(Over)Packaging

Our almost daily visits to supermarkets and convenience stores in Kyoto made us very aware of the amount of packaging that surrounds the typical Japanese consumer item. Some of this overpackaging was very analogous to what you would find in the U.S. or Europe, for example for electronic items or processed foods. But one big difference was fresh produce. It was hard to find any fruits or vegetables that did not come pre-wrapped in clear plastic. This included even single items, like an individual onion.

Typically this pre-wrapped produce would then be placed into a plastic bag at the check-out, and sometimes several small bags would be put in a single larger plastic bag, so you ended up with three layers of plastic around your bananas or green beans.

Something similar would happen at bakeries. Your croissant or pain au chocolat would be placed in a tiny clear plastic bag, and then this would be put in a slightly larger opaque plastic bag with a handle. Shelley and I started carrying string bags around, or bringing plastic bags with us to be re-used, in order to cut out one layer of plastic from this process.