Trash Rules

As we walked around the city of Tokyo, one thing became clearly apparent.  There were no trash cans anywhere.  Coming from a place where we throw trash away freely, it became awkward for me to carry around trash in my handbag until we found an area where we could dispose of our bags and wrappers.  Sometimes, I even held onto our trash until we returned to our hotel room!

We never had to think so hard about throwing away our trash before, which made me feel a little guilty of how we don't think about it much at home.  However, the Japanese people do not just throw all of their trash into one can.  Instead, they separate their trash according to certain categories.

http://jpninfo.com/9826

 Some compartments are labeled: aluminum cans, plastics, glass.  

Others can be labeled burnable and nonburnable.

If you eat at a fast food restaurant or have a meal at a food court, you also need to separate your trash when returning your tray.  It became a healthy habit wherever we went.  We also realized that the Japanese people hardly use napkins or paper towels.  We watched as they used their own handkerchiefs they carry with them.