Japan is famous for cleanliness and recycling, some expect that for the city to stay clean, every corner should have a trash can. One of the things that tourists notice when visiting Japan is precisely the lack of trash bins we find on the streets; the most we can find are bins for placing cans and bottles from vending machines. In this article, we will understand why there are so few trash cans on the streets of Japan.
Perhaps some think it's to save money, or because the Japanese are already aware of their waste, or maybe because trash cans are unpleasant. The reality is there are factors you might not have known about. One of them is the fact that the fewer trash cans there are, the less garbage there is. You might be confused by this theory, but when Japan had many trash cans on the streets, there was much more waste.
Reason with me, people are prone to throw rubbish where there is rubbish. In Brazil it is common to find an empty lot full of garbage next to a clean empty lot. At the time that Japan had many garbage cans scattered around the city, people did not take the garbage home and the public trash cans were full and the difficulty of emptying the trash was greater by the amount. Not to mention that on windy days the dumpsters could overturn or garbage could fly and thus litter the street. Currently, there are almost no public dumps, most dumps found in Japan belong to a convenience store, market or other trade.
Table of Contents
How did public dumps disappear?
One of the reasons we already talked about was that it was very laborious to take care of public trash cans and the city didn't stay that clean. It is believed that a terrorist attack in 1995 led to the disappearance of public trash cans. Exactly on March 20, 1995, five of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released deadly gas in subway trains in the city of Tokyo. They used plastic bags wrapped in newspapers. 13 people died and 5000 were injured. Japan was paralyzed with fear of further attacks.
One of the security measures taken was the removal of garbage cans, as they could be possible hiding places for other terrorist weapons. Other countries have also adopted this security measure, such as London. After that, dumpsters never returned to the streets of Tokyo and other cities followed suit. There are other factors that determined the fixed exit of garbage cans from the streets of Japan, today each establishment takes care of its own. From personal experience, I can say that while it is difficult to find a public dump in Japan, it is also relatively difficult to find garbage on the streets.
Where to get rid of garbage in Japan?
Every city and neighborhood has a way to get rid of accumulated trash at home, that's pretty obvious. But what if you're on the street? There are convenience stores, restaurants, and shops that have recyclable trash bins inside or outside the location. It's not hard to find a convenience store or a similar place. At every corner, you find a vending machine for drinks, and there's always a bin for bottles next to it.
If you have difficulty disposing of your trash, the best thing to do is to take it home. Even dedication to cleanliness makes trash cans unnecessary. Now that you know, it's no use using the excuse that Brazil is dirty due to the lack of trash cans on the streets. Thank you for reading, we would appreciate and thank your possible sharing and comment.
