Why it's so hard to DECLUTTER in Japan

This decluttering video was inspired by a tweet from Twitter user ArishaInTokyo!
It’s just interesting how even if I don’t feel joy from an item, getting rid of it is so much harder than you expect :’)
Follow my adventures on Twitch, Instagram, Twitter, and also through Tokyo Creative!
TWITCH: twitch.tv/tokidokitraveller
INSTAGRAM: / tokidokitraveller
TWITTER: / tokidokiemma
TOKYO CREATIVE: bit.ly/2CokGc4
The Strawberry Shortcake episode can be found on the Tokyo Cretaive KZbin channel!
MY GEAR:
Cameras:
-Canon EOS Kiss x9 (Canon SL2)
-Canon G7x II
Tripod: Joby GorillaPod Hybrid
Editing Software: Final Cut Pro
Mic: Video Micro
Intro animation by Plintoon
Plintoon:
Twitter: / plintoon
Tumblr: / plintoon
Intro music by The World:
/ imtheworld
For business & sponsorship enquiries only:
[e-mail]
Outro Song:
Collapse - Love
Music:
All songs are from the Epidemic Sound library
The Wait is Over - Matt Large
Asparuhgus - Guustavv
Waiting for yout Smile 2 - Bo Jarpehag
Bright Oceans - Smartface
First Aid Mode 3 - Bo Jarpehag
Sudden Fun 6 - Johan Hynynen

[@jonfisher9214]

Where I live in South London it's quite easy to get rid of stuff. You just put it outside with a FOR SALE sign. It's usually stolen within the hour.

[@TokidokiTraveller]

This video was inspired by a tweet from the user ArishaInTokyo! Sometimes I wish i could just throw things away and get it over with, but I think these methods mean I have to really think about what I buy, and what I throw away! Also! I’ve had a few comments asking why I don’t speak Japanese. I do speak Japanese! I’m taking level N3 in July, so I’m not great at the language, but I can manage. Also I’m just not confident with phone calls haha. But I will be asking my Japanese teacher if she has any kindergartens she knows of that need toys 😊

[@fweeforall]

I would love to buy plumpy! I have a plushie collection at my home and I would love to add plumpy to it :). He would be very well loved. I would pay for the shipping to Canada if that interests you :).

[@HelenBeeee]

are there any charities? the only other thing is to have a give away or turn your plushie and suitcase into an art installation and then gift the finished art installation to the ward :))))

[@mdivxon]

Dammit! *Wink

[@celinajaschke8397]

„Free roaming large item taker” sounds like a very cute vehicular predator

[@TokidokiTraveller]

It’s a really tiny truck and it’s pretty cute not gonna lie, but it’s breaking the law... so your description is spot on 😂

[@JustYourAverageGirl2002]

Lol it sounds like the scrap dudes we have in America. I don't think they are illegal out here but I am not sure. They come by every garbage day and go through neighborhoods looking for things they can scrap and sell. Their trucks are usually piled pretty high.

[@PilotZCoyfox]

I think they are traditionally called rag n bone people

[@roisinohagan1711]

I think the Japanese system would make you think, when buying things, about how you're going to have to get rid of them - that might affect your shopping! I'm from Belfast and where I live we use a charity that employs people to recycle. We have a large wheelie bin that the council collects every two weeks for things that don't go to the recycling charity. And then we have 2 (charity) boxes, one red for cardboard (that we have to cut/fold/squash to fit inside) and glass...and a black box for paper, most plastics and metal. The boxes are collected every week. Plus, the charity has given us a brown kitchen basket with lid which holds biodegradable bags for food raw/cooked which go into a green tiny bin outside and is also collected weekly. My god, this is an essay !! For big things, gardening waste and furniture we can ring up the council for a special collection which is free but we can only do that once a year. I liked your vid, and it's interesting how other cultures dispose of waste, tfs! Now I must go purge my home...

[@katiemarshall8033]

Roisin O'Hagan I live in Carrick so our council area has the little green bins which get emptied into the brown bins for food and emptying it the absolute worst household job😂

[@roisinohagan1711]

@@katiemarshall8033 especially in the summer when the flies gather !!

[@katiemarshall8033]

Roisin O'Hagan or when you’re trying to take out your teabag into the little green bin and you have the back door open because it’s really hot and you’re ambushed by wasps!

[@roisinohagan1711]

@@katiemarshall8033 I know!!! what bright spark thought up this recycling method ?

[@katiemarshall8033]

Roisin O'Hagan well in fairness it could be argued the back door and wasps incident was my own fault, and it is good to separate food from the other rubbish, and if flies do gather (which we actually don’t really get because of a really heavy lid actually), they’re gathering around the big brown bin which is in the back/side of house away from the garden and that anyway

[@aeon9311]

If I kept only things that give me joy, I’d live in an empty house with a bed and a computer.

[@DieAlteistwiederda]

Throw out my boyfriend too because I sure can tell you that I want to strangle this guy sometimes. 😂 I still love him, most of the time at least.

[@klappstuhl4370]

oh hey, that me

[@outofmymindart]

I’d have an empty house with an iPad and art supplies. 🤔

[@springranch1384]

What about a fridge?!?

[@joseomuku7799]

Same

[@projectmidlife]

Have you tried seeking one of those vacuum bags, that would be big enough to put that futon in them? You know, those that you connect to vacuum cleaner to suck all the air out, you might save some space and make it more manageable to store.

[@TheAvaLady]

These are great! I rotate my winter sweaters durring the summers with one

[@Keirabug]

THIS

[@herebedragons5097]

put Plumpy in there

[@leak3690]

I use one of these for all my fluffy winter blankets and for our extra bedding for guests. It also stops it from going musty and if you spray some glen 20 (or something like that) on the items first they come out smelling great.

[@helenf.7221]

TheAvaLady does it really wrinkle stuff?

[@ramio1983]

Ummmm wow its so much more advanced than Australia in terms of rubbish clearance. Here its Normal and Recyclables. There you got four different bins that get collected at different times for different things. Amazeballs.

[@TokidokiTraveller]

It’s such a different system right! It’s taken me years to get used to it, and I still mess up from time to time 😅

[@AdventuresInTimeandPlace]

We actually also have soft plastics and hard plastics. The soft plastics can go to Coles or Woolies who have bins for you to put them in :)

[@alexmiller9886]

Some places are lucky to also have green waste bins

[@Kidlet13]

@@alexmiller9886 My Area is in the process of going from 2 bins (recycle and general trash) to the 3 bins (adding greenwaste). I'm near Jooondalup in Western Australia.

[@alexmiller9886]

hey there WA buddy! sadly it isn't the norm though. the addidtion would be benefitial to subruban areas though! there is also a home composting service you can join, Kooda i think. @@Kidlet13

[@wrennjb]

I was going to jokingly suggest you cut up the duster/mop and trash it, but then there you were whipping out the hack saw.

[@TokidokiTraveller]

Hahahaha I’m not here to mess around 😤 you do what you gotta do...

[@wrennjb]

@@TokidokiTraveller I'm just gonna screenshot this for the case against you when Plumpy goes missing...

[@shoulders-of-giants]

Germany: 1) recyclable plastics (yellow bin) 2) organic waste (brown bin) 3) paper, cardboard (blue bin) 4) white glass 5) green glass 6) brown glass 7) reusable baverage containers (bring to the store, get money back) 8) bulky trash like furniture (gets picked up)

[@Gyukantyou]

Note: you usually don't have to pay for the furniture to get picked up. You can bring (furniture, electronics, batteries, etc.) to a recycling depot by yourself, as well.

[@mondherz12]

@@DarioB_ It's not a sack anymore. In northern germany the yellow sacks are not permitted anymore and we now have black/yellow bins :)

[@rutgermuller]

Netherlands: ....in every freaking town it's different.

[@resberri]

the image of you surreptitiously tossing soil around the park is so funny. THE SOIL BANDIT

[@AliceAndRabbit]

I would LOVE to give Plumpy a new home! I'd totally pay the shipping. Please write me if you think Plumpy would like to move to Berlin! :D

[@thatslifecaro1479]

Berliners are the best

[@Fairyfloss0721]

Can you also adopt me? I'd love to visit Berlin! Had a transit in HBF and was thinking of hopping off to see the city!

