I can recall reading about a pre-industrial community that had the custom of throwing all of its rubbish on the ground at the back of its members’ homes. This was fine as long as they were chucking out scraps of food, or wooden or plant-based material.
However, they got access to cheap plastics and then their homes became fronts for rubbish tips. Plastic has that often annoying habit of sticking around almost forever.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.