Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

How green are the Japanese? Please write your examples.

Green:
1. Recycling. The Japanese have been washing out and separating trash long before people in my country, Canada,, ever did.

2. A Japanese friend told me that some years ago, the Tokyo government started a massive tree planting campaign to reduce the air pollution in the city. I think Tokyo's air is pretty good.

3. Shampoo and household cleaner refill packs. You buy various liquid soaps in plastic envelope-type packages and refill your plastic bottle. This is less wasteful than buying another plastic bottle. I wish we had these back home.

4. Lack of litter. The Japanese seem to cooperate well by not littering the streets.

Not Green:
1. Plastic conbini obentos. This horrifies me. Not only does the plastic either get burned creating toxic fumes or stays in some landfill for the next 400 years, but heating a cheap plastic container by microwave has me wondering if chemicals from the plastic aren't leeching their way into the food?

2. Everyone, even the dry cleaner, will give you a disposable plastic shopping bag. I see few Japanese people using re-usable shopping bags. I use re-usable shopping bags because they're big, strong and have more comfortable handles. Plus, if I don't use them, I have more disposable shopping bags than I know what to do with (even after using them as trash bags).

So, what are your observations about the Japanese and the environment? They're quite good I think.

[kah5217]

Uhh, I don't know how they do things in your Japan, but in my Japan, we have recycle bins in front of the supermarkets for bento trays, and a number of the stores (and every supermarket) encourage you to use your own bag via discount or just charging for plastic bags.

Plus, you can always say no when they ask you to heat up the food, and they sell mug versions of cup noodles if you want to avoid foam.

[qwertyu2]

[Kaguyahime]

Perhaps of interest:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/29/japan-leads-field-plastic-recycling

[rxk22]

[timothypfox]

Sometimes mountains get removed for rock to build more highways and pave things. Rice fields and gardens keep japan sane, but I'm sick of gravel parks. The idea of weeding here is to pull up every single blade of grass conceivable. Most houses have a garden used for growing plants, or everything paved or graveled or virtually no space around homes. Lawns are generally unheard of.

[Apsara]

The air quality is reasonable in Tokyo not because of the trees (haven't noticed many new ones around here and I have lived in the area for 10 years), but because of Japan having some of the strictest emission controls in the world for cars.

I really doubt all the rubbish here goes into a landfill somewhere- where exactly would they hide 30 million people's rubbish in the case of Tokyo? Even if this country had the space for it any landfill would be filled up in no time flat.

The ward I live in has a recyclable plastic category- that's where the bento trays go, I guess. I agree that the whole concept of bentos in plastic trays in wasteful though.

[TokyoLiz]

Tokyo has detailed information about environment, waste disposal and air quality in English - http://www.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/en/data/

JCPRA statistics indicate that plastic recycling increased over 400% since 2000. http://www.jcpra.or.jp/eng/index.html

No mystery about where your waste goes as long as you are conscientious about sorting it and putting it in the right bin on the right day.

[qwertyu2]

[Shonai Ben]

[qwertyu2]

[Black_Beer_Man]

The Japanese toilets with the sinks on top are ingenious water savers. I hope they spread around the world as water becomes scarcer.

I didn't use to use mine for hand washing, but now I am on a money-saving mission, so I can save money by reducing my water consumption.

[ssjup81]

As long as there's soap I'm all for them, but I notice some people don't keep soap by it so I just use the sink. I'm a bit of a germaphobe when it comes to toilets. I'm one of those no matter what I must have soap and water to wash my hands types.

[Black_Beer_Man]