At the end of The Shangri-La Diet, I mention Jane Jacobs’s view of complaints about overpopulation. The problem is not too many people, she said, the problem is the undone work. Much of that undone work is recycling, of course.
As The Onion recently reported (“Earthquake sets Japan back to 2147″), Japan is closer to the future. How the Japanese recycle:
We stayed with some friends in Tokyo this year. They had an extraordinarily thick book of recycling regulations. If they didn’t sort and prepare the trash perfectly, the trash man would refuse to take it. Milk cartons needed to be washed thoroughly, flattened correctly, and put out on the correct day. We were afraid to buy anything and bring it home, because it was such a burden on them to create extra trash that needed to be cleaned, prepared for disposal, and sorted.
It is a pain, but surprisingly easy to get used to. It’s like learning any other habit; eventually you stop realizing you’re even doing it.
Maybe for you, Pearl, but some of us never get used to things like showering or taking out the trash and chafe every time we have to do it.