[@winterodochartaigh2536]

I'd thought to offer a home for Plumpy, but knew others would beat me to it. Maybe whoever gets Plumpy, can send Emma a short vid or a photo with Plumpy!

[@AliceAndRabbit]

@Winter O'Dochartaigh , I would have loved to do that, sadly(for me) Emma decided to give Plumpy away to another long time viewer. But nice for her, I hope Plumpy will have a good home there!

[@SaplinGuy]

We in Norway (at least in Oslo, the capital) we have recycling stations, where you can bring basically anything thats not like dirt and whatnot, and you simply throw what you dont want anymore into the respective containers (wood, combustibles, electronics etc.). Dirt and such have separate "dump" you can leave it at =) EDIT: Also, we have two garbage bins that stay outside your house, where one is for cardboard and paper, and the other for general trash. The plastic bags you throw in the general trash bin, are sorted later depending on colour. You buy bags specifically for this very cheap at supermarkets. Blue is for plastics, green is for naturals; like food thats gone bad, banana skin, egg shells etc.

[@shoulders-of-giants]

interesserangt

[@als_pals]

That sounds pretty much the same as what we have in the UK. It depends on your area but where I live we have black for non recyclables, green for food waste and blue for plastics and paper.

[@Marigolded]

@@als_pals Green for food waste. Our green bin is for cardboard and paper, we don't have a food waste bin in Rotherham as such, food waste currently goes into a general waste bin. Oh its so darn complicated.

[@grellgo]

We Norwegians actually don't have a set national standard for waste disposal and recycling. It's up to the respective muncipalities how they dispose of their waste.

[@Grante15]

In Sweden, at least in the north part of Sweden, we have a very good recycling system. How its done depends if you own your own house of if you're living in an apartment. But you separate plastics, paper/cardboard, metal and glass (bottles etc). We also separate batteries and light-bulbs and most importantly our food-waste, which is made into fuel (you make bio-gas from it and then our buses / some cars uses it). We have special bins for everything pretty much. All bins are located in your building/close to it, so you just need to move the stuff there and leave it. We also have special days when people can leave broken furniture etc. If you own your own house you have 1 bin for the food waste (brown bin) and one bin for the general burnables (green bin), which is fetched and emptied every week. But if you are a house owner, then you have a car, so there is recycling stations in every part of the town where you can go and drop your stuff off. In every major town there is also a big dump/garbage facility (but is today mostly converted to recycling facilities), where you can drop off your leaves and stuff if you have rake the backyard.

[@lilldea]

I live in Sweden as well and I've always lived close to the recycle places but now I live like a 15min walk from the closest one and we don't have a car :/ so it's actually quite the hassle since we recycle everything. Usually we just ask our friends and family to drive us with all the recyclables once a month but yeah, not ideal.

[@Grante15]

Well, either you live in a very small village, or in a house and have no car. I mean all apartment complexes has recycling stations near by and the house-owners are expected to kind of figure it out themselves, except for the burnables and the food-waste, since if they can afford a house they probably can afford/have a car.

[@lilldea]

@@Grante15 I live in town that's quite small but there's like 7 or 8 recycling stations, we just happen to be living in the middle of them so they're all far away. We live in an apartment but it's in a small apartment complex so we only have food waste and burnable waste bins.

[@rumikane1746]

I'm from Brazil, and I really think the japanese method of throwing trash away is really good! In Brazil we just have two tipes of trash: organics and reciclebles. In the organics we basically throw away everything that is not recicleble. We don't have size limitations, but of course, we can't throw away a sofa and expect it to be picked up. If in japan throwing soil were more easy, composting would be a great idea to!

[@AdManOfChaos]

10:33 the Japanese version of Toy Story 3’s furnace scene must have been WAY different.

[@livinghell45]

Liking this only for the random "tummy hurt" scene hahaha almost LOLed on the train

[@flufflepuffle]

I have been doing a mixture of the Kondo method and some minimalist values (do I actually need {insert item}?) for 3 years now, and it has really helped me become more organized, and narrow down on some hobbies and parts of my identity that actually reflect my identity, rather then what I want to be. So this is definitely a good future investment, especially once one realizes what an incredible amount of junk one room can hold.

[@poopybutt29]

I also loved learning about how people buy things for the person they want to become instead of buying things for the person they are now.

[@IshikaShanai]

In Toronto, Canada getting rid of your trash is sorted like this: - Compost (food waste, lint, etc...) - Recyclables (clean paper, metal, glass) - Garbage (contaminated containers, used single use products, etc...). Since I live in a house, large items like furniture can be left in front of the house for collection. Small electronics can be dropped of at electronic drop off areas or in a small cardboard box in front of your house. Clothes can be donated in donation boxes scattered across the area or at thrift shops. I usually dispose of my oil paint covered tissues and paint thinner at the designated disposal area's in my university or don't paint with them at all. Any small items that I haven't used at all and are in good condition like: stationary, art supplies, books, etc... I donate to the specific item drop off locations in my university. (I love it because once in a while I can find an item that is super useful for me too - like an organizer for my pens). This is just what I did, and what works for me. I'm in my 4th year of my minimalism journey and all this took baby steps and time. I've had some big regrets with the way I just chucked out some art supplies that I could've donated, but didn't know where to beforehand. Also, I have purchased a lot of redundant art supplies because of my university classes. It's all trial and error. It can't be helped sometimes and it's okay to forgive yourself because we can't always do it right on the first try. But what matter's the most is that we are trying to change for the better. And that's more than what you could ask for.

[@winterodochartaigh2536]

I'm so glad you said something about why Moss is in that type of cage/container... As I've been toying with the idea of sending you a "habit trail" for Moss. 🐹 I rarely throw any perishables out. My trash is basically non-perishables. I already breakdown any packaging that things come in, so my trash is very "small". I don't often have glass, plastic, or can(s) items to trow out, I wish they recycled here. I always clean containers out, before tossing them. They have 6 huge bins for my building, and the other residents can/do fill them up in a couple of days. I can either take down 1 tiny bag a day, or put the bags into 1 larger bag and take it down once a week. If I do the weekly (like when sick)... Lawd my 1 small bag is still less than 1 days trash for another resident. Idk how they make so much trash! 😱 My 1 weeks worth if trash, is less than half of one of your bins. Lol 😂👍 I'm moving soon (I hope), and hope they recycle. ♻

[@xXTiredGhostieXx]

Ahhh that's a heckin complex system. Here where I live in Canada it's basically Black bins for regular garbage, blue bins for rycyleable stuff, and green bins for compost but usually compostable stuff is thrown in with regular garbage.. and there's big brown paper bags for lawn clippings and stuff. Also any beer bottles and beer cans can be rinsed out and taken to beer stores to get money back or it goes in rycyleing. Furniture goes to the dump or you order a big bin to toss stuff in and then a dump truck comes and takes it away or you can sell alot of stuff online or leave it at the curb and people will stop by and take it or buy it if you put it on for sale, ect. Garage sales are big here to to help declutter

[@littlebearsasmr4630]

I live in the UK. Where I live we have textile and book/dvd/cd and glass recycle bins that are dotted around the city which are then given to charity shops or recycled. In supermarkets you have bins to put old plastic bags like bread bags and carrier bags aswell as places to put old batteries; all for recycling. We then have two 'kerbside' bins. One small black bin for unrecyclable rubbish which gets taken away once a week and a big green bin for recyclables like metal, wood, cardboard and plastic that gets taken once a fortnight. We also have a compost bin that we keep in the garden for food waste like tea bags and veggie trimmings. Anything bigger you can either take to the local tip for a fee or give to a local furniture shop. Seems soo confusing now i've written it down!! 😥

[@littlebearsasmr4630]

We also have shops where you can sell old broken electronics or jewelry for money that then get recycled aswell

[@SevCaswell]

