An Egyptian was about to go to jail for using a plastic bag in Kenya

An Egyptian man's Facebook post detailing how he was nearly arrested for using a plastic bag in Kenya is going viral. 

Shared by Ahmed Abdul Kader late on Thursday, the hilarious post has already caught people's attention. 

In it, Abdul Kader wrote: 

"I was standing in the middle of a street in Kenya, when I decided to pull a water bottle out of my backpack. I'd previously put the bottle in a plastic bag so that it wouldn't wet my stuff. As I removed the plastic bag away from the bottle, I saw a policeman walking towards me. He was shouting and pointing at my bottle, and I couldn't understand what he was saying, so thinking he was thirsty, I handed it to him." 

"The policeman wasn't having any of it and grabbed the bottle, then grabbed me by the shirt," he added. 

"When a man who speaks English saw us, he helped translate what the policeman was saying. Turns out, I was about to get arrested for using a plastic bag, as that is against the law in Kenya," he explained. 

Abdul Kader added that after the policeman let him go, he learned that he was lucky to have been let off the hook because the use of plastic bags is banned in Kenya. 

"People told me that punishment for the offense includes a $40,000 fine and up to 5 years in jail. I had enough plastic bags on me to get a much heavier sentence," the young man wrote. 

"See, Kenya banned plastic bags to protect the environment and in Egypt we still eat Koshari out of a bag," Abdul Kader ended his post.   

As the post continues to make the rounds online, hundreds are still responding to it.  

While a few reactions are pretty funny, others are taking the opportunity to point out the importance of caring for the environment and hailing Kenya for strictly applying a ban on plastic bags. 

"Tell your husband he isn't allowed to take plastic bags with him." 

"Let's export recyclable fabric bags." 

"Every single one will cost you $40,000." 

The country started applying the law earlier in August. 

Under it, anyone found to be producing, selling or even using plastic bags risks spending up to 4 years in jail or paying a $40,000 fine. 

The order is considered one of the "world’s toughest laws aimed at reducing plastic pollution."

Kenya isn't the only country that has banned or taxed single-use plastic bags, which often endanger animal habitats and the environment in general.

Other countries that have previously imposed similar orders include China, France, Rwanda, and Italy.