I've seen so many small documentaries of how Japanese try to reduce their garbage and recycling is a big thing many of the workers that work at the recycling plant are so thankful when the cap is off the bottle and it has been wash it make there job easier I WISH AND HOPE THAT WE AS A WORLD BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS OF OUR TRASH. HOPE YOU GUYS RUclips DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT JAPANESE RECYCLING IT REALLY OPENS YOUR EYES.😀
I just came back from Japan like 4 days ago, I still have anxiety from throwing away the wrong trash in the wrong bin. I even asked locals, which bin I was supposed to throw the garbage into. For someone living in California, its a lot of pressure, I even purchased that same milk carton Simon was cutting in the video. I had no idea how crazy their recycling system was.
Omg I remember your early Eat Your Sushi episodes where you guys didn’t know how to recycle properly and your neighbour came to teach you. AND NOW YOU ARE TEACHING US!! :’DDD
I think this system is awesome! Yes it's hard work to maintain, but in the end it's so much more environmentally friendly. Here in Finland we do have a recycling system, but it's not nearly as advanced. There are big garbage bin areas around with designated areas for cardboard, biodegradeable waste, plastic containers, sometimes glass, etc. There are also very specific instructions on how to recycle empty batteries, and specific areas you have to return them to. Aside from harmful waste like batteries it's usually left to people's own judgement to recycle though, and there are just "mixed waste" bins too where you can throw everything un-recycled. BUT the one thing we do amazingly here is the recycling of plastic bottles, drink cans, and glass bottles. Why? Because we get money back for doing it. All grocery stores have designated beverage container recycling machines, that you feed all your empty and rinsed out bottles to, and based on a little label shown on the bottle you get that amount of money back for recycling it. It's usually anything from 10 cents to 50 cents per bottle, and after the transaction you get a receit you can exchange for money at the store's cash register (or just have them take away that amount from the price of your groceries). Cool, right?
Essi America just sucks at recycling. Apparently we think we have enough land to just get rid of it. And then they think it’s not a problem anymore just because they can’t see it
As a Finn who has lived in both countries I do think Japan has more advanced recycling programs. However Japan is a country that packages everything separately and has a huge food waste problem. The amount of plastic you get in Japan is huge compared to Finland. When you buy cookies for example the cookies are often packed separately inside a bag. Fruits are often packaged with Styrofoam and plastic. It's way more difficult to avoid using a lot of plastic in Japan compared to Finland.
But do you see that amount of plastic you are pointing at in the wild? No, because people recycle. I do not get what you mean by food waste problem. As I know, Japan do not waste food. The motainai culture. In some restaurants you get charged extra if you have food left over on your plate. Most Japanese households don't eat big.
@@zam023 Yes, Japanese people at home recycle the plastic. But did you know that until the beginning of this year over half of it was sent to China, a country that dumps a lot of the plastics to the ocean. This year China informed that they would stop taking foreign plastic waste which has caused plastic pileup in Japan. Also other countries that Japan currently sends their plastics have been signaling that they will restrict the amounts they will receive. So while I agree with you that Japan is one of the cleanest countries, I don't agree with making one country's plastic another ones problem. It is not sustainable and since many Asian countries dump a lot of plastics in the ocean it will become Japan's problem too in the end. Also Japan does have a high food waste per capita, because they have very short "best before" dates (which does not mean that the food can't be eaten, like my host mother thought). They like to have food very fresh and pristine causing them to throw a lot of edible food away. We also have similar problems in Finland but a lot of people are trying to reduce the waste they create. And don't take this the wrong way, I love Japan and I love Finland, but I do think both can still improve in many ways.
I remember seeing in other videos how much plastic packaging is in the grocery stores in Japan but it doesn't seem as bad now that I know how efficient the recycling is there. Here where I live in the US there's not even an option to recycle a lot of things including film plastic which hurts my soul. It's super tedious but I'd be willing to do all that if it meant less plastic/waste was ending up in landfills and the oceans.
S P I R I T The amount of wasteful packaging here in Japan is INSANE! Like I bought a juice box and a sushi tray at a department store and the lady wrapped each item individually in a small plastic bag with a plastic enclosed ice bag for EACH item, she taped those bags closed, then she put those plastic bags inside another plastic bar and threw in a plastic-wrapped oshibori and a plastic-wrapped utensil set. So all of that is on top of the actual product packaging itself. And it’s not just food. In clothes shopping, they will double wrap in two bags most times. Yes, recycling is great but it’s far from a perfect solution as so much can’t be recycled and it would be best not to create the waste in the first place.
@@okashi10 what makes me really sad is when a recycling bin gets blown over and I just watch it blow and tumble all through the neighborhood. NO ONE even bothers to try to pick it up ( I do when I'm walking the dog, but every one else just doesn't bat an eye).
I was in a mall in Odaiba a few months ago. As an environmental scientist, I believed I would figure out how Japan’s recycle bins work 😂😅😭. My hungry ass decided to buy some takoyaki to eat inside the mall. They gave me my taco balls and drink on a tray. After eating, I went to the trash area to return my tray and throw away my trash. Since Odaiba is a pretty touristy spot, everything was labeled in English EXCEPT recycle bins. There were fking 5 of them with just Japanese on them, no picture illustration. I freaked out because I didn’t wanted to look stupid but all the tourists around me were also freaking out 😂😂. We looked at each other shaking our confused heads and proceeded to follow that one person that seems like he knew what to do. I still have nightmares about this, hoping I didn’t messed up.
Haha this is such a common everyday panic living in Japan 😂 and don’t worry, even if it went in the wrong bin they’d sort it out. I think people watching us panic are just happy to see us trying to make an attempt to figure it out, rather than just leaving our tray behind or just dumping it all in one bin without care 👍
No reason to panic. There are some places here that don't make any sense at all. Case in point: the McDonald's in my local shopping center. Inside, they have two areas where customers can toss their trash after they've finished their meals. Each of these garbage "stations" has the typical ice/liquid receptacles, but there's one huge difference: only one of these garbage stations has TWO separate receptacles -- one for plastics, one for paper/food -- and the other one is an "everything goes here" type. Yep, that's right: if you take your tray to the single garbage can, then all of the plastics, papers, and foods will be tossed together. I still haven't figured out why they have it set up that way. As a side note, I have a Japanese colleague whom I asked about the garbage disposal methods after I first arrived here (East Hiroshima), as it seemed very different from Tokyo. She said "Uhm, I really don't know. I toss plastics and plastic bottles out together, glass together, cans together, and everything else as burnable." She literally has no idea about the level of detail shown in this video. lol
Simon-if it makes you feel better about your full on dad jokes, my 4 year old lost himself in giggles with your cardboardom joke. You have found your demographic now! lol
For some recycling rules Switzerland is very similar to Japan: your cardboard will not be taken if it's not neatly bundled. We also have to buy bags for trash, have battery boxes and stickers you have to buy for big objects. Those will be collected once a month.
Thanks Simon and Martina :D your videos always make my days better! In some areas of my country the also collect garden and kitchen waste (bio degradable waste). And your normal waste hast to go in specially taxed plastic bags with your citys logo on it. Otherwise you get no sticker of shame but a fine (if they find something with your address on / hint in the thrash) ^^"
hefeelslikeivan you can return PET, but sadly in my city the sorting of plastics was tested and then aborted for being to expensive / too much work. Now it goes into the general trash bag... sniff
That is not true. South Korea is smaller than Japan but they don't have recycling like this. South Korea recently adopted recycling but many people don't follow the rules and it's not as extensive as Japan's recycling.