It's pretty simple in the UK, small black wheelie bin for general trash, every 2 weeks, contents go to landfil. Then a black box and a green box, they're not picky around me, but do like if you separate plastic and cans from glass and cardboard, every week, I use extra boxes when necesary and they always take everything. Brown food waste bin, and small indoor caddy, for biodegradable waste like food scraps, this goes every week also. I sometimes put small bits of foliage from my plants in, like dead flower heads. Other garden waste has a special green bin but you have to pay for a label every tax year for it, and they don't collect it during winter. Where I used to live in Wales they had green plastic bags for recyclable waste, they had to be under 15kg in weight and you had to separate plastc, cans and glass. In one city they didn't collect plastic in the green bags they had pink bags for that. Right now hard plastic like youghurt pots aren't collected from the curb here, but you can take them to the local council waste sites, along with other household stuff like broken fence pannels or furnature. Also any broken window or ornamental glass must not be put in as recyclable but can be taken to the waste sites. You can pay for the council to take away large items if you can't move them yourself also. And most charities will take old but usable furnature, and even will come collect it for free, but they won't pay you for it. Otherwise gumtree or similar. And if you are 'lucky' leaving an item out front might get a local gypsy 'rag and bone' man either take the item in the night or ring your door and offer a small sum of money for it, but this isn't exactly legal. I 'lost' a broken lawn mower this way, and after getting a replacement washing machine a guy offered me money for it before I could contact the council for it to be taken away.

[@kimabc3]

In the UK we have a place called the 'Toy Library'. It works like your normal book library where children can loan out toys to play with, all the toys are donated from children and families who have no use for the toys anymore. I know some schools and hospitals used to also accept toy donations but I think not so much anymore due to germs and stuff. But I've always donated toys to our Toy Library so that they continue to get use.

[@Ehvelin]

I remember in a really old video (was it the tour of the tiny apartment?) you said you had accumulated some trash because you hadn't figured out the system yet! It does seem very complicated. But look how far you've come! It's those details that we have to figure out that makes it hard to move to a different country, but it's so rewarding when we do :)

[@TokidokiTraveller]

It has definitely taken me a long time to figure out the system here! And many many mistakes were made. But I think I’ve come a long way haha 😂 it’s nice thinking back and seeing how much less I struggle now!

[@anyawillowfan]

In the UK if you need to throw away broken/damaged large items you have to take them to the local waste disposal and pay to leave it, you can pay extra to get it picked up if you aren't able to take it yourself. I'm currently stuck with an old bed as can't afford to dispose of it. If it's in good condition you can give it to the charity shop (some of them will collect large items), or sell or give it away on Facebook. For every day waste we have a regular bin that is collected and goes to the dump and a recycling bin (rules on what can be recycled varies from area to area) - there's a collection each week (one week regular, one week recycled). You aren't supposed to leave things out on the kerb (I think technically this is illegal as is seen as littering), though we do have scrap collectors that will take some stuff if they think they can sell it for parts (I occasionally hear them go round with a bell) but not in every area, and they don't seem very regular where I live so I never know when to put stuff out for them. We also have a local household waste disposal where you can take anything that can be recycled, such as coffee pods, engine oil, and all sorts.

[@beiblime]

Here in Finland it’s a little different. Practically everyone has at least 2 bins; general waste and biodegradeable waste. So you put food waste and such to the bio trash and plastics and dirty papers and such to general. The garbage truck comes to get these from your yard approx once a week. Most people recycle metals, glass, papers, cardboards, electronic waste and now more commonly plastics into their own bins and take them to recycling centers( if you live in an apartment complex they will be in your courtyard, if not some grocery stores have them). Most towns have bigger recycling centers too where you can take larger items such as furniture and kitchen appliences and car batteries etc. Plastic bottles(soda bottles), soda cans and glass bottles have their own recycling. Every grocery store has a bottle returning machine and you get money for each bottle/can you return (0,10-0,40€) and you can get that money from the till. Then a recycling company gets the bottles from the stores and make new bottles or something. And there is no problem recycling such things as soil because there are forests everywhere, just dump it on your backyard!

