers that it deemed corrupt in some way. Rwandan police spokesperson, Theos Badege, said “It is a national policy to ensure zero tolerance to graft.” More countries should take on this stance, and they should use Rwanda as an example to see that only good can come from not tolerating any corruption from anyone in the force that is supposed to protect and serve it’s citizens, who are also in the position to take advantage of people and the system since they are the ones enforcing the law. This is also a cost effective measure, as it is estimated by the African Union that $50 billion disappears as a result of corruption across all of Africa every year.





Sources:

"Rwanda Fires 200 Police Officers Accused of Corruption." News24. IABSA, 6 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.