It seems like everywhere you go these days, SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are unavoidable. And while some may take them more seriously than others, at the very least, it has gotten more people thinking about their effect on the 環境 (kankyō, environment) and how to work toward a サステナブルな社会 (sasutenaburuna shakai, sustainable society).
The rise of SDGs in Japan has also brought with it a plethora of new buzzwords, a lot of which feature English loanwords like サステナブル, ゼロウェイスト (zero ueisuto, zero waste), プラスチックフリー (purasuchikku furī, plastic free) and フードロス (fūdo rosu) or 食品ロス (shokuhin rosu), meaning food loss.
One field in which SDG efforts are most obvious to us as consumers is the food and beverage industry. Since the プラスチック製買物袋有料化 (purasuchikku-sei kaimono bukuro yūryōka, introduction of a charge for plastic shopping bags) in 2020, a lot of shops and eateries have started adopting other エコ活動 (eko katsudō, eco-friendly activities) as well. From discounts for using a マイボトル (mai botoru, a reusable bottle) to the gradual allowance of タッパー (tappā, Tupperware) for leftovers, little things are happening here and there.