[@weezerr2d284]

You got me motivated!! Thanks!! “Have a wonderful day “”

[@TokidokiTraveller]

You have a wonderful day too!

[@moonlitgalaxy5940]

honestly i’ve been binging all of your videos and i’ve watched so many of them hahahahahahaha ugh your videos are seriously the best! i love them

[@chinglebell6483]

I love your videos! Especially is just you talking in your apartment! It's so chill T_T

[@markbennett259]

Always look out for your videos, and with good reason. I have a personal interest in decluttering, so this was right up my streety, and entertaining too! Well done!!

[@mixedtapemess]

The process for getting rid of stuffies is like the konmari method. Thank the item for the joy it has given you and send it off.

[@Angultra]

I'd be in trouble with clutter if I lived there, those UFO catchers are so addictive 🙂 Also I imagine you bringing out small amounts of soil at a time in your pant legs, Shawshank Redemption style!

[@xxS3x4yxx]

In America we have separate bins that you buy and store inside your yard, and bring them out in front of your house on your street’s designated pick up day. Like on my street, it’s Friday. So we usually bring them out from the backyard into the front of the house on Thursday night. Now for the bins, we have Black: for anything sort of garbage, Green: Anything lawn related, Blue: anything that’s recyclable. For our neighborhood we have bear locks on our bins, for extra protection. As for the take out stations, most cities have recycle places, where you stand in line and put in your recyclables items in a machine for money based on the item’s listed price. And for items you can’t get rid of that are like large, you either call your garbage company or you call a donation company and I believe they pick it up for free?

[@apurvasingh7129]

Whenever I have a bad day I watch you videos and I don't why your videos makes me calm.

[@alicep4588]

In Wales we have: 1 large green bin for general rubbish that can't get recycled or composted. 1 green box for cardboard and glass. 1 blue box for textiles, electricals, magazines and paper. 1 red bag for plastics and cans.

[@myownlittlehouse471]

My daughter lived in Gifu for 2 years and she described the milk carton situation :) Here in the US, I wish we had more required recycling. We often hear that, if they can't find a buyer for the recycling, or if any of the recycled items are contaminated by being mixed with garbage, then it all gets dumped into the landfill anyway, which is discouraging.

[@jazzygrapefruit]

I love that they pay you a lil' bit, even if it is such a small amount. That's a cool idea and it's neat to see how different even the smallest of things are from country to country.

[@matildapettersson9981]

Prepare for long comment hehe :) I love your videos and it always makes me happy to see a new upload :D Alright, let's get to it... It is quite similar compared to where I live (northern Sweden) but with less, or basically none, involvement with the local government. Burnable trash is pretty much the same here but other than that, we have small stations scattered around where you usually throw away cardboard, plastic, colored glass, non-colored glass, papers, metal, batteries and lightbulbs. But if you wanna throw away more complicated stuff you go to this BIG station where you can throw away furniture, wood, electronics, building materials etc. And I really love these big stations since the workers there are really environmental friendly and tries to discard the trash as good as possible by taking them apart, so you don't have to feel bad about it if you did it wrong. And usually, every big station is connected with a recycle/thrift store where items that you've left at the station are given to them if the quality still is acceptabel. Yay for trash

[@vonNepsa]

Here in Sweden we sort all the things like they do in Japan, but we have specific garbage rooms for every apartment block (if you live in a house you have to sort things yourself). In these garbage rooms you can throw your stuff in specific containers and they usually come and pick it up one or two days a week. But then I have also lived in an apartment block where we just threw everything in "burnables", and then I mean everything. You could find sofas, electronics and other stuff in the container (but you should probably go to a specific recycling center for furniture and electronics - but this was in a specific part of the town where there lived a lot of students and not many of these have cars. Still not recommended x) ) You can also face a fee if you don't sort your garbage, but thats only if the landlord can pinpoint it was you who did it ;)

[@martinajohnson]