Except if America even tried to implement this, there would be a lot of complaints and outright refusal to do it. How many people refuse to recycle now because they're too lazy? There's also the fact that there's a lot of stuff you think should be recyclable, but it isn't. Like a lot of packaging.
Yeah you get those stickers at convenience stores usually. I actually help foreigners with things like this a lot where I work at city hall. It’s weird hearing others talk about this stuff.
OMG. When we first moved to Japan, garbage system totally stressed us out too! And I'm originally from Japan!! When I left the country, they only had burable day, non-burnable day, and compostable day. But when we moved there in 2003, we received garbage guide like yours! Took us a while to get use to it and made many mistakes. So different from what we were used to in the U.S. Oh the memories...
Fun fact: I'm named after the 'Tokyo Slim' recycling program instituted in 1989 when Tokyo first started making people separate their trash into glass, plastic, aluminum, and burnable rubbish.
We have that in Germany too, but less strict it’s more like this - Plastic/Cans/Aluminum Foil - Paper - Biodegradable waste (NEVER throw Meat inside it though, since it attracts Rats) - “Restmüll” (for the rest) - Glass ( divided by color, each neighborhood shares one kind of each container) Every building usually has their different container, and you get a calendar from the city hall where they tell you the dates to leave the different containers out at the street to be emptied. Some buildings even have a container for old electronics. But you also are never supposed to throw old batteries away like that; there are boxes at some drugstores where you can get rid of them, same for old lightbulbs and printer cartridges. Some households prefer to have a compost instead of the container for biodegradable waste, since it can be used as fertilizer for plants. This tends to be more common at the countryside. If you go against these rules you have to pay fines... Anyway, thank you for the video! It’s very interesting to see how you apply the recycling methods in your household! 😄
This is why japan is so efficient, almost everyone contributes a lot to the community and are so organised like damnnnn did you see that vegetable shop cardboard box stack? Have you ever seen that in any other country??? 😂😂😂
It is truly part of the culture now. It isn’t just a burden or a boring thing to do, it is taken very seriously and is just a normal part of life. This is actually why a lot of Japanese people are hesitant to rent to foreigners, I watched an interview on TV and the first thing the old man said about foreigners moving to Japan was “I think they won’t understand the recycling system” 😂 but seriously I know people living here that just dump everything into the garbage (as foreigners) and it gives us all a bad name :(
Simon and Martina yeah haha, moving to Japan is like taking on a new life because your habits change completely (from your old life in your home country) but I think it helps in being a more practical and organised person. And yes it becomes like routine - just needs getting used to. Some foreigners are very different to Japanese standards and never want to change but some foreigners are willing to adapt and they’re the type of people Japan appreciate (I’m guessing).
With plastics being a huge environmental issue worldwide, thank you guys for going extra miles to make this video. Nobody can make a video on recycling as entertaining as this one.
That garbage truck is CLEAN!? Such a thing is possible? I feel like I've seen the impossible! Thank you Simon & Martina for showing me the miracles of Japan ❤️
In the UK, we have Three giant 'wheely bins' per house. One is for general waste (black), one is for cardboard and recyclable stuff (blue) and the other for garden waste (Green). The Green and the blue bin are collected together fortnightly and the black bin fortnightly on the other week. When we do online groceries we get a lot of paper bags. I'm going to collect them all for you for a month and send them over!
I live in Norway, and I think we are decent at recycling garbadge, but nearly as strict as Japan! We do recycle plastic and plastic bottles, paper, and also glass and metal and now also fabrics and used clothing can be recycled ^^ I try my best as I live alone to be good at recycling! I really like the way we recycle cans and bottles here in Norway!
Everything is so packaged in Japan. The fact that bananas come wrapped in plastic as if they don't already have a handy natural protective layer, like 🤨🤨🤨. So at least it's good they have such a good recycling program, although it is always important to remember that recycling doesn't have no negative impact, it takes energy to recycle that wouldn't be used if the plastic was just not used all together. Recycling is important, but reducing the amount of single use plastics you go through is also important. * Edited for spelling *
Loved this video! Simon seems more funnier then normal here. I have a confession I’ve been watching Simon and Martina for literal years now but this is my first ever comment. 😥😭 Sorry guys! But you two are fantastic I watch you whenever you have a new video. Can’t wait to see more.
hey so my cats have this litter system that’s made from wood and when the cats pees the wood dissolves and is sifted through one tray down into the second tray. the poo doesn’t stick to the wood and we keep the tray in the bathroom near the toilet. all you have to do is use some toilet paper and pick up the poo and flush it. then shake the tray so the broken down litter goes into the second layer. you can easily bury it and water it into your garden it is like wood dust kind of. the wood stops it from smelling too. it’s amazing, would save having to throw out the poo and clumping litter. 🐱 💩
I've never been more grateful for my no-sort recycling bin as I am now... every resident gets a giant blue pickup bin (same size as the trash bins) and they pick it up every other Tuesday. If you need to get rid of clothes, theres a drop off bin at every grocery store. Thanks North Dakota!
I wish EVERY country had this! Here, paper and glass recycling bins are easy to find, but if I want to, god forbid, throw out an old broken fan, toxic fragrance or something like that, I have to go out of my friggin' way to find a (quite well-hidden) address on the internet and then travel there to dispose of it somewhere in town "Pterodactyls that block out the sun" I lol'd
I feel like I'm genuinely walking through memory lane. The nostalgia is truly breathtaking, as it is informative and it's as though the spark in your eyes has been ignited once again. Looking forward to buy some merch as a gift from me to me ♥♥
That's very kind of you, thank you! We really had a lot of fun with this video, and were having a good health day at that time as well, so it all worked out today :D
Simon was not exaggerating about the crows. They are massive and can destroy a garbage can in seconds. Never did know if it was the crows or the tanukis that lived near my house that constantly caused me problems with our trash. Probably both.
I low key love the Japanese recycling system and wish the rest of the world...US...were as committed. We need a more universal rules for recycling and the facilities to facilitate it.
Meticulous recycling is great, but this system seems very overcomplicated. In Sweden we just have little recycling stations spread around (One in each village/neighbourhood usually, and most housing associations have their own little mini stations) with different containers where we put our recycling whenever we want. Works fine. The garbage trucks have multiple compartments and collect all the different categories of recycling, usually handling the big containers common outside of cities with a crane.
Second Swede here !! :D Some counties have different recycling methods with different colored bags nowadays. It's to collect food waste to make into biofuel. But thumbs up for your comment on the rest.
@@lazerapes Yes, separating food waste for biogas production is becoming common in some places! Not sure if it's actually worth it or not with the additional transports, but I'm sure someone who knows what they're doing has worked it all out.
