Recycle, Reduce, Reuse - Garbage in Japan
Take a look at this picture I snapped of a side-street in downtown Asakusa. If you stare at it long enough, you’ll probably become just a little disconcerted without really knowing why you feel that way. Look a little harder. Still don’t know why the picture seems a little strange? Because there’s not one iota of trash on the street!!! Go ahead, cut and paste it into your computer’s photo viewer and blow it up, like a thousand times. You still won’t find any trash on the street. Not a cigarette, not an advertisement or a balled up tissue. Not even a gum wrapper. The Japanese are fanatic about keeping public areas clean and also about their recycling program. Be prepared.
Just about every place you go in Japan, you’ll find some combination of these…
By law food manufacturers and businesses like department stores and supermarkets have to recycle the bottles, cans, PET bottles, boxes, bags, and other containers or packaging that they use. Here are some of the common symbols you might see indicating which type of recyclables go where.
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Paper (紙 Kami) |
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Plastic (プラ Pura) |
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Aluminium (アルミ Arumi) |
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Steel (スチール Suchiiru) |
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PET bottles |
Although the sorting containers may be plainly marked, it can still be difficult to decide where to put what and what to put where. Don’t worry. Although sorting trash is a serious business in Japan, most Japanese people will recognize the look of utter confusion on your face as you wander aimlessly around the containers clutching bits and pieces of garbage in your hands, and will quickly come to your aid.
Case in point ==> I visited a KFC while in Nara where I had most likely the best chicken dinner of my life (don’t tell my mom). I sat quietly at a booth in the corner of the restaurant savoring my meal while surreptitiously watching the comings and goings of others. After watching a gaggle of giggling teen girls and witnessing what appeared to be a disagreement between two salarymen, my meal was done so I gathered up my belongings and headed towards the trash bin, tray in hand. I crossed the dining room and time slowed down. All eyes were suddenly drawn to me and I could literally feel the air warp around my body as if I were in the Matrix. My heart began to hammer in my chest as small beads of sweat dotted my forehead. I finally made it to the sorting bins as a collective gasp rumbled through the air. I could hear their thoughts. “Can she do it?” “Does she know where to put her used cup or her crumpled up napkins?” I clutched my tray and intently focused on the signs on the bins. Lifting my cup, I contemplated. The container on the left or the one on the right? Just when I figured my decision carried with it the weight of the world, a small hand reached up and around the tray, and in a flash my trash had disappeared into the abyss. A restaurant worker had come unbiden to my rescue, and with a smile, set me all to rights. This was the first but not the last time a situation like this would occur during my stay in Japan. Always with a gracious smile and a small bow of the head, Japanese people of all ages would save me from committing trash sorting sin. I am still grateful.
So there you have it. Sorting and recycling is the law in Japan. Sorting and recycling is a serious business in Japan. Sorting and recycling might be a bit clumsy for us foreigners but is totally do-able in Japan.
And on a last note, my friend Fievel who I met through the e-Learning website, Edufire wrote a most awesome article titled Recycling: Japan vs. USA. Go give it a looksee and gain some valuable knowledge.
