hey i'm hiroko
japan is well known for being a tidy place
but at the same time japan is struggling with reducing plastic waste
these days there is an issue especially in the harajuku area with the amount of plastic waste
caused by the recent boba tea trend
tokyo has been trying out new solutions
in this video i'll show you what they are
and also share my favorite tips to help you reduce plastic waste when in japan
we have arrived in front of the new type of rubbish bin
first let me explain to you how it works
this new rubbish bin is called SMAGO
it's an acronym of sumato romibako which means smart rubbish bin that uses iot technology
also it is powered by a solar panel located on the top
it can hold up to six times the amount of rubbish
it has a sensor in it so if the amount of rubbish reaches more than 80 percent
it automatically compacts it
also i like the fact that they draw Kyoro-chan on them
the recent plastic waste problem has been caused because of the plastic cups used for
boba so i want to test something to see if i also can help reduce this problem
i want to ask this Boba shop if it's possible for them to you know let me use my own reusable bottle
i bought them from a hundred dollar shop a while ago
be happy bottle and stainless straw okay let's check
turns out not every shop allows us to use our you know
reusable bottles so let's not give up i have another bubble shop in mind so follow me
okay let's wait for our turn
that's so good i'm really happy
after july 1st 2020 most of the stores in japan started to charge a fee for plastic bags
to promote the use of reusable bags and help to reduce the amount of plastic waste
the reusable bags are available in most stores
for example 100 yen shops, 3 coin shops,supermarkets and convenience stores
this is the bag i use for shopping it's hello kitty
have you ever forgotten to bring your reusable bag when shopping
somehow it often happens to me
i tend to forget to put it back in my backpack
is it just me anyway i have a backup plan
we can always make a bug using cloth
so i recommend you to always keep extra Furoshiki clothes in your bag that you mainly use
these particular clothes are called furoshiki in japanese
Furosuki is a type of traditional wrapping cloth
it can be used in multiple ways including using as Mybag
it started in nara period but it became popular during the edo period
Furoshiki is not as popular as before but it's still a valuable tool in our lives even now
if you ever want to buy one shop in kamakura or kyoto sell authentic ones
to be honest i had no idea how to use furosiki until recently though
my mom is kind of an expert with it so i learned it from her
i'll show you how to make a bag out of it
at the very end of this video
so if you're interested let's practice together
okay let's head over to the next spot
my favorite go-to item for reducing plastic bottle waste is from Muji.
follow me and i'll show you
as you can see on this photo from muji it has the japanese kanji for water written on it
the bottle costs 190 yen and you are able to refill it in some Muji store at their refill station
sadly this option is not available in all Muji stores yet but by using the Muji water app
on our phones we are able to see what stores have this service and where they are located
let's try it
well that's it for today's video did you guys learn something new
although i'm still learning how to reduce waste myself
i hope the information i've shared with you guys today will be helpful to you in the future
let's do our best to help reduce the plastic waste not only in japan but in your country too
hiroko out