Ang Supot

I have been bringing my own "supot" for several years now and endlessly telling store clerks not to overwrap things, be it in a supermarket or a department store. Dito kasi when you do grocery, the fresh stuff like a bunch of asparagus will be in a plastic bag, and the same goes for one tomato, tapos your wine bottle will also be wrapped in paper or styrofoam sheet, your sanitary pads in a paper bag... etc, etc. I disrupt the cashier's almost mechanical way of packing things at the check out counter since I tell him/her, "no plastic or paper bags please, I've got my own bag, thanks". At least this one phrase in Nihonggo that I have mastered perfectly.

Japan may be a G7 country but it sure is no match to Bangladesh when it comes to basic eco-friendly policies. The bag on the left is a typical grocery bag, not many people really use this since there is the convenience of bagging everything in plastic bags. The cloth "sack" on the right is a typical grocery bag used in Bangladesh, and I heard that one does not have a choice, since plastic bags are banned here. WOW.

Well, to be fair there is now a law that allows stores in Japan to charge for plastic bags, BUT only a few stores do this. Besides, TONS of plastic packaging is still being used! Some stores encourage the "my bag" policy, you earn points and then redeem it for a paltry 50yen! ANG CHEAP naman!

The store clerk usally asks me for the "my bag" point card but I always tell them that I don't have it and I don't need it. One store-clerk honestly remarked, "yeah, I guess so, since you only get to redeem a really insignificant amount of money!"

Now that the Philippines and Japan have both sealed the deal on some kind of trade agreement that allows this G7 country to DUMP its industrial toxic refuse (I am sure that tons of plastic grocery bags are included) on our country, I guess it would be a good advocacy for all Pinoy expats here in Japan to start curbing their use of plastic bags.