SoraNews24 —Japan News—

The Japanese are rather enthusiastic when it comes to recycling. In most Japanese cities, domestic waste has to be separated into a minimum of three categories: combustable “raw” garbage, recyclable plastic and recyclable paper. Some areas have their residents splitting their trash into as many as 10 categories.

Even with that said, there’s probably no place in Japan more outreach than Kyoto when it comes to recycling plastic, as they’ve had a little magical help from a handsome new mascot: Gomi no Yousei (Fairy of the Garbage). Check out the bizarre recycling enthusiast after the break!

Japan
(anime • Kyoto • personification • plastic garbage • recycling • wtf)

“Recycling in Japan” or “Reasons to get it right and avoid eternal shame”

Fran W
May 15, 2014

Is Japan’s recycling system the most complicated in the world? It sure feels like it sometimes. Household waste must of course be separated into burnable and non-burnable, but after that there’s a dizzying array of recycling categories to break your non-burnables into. Since Japan is a relatively small country without masses of land to use for burying waste, the vast majority of waste used to be incinerated. However, with increasing ecological awareness in the 1990s came new legislation to minimise the amount of waste being burnt, and promote recycling.

Public awareness of the need to recycle is high, but the system can be baffling for new foreign residents. The problem lies not only in the array of recycling categories, but also in the apparent overlap between them: the grey areas. Is an empty pizza box considered recycled paper? Or is it burnable? Paper packages? “Other”? And if a bottle is made of a different type of plastic to the standard PET, is still a “pet bottle”, or is it just “plastic”?

Today we bring you six reasons to learn what goes in what box, and a few hints for getting it right along the way.

Japan
(environment • recycling • society • trash • waste)

Tokyo station turns commuters’ discarded umbrellas into sparkling Christmas trees

Philip Kendall
Dec 15, 2013

Remember all of those umbrellas that were abandoned in train stations in October and November this year during the typhoon season? Well at least one station in Tokyo definitely does, but thankfully they’re putting a few of them to good use: by turning them into surprisingly pretty Christmas trees!

Japan
(Christmas • creative • eco • recycling)

How to crush a plastic bottle without touching it

Master Blaster
Jul 30, 2013

During these sweltering summer days it’s not unusual to down more than a few plastic bottles of water, pop, or juice. And surely with all that drinking you’re bound to accumulate a pile of empty plastic bottles.

Burden by all of these bottles, collapsing them to a convenient size for recycling can be an energy and time draining chore. That’s why the folks at Yahoo! R25 wanted to share an effortless way to break your plastic bottles down to size.

Internet
(lifehack • plastic bottle • recycling)

From trash to usable work of art – used wine bottles transformed into beautiful glassware!

Kay
May 16, 2012

Okay, we have good news for wine lovers who feel guilty about creating lots of trash by opening all of those wine bottles. See the picture above? Yes, you guessed it – used wine bottles are now being made into beautiful glassware! Isn’t this a great, eco-friendly way to recycle wine bottles? I, for one, definitely wouldn’t mind having such nice looking plates at home. Read More