Residents of Surabaya, Indonesia, can now ride the bus simply by recycling.
The mayor of the city announced the rollout of the new Suroboyo Bus in which passengers can pay for their rides by turning in their recyclables at designated bus stops and recycling stations around the city.
“Passengers can travel around Surabaya for two hours for free,” Mayor Risma said, in an effort to reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads from 75% to 50%.
The government intends to then process the plastic recyclables into useful goods, as plastic does not break down on its own for hundreds of years.
Indonesia is the second biggest marine polluter in the world behind China and this new effort is an attempt to drop that number drastically. They have been making progress, though.
This isn’t the beloved Mayors’ first effort to protect the environment. Risma has also overseen the establishment of parks in multiple unused public spaces to provide communities with WiFi, libraries, and sports facilities. The country has even been partaking in a trial to build roads out of recycled plastic near Jakarta and Bekasi.