Buying Tickets to Dispose of Large Items
Large garbage items, known as "soudai gomi" (壮大ごみ), have to be disposed of separately from regular garbage items.
Anything that cannot fit in a regular 40L garbage bag is considered "large". If you have a large item that can be broken down into small enough parts to fit into a 40L bag, you can put the parts in the bag and dispose of them on the appropriate day. If you can't break the item down, you have to make arrangements for its disposal.
The instructions are included in the "Oversized garbage" section of the Garbage Sorting Guide on the English version of the city hall website. There is a link to the places where you can by your "large garbage tickets", but the list is in Japanese. If you can't read Japanese and you want some ideas of places to try, here is a list of some possibilities.
- Coco
- Family Mart
- Homac
- Japan Agriculture (JA) Branches
- Kasumi
- Lawson's
- Ministop
- Sankus
- Seven Eleven
Not every branch of these stores may carry the tickets, so if you want a surefire way to get the tickets, go to Kasumi (in Takezono, LaLa Garden or Sakura Technopark, for example) or the 7-11 by Doho Park. What you need is called "sodai gomi shori ken" (粗大ごみ処理券).
Before you dispose of large items, be sure to try to find new homes for them, either by trying to sell them or give them away through the TAIRA, Tell and Sell Japan, or Freecycle Japan mailing lists, or by giving them to a recycle shop.
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Ecoshop System
They sure do use a lot of plastic bags here in Japan, eh?
When I first came here, I didn't know how to say "I don't need a bag", so I ended up with a bag collection that threatened to take over my whole apartment. In case some of you are in the same position, here are some expressions that might help.
袋は要らないです。
fukuro wa iranai desu
I don't need a bag.そのままでいいです。
sono mama de ii desu
It's fine like that (implying that I don't need a bag).
I usually use the "it's fine" one, but some shop clerks don't get the hint (the bakery staff are THE WORST) and still try to stick me with the plastic, so I am then forced to use the more direct "I don't need a bag" one. When I first started using these expressions (a few years ago), the clerk would almost invariably start to fight with me about it. Recently, awareness of the garbage problem has become more prevalent, so I can usually get away without having to pick up my things and run out of the store while being chased by well-meaning (although not environmentally-friendly) clerks. I have, however, had some problems with people not accepting the very nice bag that I bring with me when I shop and insisting on putting a little piece of tape on everything that I buy. I don't mind that sort of thing if I am only buying one or two things, but I nearly had a fit the other day when I did a "big shop" at Gran Stage (buying about 25 items) and one of the clerks actually stood there and put little pieces of tape on EVERY SINGLE ITEM before I picked the item up and put it inside my bag and zipped up the bag. Unnecessary.
Anyway, the reason for today's post is not to talk about tape and being chased out of stores. No, today I want to tell you about the Ecoshop System and how we should all make a concerted effort to back this system.
Tsukuba City has started accrediting certain shops in the city as Ecoshops. Ecoshops are stores that are making efforts to decrease their environmental loads by engaging in activities such as...
1. Making an effort to sell products that are environmentally friendly (e.g. product that carry the "ecomark", products made from recycled materials, products sold in returnable containers).
2. Dedicating a spot in the store to ecological products.
3. Simplifying or eradicating their wrapping practices.
4. Promoting the use of shopping baskets and the customers' use of their own bags.
5. Repairing their own products.
6. Using recycled paper for their publicity.
7. Recycling empty cans.
8. Recycling empty bottles.
9. Recycling empty milk cartons.
10. Recycling produce trays.
11. Recycling plastic (PET) bottles.
12. Making other efforts to reduce the amount of garbage they produce.
As of January 2007, the following stores have been accredited as Ecoshops.
Ishimaru (Tsukuba)
Kasumi (Asse, Technopark Sakura, Gakuen, Tsukuba, Oho, Umezono, Grand Plechef, Midorino Eki Mae)
Gakuseifuku no Uchiya (Inarimae, Takezono)
Masuda (Kukizaki)
山三硝子 (I'm not sure how to read this... can anyone help?)
Uematsu Information Service
Numaya
For this scheme to succeed, the public has to start modifying its behaviour by choosing to do business with stores like this, so I hope the foreign community can put its buying power behind this idea.
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Farmer’s Market in Namiki
Vivian's post "local produce" reminded me to write about another farmer's market in Tsukuba. This one is held on Saturday mornings in Namiki Kinrin Park (並木近隣公園/Namiki Kinrin Koen), which is across the street from Namiki Kouminkan (community hall) by the Namiki Shopping Center. It's officially from 10am to Noon, but the farmers get there before 9am.
This farmer's market has a long history, and the farmers told me that they've started selling their veggies at this park when Tsukuba was still a quiet country town!
Like the farmer's market Vivian mentioned, you can buy various vegetables for very low prices, so it gets extremely crowded especially when vegetable price hikes occur in "regular market." A couple of years ago, price of lettuce went up to 300-500yen each, but you could still get it for 100yen at this farmer's market. Naturally, a lot of people found out about it through word of mouth, and simple task like buying veggies became such a hassle!
What I like about this farmer's market is that the vegetables sold there are organic. The farmers explained to me that they occasionally have to use minimum amount of agrochemicals, however. You'll notice wormholes and some other damages to the vegetables you buy from these farmers, but you'll know why their veggies don't look as good as the ones you see in the grocery stores.
The sign in the picture is asking the customers to bring the 生ごみ(nama-gomi or raw garbage), so the farmers can use them as fertilizers. I always keep banana peels and other "veggie-gomi" in a different bag when I know I'll be visiting this farmer's market. I'm a "eco-minded" person, and since I grew up watching farmers in my neighborhood use raw garbage as fertilizers, it just makes me happy to bring veggie garbage to this place.
The farmers will be there every week, even during major holidays like Golden Week holidays and Obon holidays, and even during severe weather (I'm not kidding about this!).
A fish shop's truck also comes every Saturday mornings, and you can have the fish cut in the way you like. I hear that you can buy the kind of fish you don't see often in the grocery stores.
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Recycle Cooking Oil at Ritz’n
Ritz'n, a vegetarian restaurant and natural goods shop on Nishi Odori near Doho Park, has started a program of collecting used cooking oil for recycling.
================================
We have just started collecting used oil for recycling. Please bring used oil from your kitchen. We present free bancha-tea tickets to people who bring used kitchen oil. We cooperate with Cloud Ecology Service Co.
Ltd., a waste cooking oil collection company in Mito, which processes the oil for biodiesel production.
Reduce your waste and reuse your oil to save our energy! Your cooperation is highly appreciated.
Ritz’n
Natural Goods Shop and Vegetarian Restaurant
747-84 Kamihara, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Tel: 029-856-0009
Fax:029-856-0009
Website: http://www.ritzn.jp/
Closed on Monday (When Monday is a national holiday, the shop is closed on Tuesday.)
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Recycling Telephone Books
If you have an NTT telephone line, updated phone books and yellow pages will be delivered to your door. If you are able to answer the door when the books are delivered, you can hand the delivery person your old books for recycling. If you are not at home when they are delivered, you will receive a notice like the one below.
The date written in red tells you when the books will be collected. (In this case, it will be on November 23 from 2pm.) The red circle in the middle of the paper indicates that you are to put the telephone books outside your front door. (If the second option is circled, it means that you should put the books outside the door of your dormitory. If the third option is circled, you should put the books at the first floor postal area of your building. It is also possible that there will be a different designated place written in the final brackets.)
The books will be collected even if it is raining, so please put them outside on the designated date no matter what the weather.
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