Hm, I'm still not sure how I feel about Japan's environmentally-mindedness. Some things seem very clever and make me happy for the earth, but others just seem extremely wasteful. Part of me thinks that the country only pollutes less than others because it is quite small. But, then, I also spend most of my time in a pretty urban area.
There are some good things, for sure. For instance, everyone seems to be very good at my apartment complex about turning off lights in the bathroom and shower when they aren't in use. By "everyone" I mean the Japanese people living here, and probably some of the foreigners. I've been doing it too- yay me? Also, the shower room's sliding door is always closed when people are showering, to keep the heat inside, I think.
Additionally, the garbage sorting, though irritatingly time consuming, is very good. On the downside, garbage bags are set out usually near very busy areas or in parks, where crows can get at them. Thus, garbage ends up all over the streets near the pick up sites. This is very gross and bad.
Furthermore, hoorah for Tokyo's public transportation system. There just aren't as many cars here as there could be, and many people bike if they need to cover smaller distances. However, a lot of people also ride motorcycles and vespas, which, according to my Critical Issues in Southeast Asia professor (an international environmental specialist), are even worse than the average car, pollution-wise (this seems really odd to me, but it's what she does for a career, so it must be true). Also, the cars that I do see tend to be Hummer-ish.
Also, whenever it rains, plastic bags are used to carry umbrellas inside shops. Every store you enter has a person handing out bags, and it is frowned upon to reuse them (I did it anyway). Goodness sake, I'm sorry that it is so terrible to have slippery floors, but these plastic bags end up everywhere and are not recyclable. Phew. That one peeves me off.
Anyway, that's all I have to say. Hrm. Kinda rantish.
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