Trash disposal is actually pretty complicated in the UK as well! Depends on the area I'm told, but where I live we have one bin for recyclables (paper, cans, and certain types of plastic -- PET, HDPE and LDPE), one for non-recyclables and one for garden waste. ALSO, we have a compost heap in our garden for food waste (just plant stuff), and special collection areas for glass, batteries and electronics. There's a whole alphabetical guide on the council website. :-D I'm not sure how many people consult it or comply with the rules, though! For larger items I believe you need to have a car so you can take them to the waste disposal center, or if they're still in good condition, to a charity shop. I agree that having to sort your trash helps you think more about stuff like packaging and waste. Moving house, especially an international move, will also do that to you -- suddenly you're like, "do I really want to drag this with me all over the world?" Gives you some perspective. :-D

[@lovespike5399]

We have 3 trash bins in Texas (black Bin “so anything that can’t be recycled in anyway” Blue bins “plastic, glass, and metal”. Green bin “paper, plants, food and cardboard”.) once a year they do junk pickup (anything you don’t want, so things like furniture, wood, etc) and then they have once a year brush pickup, (so things like trees, branches etc)

[@hsmith4999]

Best thing for space is to buy vacume seal bags. It helps a lot when you have a small space. Espechially if you want to store winter cloths away for the season

[@GlorifiedArchitect]

In the US it depends on where you live. If you live in a whole ass house, you get three bins for recyclables, trash, and I think grass/soil/gardening stuff. If you live in an apartment, you only get one big communal dumpster to throw everything in, and recycle on your own time (which is neat bc you get paid!)

[@sarahgreefable]

Whenever we have larger items we leave them outside with a “free” sign and always get taken. Or you can use the tip (usually 2 per town) and they have loads of recycling options

[@Elenkoism]

We got small recycling stations spread across my town. One belongs to the apartment complex and you can throw away plastic, metal, paper packages, glass bottles and such. People leave bigger stuff outside too. Neighbors left a big mattress outside and it got removed within a week. It's not legal, but it happens. Otherwise we have big recycling stations. One is 7 min away with car. Also you can contact your renting company and they can arrange big containers like once a year to throw away stuff in

[@kukimiyo]

Japan is so complicated! In England we have three bins: recyclable (paper, plastic, glass, tins), non recyclable, and food waste. If you have large stuff you can get the council to pick it up or just drive it to the nearest waste place which sorts all the complicated items like garden waste and washing machines. We also have charity shops which take pretty much everything, but you don't get any money for your stuff.

[@DuffMichi]

In Sweden every neighborhood have a small .. eh house were we put our “daily” garbage. There are separate bins for all the different stuff (plastic, cardboard, newspapers, metal, colored glass, transparent glass, lamps, batteries etc. ) Except for the burnables and compost, they go in the same bin but in different bags (green for compost). This varies from city to city tho, how to throw away the compost. For the bigger stuff and electronics we have a recycling station. There u can dump ur stuff in big containers. Every container has information on them of what type of material ur allowed to throw in. For example textile, wood, electronics etc. And for bottles and cans we “pant” them. In stores there are machines that collect them and u get back 1-2 kr (Kronos) for every bottle of can u recycle :)

[@3DJapan]

Where I live in America we pretty much just bring everything out to the curb with some exceptions. Any kind of trash that can't be recycled is separated. Large items like table or chairs can only be put out once a month. Electronics like TVs and computers can be recycled but the county has a special event every few months where you drive your stuff there and they will take it right out of your car.

[@wangocopperboom]

I live in Lexington, Kentucky (US) and our waste sorting process is sooooo much simpler. Everyone gets 3 free waste carts from the city that are collected weekly: landfill trash, single stream recycling*, and yard waste. You can throw away anything that fits in the large waste carts and if something doesn't fit, you can call the city and arrange a pick up. If you have broken electronics, there's an electronic recycling facility they can be dropped off at for free. And of course in addition to that there are many places to easily sell or donate. You would think, with such simple waste sorting options, that people could easily throw things in the proper cart, but they don't. And that's a huge issue with recycling. Throwing things the city's recycling program doesn't accept results in contamination**, injury to employees, or damage to the equipment at the recycling facility. *Single stream recycling: paper, glass, plastic bottles, and steel/aluminum cans all go in one cart together. No sorting. