LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – We in canton Vaud, having now paid for taxed garbage bags for a month, are suddenly becoming aware of how much we throw away.

The first thing we’ve noticed in our household is the packaging, silly amounts of it.

Lo and behold, a side benefit of this new system is that our food suppliers are suddenly motivated to provide simpler packaging.

Here’s the chicken we’ll be eating tonight, no longer delivered with a plastic holder. It’s NaturaFarm brand from Coop and yes, I paid more for the little bird, but this is a trend I’m happy to encourage.