You Get Free Ice Creams for Picking up Cigarette Butts in China?
A group of ecstatic children is often seen lurking around a park in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, picking up discarded cigarette butts from the road and lawn.
What’s particularly strange about their behavior isn’t merely the act of searching for cigarettes, but what they do with it afterwards…
They run over to an ice cream shop nearby, tap on the window and shout: “We want our ice cream!” They exchange their cigarette butts and… voila.
Wait… Do they get free ice creams in exchange for cigarette butts that were left on the street?!
This shop is called Lǜ lú.
With several primary schools located around this park, children often head over to this cafe to do their homework but don’t have enough money to pay for their own ice cream.
The shop owner, Jian Chuntian, came up with a valuable lesson: to incentivize kids to go pick up those cigarette butts in exchange for ice cream, free of charge!
"I think it teaches these kids that their work is valuable, that they can get ice cream in return for their efforts, and that it helps them become more environmentally conscious," he said.
On the first day of this new plan, the shop collected more than 500 cigarette butts!
Since then, nearly 20 children have traded cigarette butts for ice cream on a daily basis.
Once collected, children simply throw away the cigarette butts they found into the dustbin.
They will then be asked to wash their hands before the ice cream is handed to them.
The shop owner said: "In the three years we’ve been running this scheme, more than 50,000 cigarette butts have been picked up and properly thrown away by students from the area.”
In addition to picking up cigarette butts, old toys can also be exchanged for ice cream.
The shop has received at least 15,000 toys since it first opened, which have been donated to kindergartens in remote areas of China.
Jian Chuntian shared: “We’ve been doing this for a while… We continue to do it today, and we’ll continue to do it again for the foreseeable future.”
This innovative way of public welfare has won the approval of many merchants and neighbors in the area, who have followed suit.
Click to read more: Hey! What Kind Of Garbage Are You?
Source: Xinhua/Beijing Times
Advertisement
Editor's Pick
China's Largest Airport Set to Open Before National Day!
Parents Hate This Industry, yet It Will Hire 2 Million People
Follow GuideinChina for news, events, advice, and entertainment!
How to Protect Money in Alipay & WeChat if Your Phone is Lost
Buckle Up! This Year's First Typhoon Is Coming!
He Walks Thousands of Miles Looking for his Wife with Alzheimer
Should Women Chase after Men? Do Women have to be Passive?
Where in China has the Most Billionaires?