Trashwiki.org

Hi,

久しぶりです :-) I'm not in Japan anymore but want to encourage all freegans and dumpster divers in Japan or other countries to share your experience in freegan wikipedia - www.trashwiki.org . There is some information about Japan, but it can be expanded much more.

This week's findings

Just an example what I found this week which was quite typical. Everything from two 100 yen stores:
- pineapple
- 2 cantaloupe melons
- 12 grapefruits
- 10 lemons
- 10 apples
- 6 tomatoes
- 3 oranges
- 2 packs of potatoes
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 6 nagaimo (japanese root similar to potato)
- 2 daikons (japanese radish)
- 5 packs of pak choi
- 3 big iceberg lettuce
- 2 packs of tofu
- 3 packs of cookies
- 6 packs of fresh pasta (I usually freeze it at the same day and use it latter)
- 10 packs of onigiri with azuki beans
and some other small things that I don't remember :-)

Time

Just a short post...

Garbage in Japan is mostly collected in the morning. So you can go dumpster diving anytime from late evening to early morning. Of course, night time or early morning is better if you don't want to be seen. I don't know much about Japanese attitudes toward freegans, but I guess they are similar to those existing in other countries and it's better to not be very visible: be quiet, leave the place tidy, watch if there aren't any store staff around, etc. 

If you have any questions - post a comment :-)

100yen stores

As I mentioned last time, at least from my experience 100yen stores are the primary target for freegans :-) One can find two types of them in Tokyo: selling mixed kind of things and selling mainly food. I will pay my attention to the later. I'm sure you can find 4 or 5 100yen stores around the place you live, because there are thousands of them in Tokyo. First, the same as with supermarkets, check where they place their garbage. Some of them lock it inside, some have trash bins at the front of the store and some place them somewhere near (in small streets around the corner, etc.). Of course, you can't make anything if they lock their garbage in the store. If the trash bins are placed at the front checking what's inside becomes quite complicated and not so convenient. Especially when the streets are busy, 100yen stores work non-stop 24/7 and you don't want to look as crazy gaijin ;-) But from all the 100yen stores that are around my house two of them put their garbage in small streets around the corner so dumpster diving is really easy.

What you can get from 100yen store?
It depends, but usually they throw away quite many produce. I can get all my fruits and vegetables I need only by “visiting” two 100yen stores: apples, oranges, tangerines, pineapples, lemons, kabocha, daikon, salads, cabbages, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes... You can find almost everything. Out-of-date goods are more rare and most of them are not vegan, but sometimes I find spices, flour, pasta, soy milk, tofu, etc.

Next time – what time is the best to go dumpster dive ;-)

Basic info and freegan places

Let's start from some basic things. Every country has its own system to dispose garbage and Japan is not an exclussion. People living in Japan have to sort their garbage mainly to burnable/non-burnable things, glass and metal (cans, jars' lids, etc.). In addition to that everything has to be put to transparent plastic bags for garbageman to see if there is no "cheating". It's an addvantage to freegans too, because you can quickly check what supermarkets throw away even without opening the bag :-) If you see many cans or bottles or just folded paper - don't bother with that bag and look for one that has apples or bannanas ;-) 

Next - what places are the best to dumpser dive? 
It took me a while to realise that. In Tokyo one can choose from 1) supermarkets; 2) convenience stores; 3) fruits&vegetables stores; 4) markets; and 5) 100 yen stores. 

1) When I came here, I first checked big suppermarkets, but found out that most of them keep their garbage inside the building and never bring them out. That's a pity because I know that some supermarkets throw away tons of good food. What I recommend is to check the supermarkets near you and see if they keep their garbage outside. If they don't - forget that place. If they do - check, what kind of garbage is that. Some stores keep only bottles and cans outside and never bring fruits, vegetables or out-of-date goods out. If you're lucky you may find some good dumpster diving spots just a few minutes from your home. But still supermarkets aren't your best friends. Despite the fact that there are about 8 big supermarkets around my place, only one of them keeps trashbins outside and never throws away fruits or vegetables (I can find out-of-date things though).

2) Second obvious place - convenience stores. There are many of them in Tokyo, but... they're not good to dumpster dive at all. They usually don't sell produce, don't throw away so much out-of-date food or even keep their trash inside. So don't bother with all those "7-11", "Lawson", etc.

3) You can also try checking fruits and vegetables stores in your neighbourhood. Some of them leave no trash, but some do. You never know what you're going to get :-)

4) Markets... There aren't many of them in Tokyo. I visited the biggest market here - Tsukiji - a few times and found out that it's a quite good place for freegans. If you live near it - use it :-) There is huge produce section and I always return from it with my backpack full of different kind of fruits and vegetables. The best time to go is from 9am to 1pm, but afternoon is OK too. 
Because it's a wholesale market, people throw away many things without much thinking. Look for piles of boxes or trashbags and check them. Some boxes look empty but may have many good things inside (for example, once I found whole box of tomatoes and another time full bag of ginger). 

5) 100yen stores... It's hard to believe, but they are the main targets for freegans. I'll write about them next time ;-)

Hi

Hi,

just a few words about me and this blog :-)
I live now in Tokyo and I'm a vegan and freegan. I've been here for almost one year and going back to Europe soon, so I hope this blog will be helpful for other fellow freegans who will come and live in Japan's capital city. I made this blog to share my experience about freeganism (and veganism too), because I didn't find any information in the Internet about that when I came to Tokyo and it took me a while to adjust to Japan's way of dumpster diving. 

Why I'm a freegan?
Because it's a way to use less resources, be more ecological, to consume less and use saved money for better things than buying things you can get for free :-) I don't think that freeganism can save the planet or solve the problems our society has, but I see it as a good way to reduce one's impact to environment and not create demand for food or other things (what you do if you buy them) while living in big city.

Why I'm a vegan?
Mainly because of ethical reasons and animal rights. I don't think we should torture and kill sentient beings, just because we like their taste, want to have fun or make our lives more convenient. We can be healthy and happy on vegan diet, so why not to do that?
Looking from freeganism perspective, despite the fact that animal products are not ethical, they are also dangerous for your health. Meat, eggs and dairy products turn bad very fast so I strongly recommend not to take them home.

Just in case you don't know what freeganism or veganism means, try to check these wikipedia entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism