index > Today's Earth, Our Future > 7. Let's not be wasteful > Depositing for a Better Future

Depositing for a Better Future

Earth Day is a celebration that takes place every year on April 22. First celebrated in America in 1970, it has become a special day globally recognized as being the day for people to join together to take a good look at the Earth and show their appreciation and care for it.

To celebrate Earth Day in Japan, events are held in Yoyogi Park, one of the largest parks in Central Tokyo. At large events like this, trash cans would normally be overflowing with used paper plates, disposable chopsticks, plastic spoons and other refuse. But at this Earth Day event, you won't find any of this type of garbage.

"Strange, isn't it? But there's an explanation. At these events, the organizers set up a rental booth for plates, bowls, reusable chopsticks and other utensils. Before eating, visitors pay a deposit of 100 yen (about 85 US cents) to get the dishes they need according to the type of food they want. For example, if they want soup, they rent a bowl and spoon. After renting these items, the visitors go to the food stall of their choice, where they hand over their plate or bowl to get their serving. After eating, the visitors bring these dishes to a "wash corner," where they get washed for someone else's use. In exchange for bringing back these rented items, deposits are returned.

In this way, visitors don't lose their money (it gets returned as long as they bring back the rented items!), and food vendors don't have to spend theirs on disposable chopsticks and paper plates. With this clever system, there's no need to use any paper, wood or petroleum products (Styrofoam and plastic). And because there's no waste, it also makes the earth happy!

Such systems in which people buy food in reusable containers that can be returned for money are called "deposit" systems.

In Japan, there aren't any deposit laws yet, but in Europe there are several. For example, in Sweden there's a deposit law for glass bottles that was created about 120 years ago, and now cans and plastic bottles have deposit values (worth a few US dimes). As a result, the country's collection rate of these recyclable items is more than 90 percent.

Also in Germany, a deposit law on plastic bottles has been in effect and recently there is one for aluminum cans, too. In Denmark, disposable containers for beers and soft drinks are banned.

In a deposit system, everyone returns their containers so that they can get back their money. (Even people who don't really think about the environment!) And the more containers get returned, the higher the collection rates become--improving the reuse and recycling systems.

In Japan there's a deposit system for beer bottles and 1.8-liter sake bottles. When returned to the liquor shop, there's a refund of five yen (about 4 US cents) per bottle, but there's no aluminum can or PET bottle deposit. Wouldn't it be great if all countries had deposit systems for glass bottles, aluminum cans and PET bottles?

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