The mayor of Hoceni commune, Vaslui county, has found a unique way to make the citizens stop throwing their garbage into the commune’s fields: he’s sending them back the garbage bags by mail.

To find the people’s addresses, the commune’s authorities are looking in the bags full of garbage for clues such as electricity bills or tax receipts, reports local News.ro. Then, they send the bags back by mail.

“When we find such bags, it’s impossible not to also find an invoice or receipt in the name of the owner. Usually, this is not household waste but some other kind of garbage, but we don’t think it’s normal to throw them in these places,” said mayor Vasile Tabara.

In some cases, those who got such packages believed that they received social aid from the European Union, the mayor also said.

The good news it that the solution works, and some people stopped throwing their garbage into the fields outside the village.

This is not the first time when a local mayor decides to take such actions to stop citizens from throwing their garbage illegally. The mayor of Moldova Noua found Facebook to be a good solution, posting on his page photos and videos of those who were throwing their trash into the streets or any other inappropriate places.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com