She also was getting tired of the bottles lying around in her neighbourhood and in Khorixas in general.

“There were bottles lying around everywhere and after a weekend it was especially bad. Khorixas was dirty and polluted,” says Haoses.

She went into the community and started collecting bottles, hoping to be able to clean her surroundings. She then started sorting the empties into brands and to resell them to the different bottling plants.

Soon people started coming to Haoses with their empties and she started buying them.

“I pay from 20 cents up to N$1 per empty, it depends on the size of the bottle,” she says.

She currently has six family members who help her to sort and pack the bottles. The bottles are packed into crates which are collected at her house by Namibian Breweries and Namibia Beverages. They pay her up to N$1.20 per bottle.

All bottles that are not sold by Namibia Breweries or Namibia Beverages are loaded into her truck and taken to Walvis Bay where they are bought by Distillers.

Within a year of starting with Tebogo Bottle Sale, Haoses has bought two small trucks from the money she has made by reselling empty bottles.

“I have also received my truck licence and can now expand my business,” she adds with pride.

She plans to drive to Opuwo, Kamanjab and other nearby places to buy bottles there and to collect bottles littering these towns.

“With this business I provide an income for my family and I can also clean up not only my town but hopefully soon the towns around us.”

Every couple of months Haoses holds a little get-together at her house for the community. She provides the meat and the drinks for all the people who sell their bottles to her.

“My business is doing very well and it is thanks to the people who sell their bottles to me, so I want to give them some food to thank them,” says Haoses and laughingly adds that she can resell the bottles that her guests have emptied.