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No Trash Town in Japan

Earth Day: No Trash Town in Japan

Posted on April 4, 2016March 23, 2025 by Pragmatic Mom

Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd, and I was inspired by this video I saw on The Kid Should See This about a small town in rural Japan well on its way to becoming a zero waste community. This means that they will produce no trash. To this end, they sort their trash into 34 recycling categories. I know that my family and I have trouble with just one recycling category!

No Trash Town in Japan: Zero Waste in Kamikatsu

The small town of Kamikatsu, Japan started in 2003 to become a zero waste community by rigorously composting, reusing, and recycling their trash. In 2015, only 20% of their garbage goes into their local landfill. By 2020, Kamikatsu hopes to be 100% zero waste, with no use of landfills, and to forge connections with other like-minded communities in the world, spreading the practice of zero-waste.

Earth Day 2016

Isn’t that amazing? Here’s their story:

I have other posts for Earth Day including an essay writing contest where kids can win $5000 and my Top 10 Earth Day Picture Book list. How are you celebrating Earth Day? Please share!

No Trash Town in Japan

 

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16 thoughts on “Earth Day: No Trash Town in Japan”

  1. maria gianferrari says:
    April 4, 2016 at 8:58 am

    Wow–this is wonderful & very inspiring, Mia! Thank you for sharing!!

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 4, 2016 at 10:08 pm

      Hi Maria,
      I shudder to think of sorting my garbage into 34 categories as we struggle with just two categories but it’s an inspiration and probably what my town should be moving towards!

      Reply
  2. Patricia Tilton says:
    April 4, 2016 at 10:45 am

    I really enjoyed reading your zero-waste communities for Earth Day. It’s good to know this is spreading. I reviewed a middle grade book for next Monday, and I heard about communities in New Zealand. Such an important topic.

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 4, 2016 at 10:09 pm

      Hi Patricia,
      I love that the citizens of the town are behind this initiative even though it puts such a recycling sorting burden on them. It makes me want to try a little harder to recycle too!

      Reply
  3. Fariba says:
    April 4, 2016 at 11:18 am

    Hi, thank you for great subject.🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 4, 2016 at 10:09 pm

      Thanks Fariba!

      Reply
  4. Rebekah Gienapp says:
    April 5, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    What an inspiring community! Over on my blog, we’re celebrating Earth Month with Barefoot Books’ One Book, One Tree campaign. It’s a partnership with a fantastic nonprofit Trees for the Future. For every book purchased in April, Barefoot Books will send seeds across the globe so that families in Africa can plant forest gardens. They’ll not only be able to better protect the soil but also boost their income and increase their food security.

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 14, 2016 at 11:53 am

      Hi Rebekah,
      What a wonderful initiative you and Barefoot Books are doing! I love the One Book, One Tree campaign!

      Reply
  5. Regina Wells says:
    April 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    This is fantastic and inspiring. I would love to see more commitment in the U.S. similar to this and a little more innovation instead of being stuck with the status quo. Thank you for sharing this! #ThursdayFavoriteThings

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 14, 2016 at 11:55 am

      Hi Regina,
      Thanks so much for your kind words! They are an inspiration but I think it’s interesting what a big adjustment everyone has to make in terms of recycling to make this work! We have trouble sorting into 2 categories but if that is what it takes, it would be worth learning!

      Reply
  6. Erik - TKRB says:
    April 9, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    That’s really cool about Kamikatsu! I hope that others start doing such things – and I believe that Kamikatsu is starting it the right way: the best way to spread this is to start on the small towns and move to the bigger cities, in my opinion. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 14, 2016 at 12:02 pm

      Hi Erik,
      I wonder if that would work in the United States? Maybe if it was a town in Oregon, Maine or Washington State where the people there seem especially environmentally conscious? I know that where I live, my town has to give everyone Trash Bins and Recycling Bins (the big kind) as part of a new mechanical art trash truck system to make everyone recycle. Before, there were recycle bins but the small kind and it was optional. Now, with only one Trash Can and one Recycling Trash Can, you need to recycle because one trash can isn’t enough space for most of us!

      Reply
  7. Jennifer says:
    April 10, 2016 at 6:31 pm

    That’s great. I wish more cities got behind the initiative. Thanks for sharing with us on Thursday Favorite Things.
    Cheers,
    Jennifer

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      April 14, 2016 at 12:08 pm

      Hi Jennifer,
      I hope so too! Thanks for hosting Thursday Favorite Things!

      Reply
  8. Thomas Beckham says:
    August 24, 2016 at 3:41 am

    Wow!! Great Share!

    The things you covered through the post are informative. I have enjoyed reading your post. Thanks for sharing such an amazing post with us.

    Cheers 🙂

    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      September 8, 2016 at 10:41 am

      Thanks Thomas!

      Reply

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