Ozzies "could sell surplus water on eBay"

An Australian economist has proposed that water be traded on eBay as a way of reducing the country’s shortages.

Professor Young said households could be given a set allocation of water for washing, cleaning and garden use, and then those who cut consumption would be able to sell off their surplus to others, such as pool owners, who needed more. He said the simplest way of doing this would be to “put them up for sale on eBay”, and to protect a minimum level of water for each house so that low-income households could not be exploited by selling off all their water for fast cash.

The offer of money might work where all environmental pleas to save water don’t – and it just goes to show how very ingrained in our culture the eBay idea has become.