This video was great! So hilarious and super informative. Is anyone else oddly comforted by the fact that Japan is single handedly trying to save the world? Japan is too pure for this world :D
This is actually really interesting! Thank you so much for sharing! It's scary how high-maintenance it all is but I really respect how seriously they take everything and how friendly they always seem, as well :)
I have to say that as a German this Recycling Routine isn't strange to me. We learn about it in Gradeschool. Every household has a bin for recycable plastic (marked with "the Green dot") a normal waste bin, organic waste and a paper bin. In the country side, many people collect organic waste to re-use as fertilizer for their gardens. Batteries go into collectable bins in your supermarket or Town hall. And don't get me started on the whole "Pfand"-system that ensures you bring back your pet-bottles, cans and recycable glass bottles by taxing a small amount of money on Top of the regular prize which you only get back if you recycle the stuff properly. I reckon it must be just as tough for foreigners to adapt to our system as it is for you. But you're doing a great deed and i think it is really worth it.
Typical recycling in Norway is: - Plastics - Papers - Metals and glass - "Special" waste (batteries, light bulbs, aerosol cans, etc) - Food waste (the buses in my city run on biogas from recycled food waste!) Typically, there will be a set of four big trash containers, one for papers, one for plastics, one for general waste and one for food waste. Each household sorts its own waste and recycles by dumping their waste in the appropriate container. If you're having a wardrobe clear-out, there are also receptacles for donating (clean and dry) second-hand clothes, linens, textiles and fabrics. For bottles and cans, there is an arrangement called "pant". I don't know if there is an English term for this, although the word itself means "(to) pawn" . Whenever you buy a bottle or a can (mostly just drinks containers), a small sum is added to your cost (2-3 kr). When you've finished your bottle or can, you can return it and get that sum back. It's an initiative to stop people from discarding their empty drinks containers. For big items that won't fit into a waste sack (like furniture), electrical appliances, garden waste, etc, you can either call to arrange pick-up, you can bring it in to a store that sells that kind of goods, or there are biannual pick-ups for garden waste. That just leaves the question... Why did I bother typing this all up?
That’s similar to Australia but we don’t have a food waste. In my area we have normal bin recycle bin and garden bin. So everything you can’t recycle goes in the normal bin with the food waste. Means it ends up in land fill 😐
Several states in the US have the same "pant" arrangement you described; we call it the "bottle deposit." We pay slightly more money per bottle when we buy them from the store, then we get that same amount back when we return the empty bottles. Not every state does this, though.
Thank you so much for this video! Ive been trying to find videos which explain recycling in Japan! This is awesome and makes it much easier to understand !!! Amazing Job! :D you guys are the best!
Only I come to watch simon & martina recycling to make my day brighter. 😂no but seriously this system should be applied to all places. It seems like a lot of work but it keeps things organised.
Although not quite as particular as Japan recycling in Germany is relatively similar. 1) At home you have bins for plastic/packaging, paper/cartons, food waste/greenery, and other waste. You don't have to throw it out on a specific day but the bins are emptied on specific days depending on where you live. If you have a house you have to remember to put the bin out on the street for the garbage collection. 2) Plastic PET bottles and glass bottles (water/beer) are returned to the supermarkets and you get your refund back which you pay when buying a bottle. 3) Other glass jars are thrown into containers separated by color (white, brown, green). In some cities the lids are discarded separately. 4) There are also larger containers for paper/cartons if the ones at home are full which is often the case. 5) Old clothes are thrown into clothing donation containers. 6) Empty batteries can be returned to supermarkets, drugstores and electronic stores. Empty print cartridges are returned to electronic stores. 7) If you are moving and want to through out your furniture you have to make an appointment, put your stuff out on the street and it will be collected. 8) There are also buyback centres where you can return all sorts of things like electronics, oil (e.g. from deep frying), or energy saving lamps (have to be discarded separately because they contain quicksilver). It's a great system and when you're used to it it's not a hassle at all. It actually hurts my heart and makes me mad when I'm in other countries and everything is just thrown into one bin.
SO FASCINATING! more countries should jump on board w this! recycling in australia put just cardboard, newspapers, cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles in one bin the everything else goes into a garbage bin.. more simple than japan but it would lower the amount of waste if australia adopted a similiar system to japan! you guys are really funny and have been watching you videos for almost 10 years 🙌🏽 keep up the awesome work xoxox
This is super interesting on how intricate this system is. The problem with waste is SPACE. Japan's tiny island with a large population=where does trash go? Recycling is more expensive but is a necessity in Japan and other small countries with large populations. Also, I found it super funny that you guys were so annoyed at rinsing. I would be too, but that's because "contamination"=messes up the machinery. Contamination-anything that isn't the recyclable. So like oily pizza boxes can't be recycled. I really wish that recycling can be done more properly in the US but because money drives everything, nope. At least the blame should be put onto the industry to reduce waste.
Where I live in California we have three bins. A brown one for regular trash, a green one for yard clippings and compostable food, and a blue one for any type on recyclables. The city gives us a cheat sheet of what is acceptable for each bin. I think it’s important to recycle and I’m a nerd so I enjoyed this video!
This honestly makes me so happy to see places like Japan taking recycling and the environment seriously. The nature geek inside of me is squealing with joy! :D
Tbh, this is the first recycling video I've see on RUclips. Really informative. I knew Japan was "hardcore" about recycling, but I didn't know it was to this degree. Thank you for doing this video! In the US, I do recycle but it is nowhere near to the level of Japan. Because I live in an apartment, I take out the recycling just like the trash; whenever I want. There are recycling collection cans next to the trash dumpster area. Recycling rules are plastics, cardboard, and aluminum. All separated from each other. Even though I don't have to, I rinse out the food containers just to help keep bugs to a minimum. Cardboard is done with the shove all cardboard in a big enough cardboard box method. I crush the aluminum to get more in the bag. Plastic is stuffed into the bigger bag and I don't have to peel labels before doing so.
When I was in japan I was baffled by how much useless plastic I was given in every store. Not to mention the umbrella plastic in stores that gets thrown away after a 15min of use. I'm glad to have found out through this video that they do recycle everything :)
im kinda ashamed to admit that i've been a sloppy recycler. like i recycle but i SHOULD try to put more of my attention towards it before they notice and give me a ticket for not doing it correctly lol 😅 but anyways i like the ikea storage i never thought about that. it would make it easier for things to be in a designated place. it'd be fun for my son too as we both learn to recycle properly 😊
Hi from NZ. Certain towns may have the odd different bin but we mostly have 4 bins. 2 large wheelie bins, 1 small wheelie bin and a small green container. The small green is for glass only, the small green wheelie bin is for rubbish, all rubbish. The large green wheelie bin is for green waste such as grass clipping, plants, leaves etc. The last but not least (other large green with yellow lid) wheelie bin is recycling PET 1-5, cardboard, paper, certain plastics etc. ..... I’ve know some towns still have black rubbish bags.
This video really helped me build my ladder today. You probably didn't think a video about recycling could bring someone so much happiness, but it really brightened my day to learn something new from two enthusiastic friends from across the sea. Love you guys ❤
In China everywhere on the streets two bins for organic and non-organic waste, and people can't even throw their shit in the right bin. The difference...
This is actually really cool. We deliver electric trash to electronic stores, light bulbs to super markets, but you get them picked up! Food cans and wine bottles have trash stations around. In Norway we sort food trash, paper, plastic and «the rest». We get paid for beer cans and plastic bottles at the store.
Maybe how to ride the trains? I went to Japan this year and it was simple and that’s cuz I got that NYC experience but I’m sure ppl would appreciate it! Love you guys 🥰
Love you guys for making this video! No, it is not boring but actually very necessary to raise awareness among people about waste and how much of it we generate daily. I simply LOOVE Japanese recycling collections! This should be done in every single country. The problem is that even if Japan has a relatively high recycling rate, it is one of the highest waste makers per capita in the world as well, and lots of the waste that gets collected for recycling is burned for energy. Especially talking about plastic, it's not a bad thing that energy gets derived from burning the waste, but fossil fuels are used to make it in the first place, which is causing a lot of air, water and soil pollution everywhere. Wish people would realize that by just dumping something in a trash can, it doesn't just disappear. Every action - every purchase and usage - has a reaction. It's good that Japan has such good waste management, but most countries do not, even highly developed countries in EU or in North America. Before 2018, China was the world's landfill, taking in lots of exported plastic for recycling, biggest exporters include Japan, S Korea, UK & USA. Now that they have banned it, a lot of countries are left with their own trash to deal with and it's causing a lot of problems, like overfilled landfills, mismanagement of waste (it being burned without regulations in place) or lots of it being dumped into the ocean. I work for a environmental social enterprise in China so I know a bit about this ;)
I had heard about the elaborate cleaning/sorting requirements for recycling in Japan, and I just read an article in the LA Times about how China's refusal to take certain types of plastic recyclables (citing no more need, plus contaminated American shipments), has caused havoc and a come-to-Jesus moment for recycling plants in California and elsewhere. And I thought to myself: 'maybe we need to be more like Japan'-- requirements for recycling (and penalties if you don't!); require more sorting and certainly require cleaning! Maybe that would help contamination issues. It does seem like a lot of work, but I'd much rather that and have stuff actually get recycled than what is happening now, where recycling plants can't handle it and are literally taking loads to the landfill/burning it. This video was very instructive about what the day-to-day sorting would look like. Plus it was funny. :)
I live in the Midwest US, and our city recently switched to an all-in-one recycling system. We rinse our bottles, take labels off cans, flatten boxes, etc., but they all go into the same recycling bin together and then get sorted mechanically once they reach the plant. We don't recycle such a broad variety of things, though, and weird items like batteries still have their own process - often they can be recycled at stores which sell similar products. It varies hugely, though. My city is more gung-ho about recycling than many nearby towns. My neighbors 10 minutes away have no recycling pickup at all, and my heart dies a little every time I see them throw sheets of paper straight into a garbage can.
I love how thorough this video is! Also as a sidenote I have a recipe for canned salmon that I think would work for tuna as well. Its basically just a can of fish, chopped up ginger, chopped up green onions, lots of black pepper, and some chili oil. Super simple but yummy
I kind of wish we had that kind of system here (Australia.) In my area, we have a big 240L otto bin for recycling (the same as our garbage bin just with a yellow lid - we also have a green lid one for plant material) but a lot of what you are recycling in Japan we can't put in our recycle bins at all. We only do cardboard, paper, glass, cans and hard plastic. It all goes in the same bin. And the recycle bins in my area are only collected once every two weeks. This feels really terrible compared to what you guys are doing! (But better than nothing at all.) Kudos to you and Japan for doing such a great job with keeping the planet free from trash!
omg simon's t-shirt is so cute!! where did he get it from?! is that possibly new merch? 👀👀
Yeah! It’s available for sale on our site! Martina created the design herself :)
Simon and Martina so cute!!!!!!!!!
My eyes fell on the shirt 1st
Thanks for asking! My wife just got some requests for Christmas!
I'd buy merch
You are the only people that I would click on a recycling video for.. 😹 if that’s not love for a channel, idk what is
Diana Chamomile same 😂
😂😂😂
Diana Chamomile same same 🤣
Even if you don't care about another country's recycling, doesn't mean you don't wanna watch a cute couple defend their choice of recycling tape! 😂
I agree and love this comment.
I've seen so many small documentaries of how Japanese try to reduce their garbage and recycling is a big thing many of the workers that work at the recycling plant are so thankful when the cap is off the bottle and it has been wash it make there job easier I WISH AND HOPE THAT WE AS A WORLD BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS OF OUR TRASH. HOPE YOU GUYS RUclips DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT JAPANESE RECYCLING IT REALLY OPENS YOUR EYES.😀
16:27 - Their garbage truck is SO CLEAN!!!
And it has cute elephants!
IKR if only the ones in my country were a fraction of this clean 😭
It looks like the Mystery Machine
This is my 3rd time watching this video. Never thought a video on recycling could be so interesting and entertaining.
I just can't imagine having to spend all that time learning just to throw away garbage. I guess it would be easier if it is done as a habit.
It took us a while, but I think we're finally ready to talk about Japan's recycling system. It's complicated. Very...very complicated.
Simon and Martina I love you guys
Oof im gonna have to go back to school for this
Simon your tee! Another thing( or should I say place) you are obsessed with: kichijoji! How many kichijoji tees do you have anyway?
yeah f that noise, gimme one bag for everything or its going to a bonfire in the back yard
Complicated... but you made it funny! Loved the video! Hugs from Portugal
I just came back from Japan like 4 days ago, I still have anxiety from throwing away the wrong trash in the wrong bin. I even asked locals, which bin I was supposed to throw the garbage into. For someone living in California, its a lot of pressure, I even purchased that same milk carton Simon was cutting in the video. I had no idea how crazy their recycling system was.
Omg I remember your early Eat Your Sushi episodes where you guys didn’t know how to recycle properly and your neighbour came to teach you. AND NOW YOU ARE TEACHING US!! :’DDD
Ah! Yes, that was an old episode. I'm glad you remembered it!
I think this system is awesome! Yes it's hard work to maintain, but in the end it's so much more environmentally friendly.
Here in Finland we do have a recycling system, but it's not nearly as advanced. There are big garbage bin areas around with designated areas for cardboard, biodegradeable waste, plastic containers, sometimes glass, etc. There are also very specific instructions on how to recycle empty batteries, and specific areas you have to return them to. Aside from harmful waste like batteries it's usually left to people's own judgement to recycle though, and there are just "mixed waste" bins too where you can throw everything un-recycled.
BUT the one thing we do amazingly here is the recycling of plastic bottles, drink cans, and glass bottles. Why? Because we get money back for doing it. All grocery stores have designated beverage container recycling machines, that you feed all your empty and rinsed out bottles to, and based on a little label shown on the bottle you get that amount of money back for recycling it. It's usually anything from 10 cents to 50 cents per bottle, and after the transaction you get a receit you can exchange for money at the store's cash register (or just have them take away that amount from the price of your groceries). Cool, right?
Essi America just sucks at recycling. Apparently we think we have enough land to just get rid of it. And then they think it’s not a problem anymore just because they can’t see it
As a Finn who has lived in both countries I do think Japan has more advanced recycling programs. However Japan is a country that packages everything separately and has a huge food waste problem. The amount of plastic you get in Japan is huge compared to Finland. When you buy cookies for example the cookies are often packed separately inside a bag. Fruits are often packaged with Styrofoam and plastic. It's way more difficult to avoid using a lot of plastic in Japan compared to Finland.
But do you see that amount of plastic you are pointing at in the wild? No, because people recycle.
I do not get what you mean by food waste problem. As I know, Japan do not waste food. The motainai culture. In some restaurants you get charged extra if you have food left over on your plate. Most Japanese households don't eat big.
@@zam023 Yes, Japanese people at home recycle the plastic. But did you know that until the beginning of this year over half of it was sent to China, a country that dumps a lot of the plastics to the ocean. This year China informed that they would stop taking foreign plastic waste which has caused plastic pileup in Japan. Also other countries that Japan currently sends their plastics have been signaling that they will restrict the amounts they will receive.
So while I agree with you that Japan is one of the cleanest countries, I don't agree with making one country's plastic another ones problem. It is not sustainable and since many Asian countries dump a lot of plastics in the ocean it will become Japan's problem too in the end.
Also Japan does have a high food waste per capita, because they have very short "best before" dates (which does not mean that the food can't be eaten, like my host mother thought). They like to have food very fresh and pristine causing them to throw a lot of edible food away. We also have similar problems in Finland but a lot of people are trying to reduce the waste they create.
And don't take this the wrong way, I love Japan and I love Finland, but I do think both can still improve in many ways.
Lots of American grocery stores have bottle returns for cash, too. But not everyone uses them...
“I think everything is burnable if you try hard enough”
-Simon
Metal Jacket some products release toxins into the air when burned.
I remember seeing in other videos how much plastic packaging is in the grocery stores in Japan but it doesn't seem as bad now that I know how efficient the recycling is there. Here where I live in the US there's not even an option to recycle a lot of things including film plastic which hurts my soul. It's super tedious but I'd be willing to do all that if it meant less plastic/waste was ending up in landfills and the oceans.
If we as a society put more emphasis on wanting these things I would hope it would be made more readily available...
Yeah, I think more people would recycle if there was an organized system and place to do it
S P I R I T The amount of wasteful packaging here in Japan is INSANE! Like I bought a juice box and a sushi tray at a department store and the lady wrapped each item individually in a small plastic bag with a plastic enclosed ice bag for EACH item, she taped those bags closed, then she put those plastic bags inside another plastic bar and threw in a plastic-wrapped oshibori and a plastic-wrapped utensil set. So all of that is on top of the actual product packaging itself. And it’s not just food. In clothes shopping, they will double wrap in two bags most times.
Yes, recycling is great but it’s far from a perfect solution as so much can’t be recycled and it would be best not to create the waste in the first place.
Yeah my goal in life would be to see the day where plastic is replaced completely. Along with fossil fuels.
@@okashi10 what makes me really sad is when a recycling bin gets blown over and I just watch it blow and tumble all through the neighborhood. NO ONE even bothers to try to pick it up ( I do when I'm walking the dog, but every one else just doesn't bat an eye).
Wait. It's been THREE YEARS?? Wow!
Thanks for your TL;DR series. Very informative!
Thank you for watching!
@@eatyourkimchi I've been watching since about 2014 (not that much longer, lol), I think. xD But it's been going by so quickly!
OMG SAME
I was in a mall in Odaiba a few months ago. As an environmental scientist, I believed I would figure out how Japan’s recycle bins work 😂😅😭. My hungry ass decided to buy some takoyaki to eat inside the mall. They gave me my taco balls and drink on a tray. After eating, I went to the trash area to return my tray and throw away my trash. Since Odaiba is a pretty touristy spot, everything was labeled in English EXCEPT recycle bins. There were fking 5 of them with just Japanese on them, no picture illustration. I freaked out because I didn’t wanted to look stupid but all the tourists around me were also freaking out 😂😂. We looked at each other shaking our confused heads and proceeded to follow that one person that seems like he knew what to do. I still have nightmares about this, hoping I didn’t messed up.
Haha this is such a common everyday panic living in Japan 😂 and don’t worry, even if it went in the wrong bin they’d sort it out. I think people watching us panic are just happy to see us trying to make an attempt to figure it out, rather than just leaving our tray behind or just dumping it all in one bin without care 👍
Simon and Martina Thank you. I can now sleep in peace knowing that they sort them out and die in peace because you guys replied to me 😭
No reason to panic. There are some places here that don't make any sense at all. Case in point: the McDonald's in my local shopping center. Inside, they have two areas where customers can toss their trash after they've finished their meals. Each of these garbage "stations" has the typical ice/liquid receptacles, but there's one huge difference: only one of these garbage stations has TWO separate receptacles -- one for plastics, one for paper/food -- and the other one is an "everything goes here" type. Yep, that's right: if you take your tray to the single garbage can, then all of the plastics, papers, and foods will be tossed together. I still haven't figured out why they have it set up that way.
As a side note, I have a Japanese colleague whom I asked about the garbage disposal methods after I first arrived here (East Hiroshima), as it seemed very different from Tokyo. She said "Uhm, I really don't know. I toss plastics and plastic bottles out together, glass together, cans together, and everything else as burnable." She literally has no idea about the level of detail shown in this video. lol
Simon-if it makes you feel better about your full on dad jokes, my 4 year old lost himself in giggles with your cardboardom joke. You have found your demographic now! lol
Well... I'm thirty and I laughed 🙈
For some recycling rules Switzerland is very similar to Japan: your cardboard will not be taken if it's not neatly bundled. We also have to buy bags for trash, have battery boxes and stickers you have to buy for big objects. Those will be collected once a month.
That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks Simon and Martina :D your videos always make my days better! In some areas of my country the also collect garden and kitchen waste (bio degradable waste). And your normal waste hast to go in specially taxed plastic bags with your citys logo on it. Otherwise you get no sticker of shame but a fine (if they find something with your address on / hint in the thrash) ^^"
Ayyyy, gruess us Bärn :D!
Can you recycle all of plastic in Switzerland or do you have to sort through types of plastic ?
hefeelslikeivan you can return PET, but sadly in my city the sorting of plastics was tested and then aborted for being to expensive / too much work. Now it goes into the general trash bag... sniff
when land is limited, you have to get serious about recycling. if only the US was half as recycling friendly
The answer to why it isn't is within your statement.
@@cocobear285 I wasn't really looking for an answer, more like a wish.
That is not true. South Korea is smaller than Japan but they don't have recycling like this. South Korea recently adopted recycling but many people don't follow the rules and it's not as extensive as Japan's recycling.
Except if America even tried to implement this, there would be a lot of complaints and outright refusal to do it. How many people refuse to recycle now because they're too lazy? There's also the fact that there's a lot of stuff you think should be recyclable, but it isn't. Like a lot of packaging.
You don't have to go far into the comments to find Americans complaining about America. Not everything is about the US.
This was fun and informative to watch! And their garbage disposal truck looks so cute and clean to sleep in hahaha
You will now get paper bags as fan mail.
!!! Great idea!
Shower caps & Paper bags!!!!
Huzzah!!!!
I was just thinking I should send them some as a Christmas gift xD
I said that to myself right when he said that paper bags are hard to find
@@sarabarelyhugs4732 me too!
Yeah you get those stickers at convenience stores usually.
I actually help foreigners with things like this a lot where I work at city hall. It’s weird hearing others talk about this stuff.
Yaaaaaay TL;DR is back!! I subscribed to this channel because of these!
I wasn’t ready to have my mind blown by a video on recycling specifically in japan.
Video of Martina's outside garden please!
Yes!
OMG. When we first moved to Japan, garbage system totally stressed us out too! And I'm originally from Japan!! When I left the country, they only had burable day, non-burnable day, and compostable day. But when we moved there in 2003, we received garbage guide like yours! Took us a while to get use to it and made many mistakes. So different from what we were used to in the U.S. Oh the memories...
Fun fact: I'm named after the 'Tokyo Slim' recycling program instituted in 1989 when Tokyo first started making people separate their trash into glass, plastic, aluminum, and burnable rubbish.
I’m from America and wish everyone knew this because I feel like I’m the only one who recycles somewhat like this. Best video ever I laughed a lot
If only this video had existed years ago the first time I came to Japan. It was so overwhelming back then. Super informative as always guys!
We have that in Germany too, but less strict it’s more like this
- Plastic/Cans/Aluminum Foil
- Paper
- Biodegradable waste
(NEVER throw Meat inside it though, since it attracts Rats)
- “Restmüll” (for the rest)
- Glass ( divided by color, each neighborhood shares one kind of each container)
Every building usually has their different container, and you get a calendar from the city hall where they tell you the dates to leave the different containers out at the street to be emptied.
Some buildings even have a container for old electronics. But you also are never supposed to throw old batteries away like that; there are boxes at some drugstores where you can get rid of them, same for old lightbulbs and printer cartridges.
Some households prefer to have a compost instead of the container for biodegradable waste, since it can be used as fertilizer for plants. This tends to be more common at the countryside.
If you go against these rules you have to pay fines...
Anyway, thank you for the video! It’s very interesting to see how you apply the recycling methods in your household! 😄
This is why japan is so efficient, almost everyone contributes a lot to the community and are so organised like damnnnn did you see that vegetable shop cardboard box stack? Have you ever seen that in any other country??? 😂😂😂
It is truly part of the culture now. It isn’t just a burden or a boring thing to do, it is taken very seriously and is just a normal part of life. This is actually why a lot of Japanese people are hesitant to rent to foreigners, I watched an interview on TV and the first thing the old man said about foreigners moving to Japan was “I think they won’t understand the recycling system” 😂 but seriously I know people living here that just dump everything into the garbage (as foreigners) and it gives us all a bad name :(
Simon and Martina yeah haha, moving to Japan is like taking on a new life because your habits change completely (from your old life in your home country) but I think it helps in being a more practical and organised person. And yes it becomes like routine - just needs getting used to. Some foreigners are very different to Japanese standards and never want to change but some foreigners are willing to adapt and they’re the type of people Japan appreciate (I’m guessing).
The garbage truck looks so freaking cute with that little elephant! Now this is the way to go. Encouragement to recycle more! 100%
With plastics being a huge environmental issue worldwide, thank you guys for going extra miles to make this video. Nobody can make a video on recycling as entertaining as this one.
You guys are really active these pas months. Thank you for all these new vids 🙌🙌
Thank you! We won't be able to be this active non-stop. We'll be taking a small break in January, but till then we plan on working as hard as we can!
That garbage truck is CLEAN!? Such a thing is possible? I feel like I've seen the impossible! Thank you Simon & Martina for showing me the miracles of Japan ❤️
In the UK, we have Three giant 'wheely bins' per house. One is for general waste (black), one is for cardboard and recyclable stuff (blue) and the other for garden waste (Green). The Green and the blue bin are collected together fortnightly and the black bin fortnightly on the other week. When we do online groceries we get a lot of paper bags. I'm going to collect them all for you for a month and send them over!
I live in Norway, and I think we are decent at recycling garbadge, but nearly as strict as Japan! We do recycle plastic and plastic bottles, paper, and also glass and metal and now also fabrics and used clothing can be recycled ^^ I try my best as I live alone to be good at recycling! I really like the way we recycle cans and bottles here in Norway!
Sitting here like SUCH a dork wishing I had recycling rules like this in Toronto 😭
The space between the fridge & the wall is so underrated on so many levels. Japan's recycling system is wild.
Everything is so packaged in Japan. The fact that bananas come wrapped in plastic as if they don't already have a handy natural protective layer, like 🤨🤨🤨. So at least it's good they have such a good recycling program, although it is always important to remember that recycling doesn't have no negative impact, it takes energy to recycle that wouldn't be used if the plastic was just not used all together.
Recycling is important, but reducing the amount of single use plastics you go through is also important.
* Edited for spelling *
Alice T Exactly what I was thinking
Jeah we all know Japan is a very bad polluter, worldwide, not countries like USA, no offence.
(ironic)
I was thinking that as Simon put more paper on the paper bag, and plastic twine around the boxes, and the BAGS in a special BAG. :(
Loved this video! Simon seems more funnier then normal here. I have a confession I’ve been watching Simon and Martina for literal years now but this is my first ever comment. 😥😭 Sorry guys! But you two are fantastic I watch you whenever you have a new video. Can’t wait to see more.
Hi Ashley! Thank you for finally commenting. I hope we can convince you to leave more comments in the future. I’ll be looking out for them :)
Can't believe it's been three years since you've moved to Japan... Seems just like yesterday! Much love and respect from NYC!!!
This is one of my favorite channels.
Why did I just watched a 20 minute video about recycling in Japan when I live in North Dakota?
i don't know but i just did the same thing in nebraska so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Wyoming, reporting in ;-)
Why not? At least you can get an inspiration to recycle more stuffs even though you're not living in Japan :)
You have plans as yet unrealised to move to Japan in the distant future when this video will come in handy.
Same!! Im in Los Angeles! Green bin, blue bin, black bin. That’s it! 😂
Recycling is a noble act, caring for our mothernature
What happens when you get the sticker of shame? 😂😛
the village comes out and throws stones at you.
hey so my cats have this litter system that’s made from wood and when the cats pees the wood dissolves and is sifted through one tray down into the second tray. the poo doesn’t stick to the wood and we keep the tray in the bathroom near the toilet. all you have to do is use some toilet paper and pick up the poo and flush it. then shake the tray so the broken down litter goes into the second layer. you can easily bury it and water it into your garden it is like wood dust kind of. the wood stops it from smelling too. it’s amazing, would save having to throw out the poo and clumping litter. 🐱 💩
This is definitely one thing the US should copy Japan on. 👍🏼 But unfortunately we aren’t as disciplined:/
I've never been more grateful for my no-sort recycling bin as I am now... every resident gets a giant blue pickup bin (same size as the trash bins) and they pick it up every other Tuesday. If you need to get rid of clothes, theres a drop off bin at every grocery store. Thanks North Dakota!
My goodness. I am so disproportionately overjoyed by y'all bringing back these TLDR and WANK segments. Getting hit in the nostalgic feels
I wish EVERY country had this! Here, paper and glass recycling bins are easy to find, but if I want to, god forbid, throw out an old broken fan, toxic fragrance or something like that, I have to go out of my friggin' way to find a (quite well-hidden) address on the internet and then travel there to dispose of it somewhere in town
"Pterodactyls that block out the sun" I lol'd
Such a responsible approach to recycling, very environment friendly. I wish we all had that opportunity in our countries.
I feel like I'm genuinely walking through memory lane. The nostalgia is truly breathtaking, as it is informative and it's as though the spark in your eyes has been ignited once again. Looking forward to buy some merch as a gift from me to me ♥♥
That's very kind of you, thank you! We really had a lot of fun with this video, and were having a good health day at that time as well, so it all worked out today :D
Simon was not exaggerating about the crows. They are massive and can destroy a garbage can in seconds. Never did know if it was the crows or the tanukis that lived near my house that constantly caused me problems with our trash. Probably both.
I low key love the Japanese recycling system and wish the rest of the world...US...were as committed. We need a more universal rules for recycling and the facilities to facilitate it.
I still love watching this video!!! Can't explain why, but was glad to see it suggested in the most recent video about toilets in Japan!
Meticulous recycling is great, but this system seems very overcomplicated. In Sweden we just have little recycling stations spread around (One in each village/neighbourhood usually, and most housing associations have their own little mini stations) with different containers where we put our recycling whenever we want. Works fine. The garbage trucks have multiple compartments and collect all the different categories of recycling, usually handling the big containers common outside of cities with a crane.
Here in Germany it's kind of similar to Sweden.
Second Swede here !! :D Some counties have different recycling methods with different colored bags nowadays. It's to collect food waste to make into biofuel. But thumbs up for your comment on the rest.
@@lazerapes Yes, separating food waste for biogas production is becoming common in some places! Not sure if it's actually worth it or not with the additional transports, but I'm sure someone who knows what they're doing has worked it all out.
This video was great! So hilarious and super informative. Is anyone else oddly comforted by the fact that Japan is single handedly trying to save the world? Japan is too pure for this world :D
This video is strangely adorable and I’m here for it. 🌸🌸🌸
This is actually really interesting! Thank you so much for sharing!
It's scary how high-maintenance it all is but I really respect how seriously they take everything and how friendly they always seem, as well :)
You guys are the bests in the world!
I have to say that as a German this Recycling Routine isn't strange to me. We learn about it in Gradeschool. Every household has a bin for recycable plastic (marked with "the Green dot") a normal waste bin, organic waste and a paper bin. In the country side, many people collect organic waste to re-use as fertilizer for their gardens. Batteries go into collectable bins in your supermarket or Town hall. And don't get me started on the whole "Pfand"-system that ensures you bring back your pet-bottles, cans and recycable glass bottles by taxing a small amount of money on Top of the regular prize which you only get back if you recycle the stuff properly. I reckon it must be just as tough for foreigners to adapt to our system as it is for you. But you're doing a great deed and i think it is really worth it.
Typical recycling in Norway is:
- Plastics
- Papers
- Metals and glass
- "Special" waste (batteries, light bulbs, aerosol cans, etc)
- Food waste (the buses in my city run on biogas from recycled food waste!)
Typically, there will be a set of four big trash containers, one for papers, one for plastics, one for general waste and one for food waste. Each household sorts its own waste and recycles by dumping their waste in the appropriate container. If you're having a wardrobe clear-out, there are also receptacles for donating (clean and dry) second-hand clothes, linens, textiles and fabrics.
For bottles and cans, there is an arrangement called "pant". I don't know if there is an English term for this, although the word itself means "(to) pawn" . Whenever you buy a bottle or a can (mostly just drinks containers), a small sum is added to your cost (2-3 kr). When you've finished your bottle or can, you can return it and get that sum back. It's an initiative to stop people from discarding their empty drinks containers.
For big items that won't fit into a waste sack (like furniture), electrical appliances, garden waste, etc, you can either call to arrange pick-up, you can bring it in to a store that sells that kind of goods, or there are biannual pick-ups for garden waste.
That just leaves the question... Why did I bother typing this all up?
Very similar to Sweden. Hi, there neighbor :D "Waves awkwardly from the other side of the border"
@@lazerapes Hello! :D **waggles fingers in greeting**
That’s similar to Australia but we don’t have a food waste. In my area we have normal bin recycle bin and garden bin. So everything you can’t recycle goes in the normal bin with the food waste. Means it ends up in land fill 😐
Several states in the US have the same "pant" arrangement you described; we call it the "bottle deposit." We pay slightly more money per bottle when we buy them from the store, then we get that same amount back when we return the empty bottles. Not every state does this, though.
Thank you so much for this video! Ive been trying to find videos which explain recycling in Japan! This is awesome and makes it much easier to understand !!! Amazing Job! :D you guys are the best!
I needed this video a week ago for a school assignment 😭
As someone who’s worried about the environment and lives in a city with no recycling system, this video makes me very happy.
Only I come to watch simon & martina recycling to make my day brighter. 😂no but seriously this system should be applied to all places. It seems like a lot of work but it keeps things organised.
"Everything is burnable if you try hard enough" - Simon Stawski, 2018
Although not quite as particular as Japan recycling in Germany is relatively similar.
1) At home you have bins for plastic/packaging, paper/cartons, food waste/greenery, and other waste. You don't have to throw it out on a specific day but the bins are emptied on specific days depending on where you live. If you have a house you have to remember to put the bin out on the street for the garbage collection.
2) Plastic PET bottles and glass bottles (water/beer) are returned to the supermarkets and you get your refund back which you pay when buying a bottle.
3) Other glass jars are thrown into containers separated by color (white, brown, green). In some cities the lids are discarded separately.
4) There are also larger containers for paper/cartons if the ones at home are full which is often the case.
5) Old clothes are thrown into clothing donation containers.
6) Empty batteries can be returned to supermarkets, drugstores and electronic stores. Empty print cartridges are returned to electronic stores.
7) If you are moving and want to through out your furniture you have to make an appointment, put your stuff out on the street and it will be collected.
8) There are also buyback centres where you can return all sorts of things like electronics, oil (e.g. from deep frying), or energy saving lamps (have to be discarded separately because they contain quicksilver).
It's a great system and when you're used to it it's not a hassle at all. It actually hurts my heart and makes me mad when I'm in other countries and everything is just thrown into one bin.
How to spot a German on holiday: They carry all their empty bottles around because they forgot there's no deposit on bottles in that country.
YES! I even brought bottles back one time hoping I would be able to return them because I just couldn't throw them away haha
I saw your Furikake tweet so i thought it was gonna be about that but i got SHAZAAMED by garbage trucks and science. STILL GOOD
Haha sorry that was my snack in-between finishing the bloopers and exporting.
SO FASCINATING! more countries should jump on board w this!
recycling in australia put just cardboard, newspapers, cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles in one bin the everything else goes into a garbage bin.. more simple than japan but it would lower the amount of waste if australia adopted a similiar system to japan!
you guys are really funny and have been watching you videos for almost 10 years 🙌🏽 keep up the awesome work xoxox
Damn I love how hardcore recycling is in Japan.
Recycling is indeed a culture in Japan. ❤️❤️👍🏼
This is super interesting on how intricate this system is. The problem with waste is SPACE. Japan's tiny island with a large population=where does trash go? Recycling is more expensive but is a necessity in Japan and other small countries with large populations.
Also, I found it super funny that you guys were so annoyed at rinsing. I would be too, but that's because "contamination"=messes up the machinery. Contamination-anything that isn't the recyclable. So like oily pizza boxes can't be recycled.
I really wish that recycling can be done more properly in the US but because money drives everything, nope. At least the blame should be put onto the industry to reduce waste.
Where I live in California we have three bins. A brown one for regular trash, a green one for yard clippings and compostable food, and a blue one for any type on recyclables. The city gives us a cheat sheet of what is acceptable for each bin. I think it’s important to recycle and I’m a nerd so I enjoyed this video!
just got here! 🙋🏻♀️ getting the hang of it! thanks for the video 😂😅 greetings from misawa aomori! 😊
I have watched this 5 times already of the course of this year.... fun and educational
Oh boi. I can already imagine missing the day and ending up holding onto that floppy disk for the rest of my life
Also are the bottle labels particularly easy to peel off in JP?
This honestly makes me so happy to see places like Japan taking recycling and the environment seriously. The nature geek inside of me is squealing with joy! :D
Woow-we already have strict rules of recycling in Switzerland.But this is definately next level...
love your videos😉👍
Great and fun explanation. Also, cutest and cleanest garbage truck EVER! Y’all rock!!!
I swear this looks fun
I love recycling, that place is heaven!
Love the community shaming 😂😂😂
I am glad TLDRs are back. I fell in love with you guys from these.
Tbh, this is the first recycling video I've see on RUclips. Really informative. I knew Japan was "hardcore" about recycling, but I didn't know it was to this degree. Thank you for doing this video!
In the US, I do recycle but it is nowhere near to the level of Japan. Because I live in an apartment, I take out the recycling just like the trash; whenever I want. There are recycling collection cans next to the trash dumpster area. Recycling rules are plastics, cardboard, and aluminum. All separated from each other. Even though I don't have to, I rinse out the food containers just to help keep bugs to a minimum. Cardboard is done with the shove all cardboard in a big enough cardboard box method. I crush the aluminum to get more in the bag. Plastic is stuffed into the bigger bag and I don't have to peel labels before doing so.
When I was in japan I was baffled by how much useless plastic I was given in every store. Not to mention the umbrella plastic in stores that gets thrown away after a 15min of use. I'm glad to have found out through this video that they do recycle everything :)
im kinda ashamed to admit that i've been a sloppy recycler. like i recycle but i SHOULD try to put more of my attention towards it before they notice and give me a ticket for not doing it correctly lol 😅 but anyways i like the ikea storage i never thought about that. it would make it easier for things to be in a designated place. it'd be fun for my son too as we both learn to recycle properly 😊
Hi from NZ. Certain towns may have the odd different bin but we mostly have 4 bins. 2 large wheelie bins, 1 small wheelie bin and a small green container. The small green is for glass only, the small green wheelie bin is for rubbish, all rubbish. The large green wheelie bin is for green waste such as grass clipping, plants, leaves etc. The last but not least (other large green with yellow lid) wheelie bin is recycling PET 1-5, cardboard, paper, certain plastics etc. ..... I’ve know some towns still have black rubbish bags.
This video really helped me build my ladder today. You probably didn't think a video about recycling could bring someone so much happiness, but it really brightened my day to learn something new from two enthusiastic friends from across the sea. Love you guys ❤
In China everywhere on the streets two bins for organic and non-organic waste, and people can't even throw their shit in the right bin. The difference...
Where I live, there's only one bin for all types of trash, and some people find it hard to throw their trash in it.
Haruhi Fujioka
So you have bin. Congrats
What are bins??? 😝😝😝
This is actually really cool. We deliver electric trash to electronic stores, light bulbs to super markets, but you get them picked up! Food cans and wine bottles have trash stations around.
In Norway we sort food trash, paper, plastic and «the rest». We get paid for beer cans and plastic bottles at the store.
Also, NOTIFICATION SQUAD! What TL;DR would you like us to do next?
Come visit Izmir Turkey :D
Tell us about the possible visibility of modern day Yakuza! :3
Maybe how to ride the trains? I went to Japan this year and it was simple and that’s cuz I got that NYC experience but I’m sure ppl would appreciate it! Love you guys 🥰
like a FULL travel guide for us nasties wanting to go to japan :P
Maybe some useful apps for traveling/life in Japan?
Love you guys for making this video! No, it is not boring but actually very necessary to raise awareness among people about waste and how much of it we generate daily. I simply LOOVE Japanese recycling collections! This should be done in every single country. The problem is that even if Japan has a relatively high recycling rate, it is one of the highest waste makers per capita in the world as well, and lots of the waste that gets collected for recycling is burned for energy. Especially talking about plastic, it's not a bad thing that energy gets derived from burning the waste, but fossil fuels are used to make it in the first place, which is causing a lot of air, water and soil pollution everywhere. Wish people would realize that by just dumping something in a trash can, it doesn't just disappear. Every action - every purchase and usage - has a reaction. It's good that Japan has such good waste management, but most countries do not, even highly developed countries in EU or in North America. Before 2018, China was the world's landfill, taking in lots of exported plastic for recycling, biggest exporters include Japan, S Korea, UK & USA. Now that they have banned it, a lot of countries are left with their own trash to deal with and it's causing a lot of problems, like overfilled landfills, mismanagement of waste (it being burned without regulations in place) or lots of it being dumped into the ocean.
I work for a environmental social enterprise in China so I know a bit about this ;)
I had heard about the elaborate cleaning/sorting requirements for recycling in Japan, and I just read an article in the LA Times about how China's refusal to take certain types of plastic recyclables (citing no more need, plus contaminated American shipments), has caused havoc and a come-to-Jesus moment for recycling plants in California and elsewhere. And I thought to myself: 'maybe we need to be more like Japan'-- requirements for recycling (and penalties if you don't!); require more sorting and certainly require cleaning! Maybe that would help contamination issues. It does seem like a lot of work, but I'd much rather that and have stuff actually get recycled than what is happening now, where recycling plants can't handle it and are literally taking loads to the landfill/burning it. This video was very instructive about what the day-to-day sorting would look like. Plus it was funny. :)
I live in the Midwest US, and our city recently switched to an all-in-one recycling system. We rinse our bottles, take labels off cans, flatten boxes, etc., but they all go into the same recycling bin together and then get sorted mechanically once they reach the plant. We don't recycle such a broad variety of things, though, and weird items like batteries still have their own process - often they can be recycled at stores which sell similar products.
It varies hugely, though. My city is more gung-ho about recycling than many nearby towns. My neighbors 10 minutes away have no recycling pickup at all, and my heart dies a little every time I see them throw sheets of paper straight into a garbage can.
"I Love Onion" Lol!
I love how thorough this video is! Also as a sidenote I have a recipe for canned salmon that I think would work for tuna as well. Its basically just a can of fish, chopped up ginger, chopped up green onions, lots of black pepper, and some chili oil. Super simple but yummy
Wow, I can’t believe I just watched a 20 min long video about garbage recycle in Japan. Good work, you guys. Greetings from Canada!
"Everything is burnable if you try hard enough" - Simon Stawski 2018
I love that friendly attitude of the garbage men. People in Japan seem so kind
What about the plastic screens in enveloppes, do you have to cut them out too?
I kind of wish we had that kind of system here (Australia.) In my area, we have a big 240L otto bin for recycling (the same as our garbage bin just with a yellow lid - we also have a green lid one for plant material) but a lot of what you are recycling in Japan we can't put in our recycle bins at all. We only do cardboard, paper, glass, cans and hard plastic. It all goes in the same bin. And the recycle bins in my area are only collected once every two weeks. This feels really terrible compared to what you guys are doing! (But better than nothing at all.) Kudos to you and Japan for doing such a great job with keeping the planet free from trash!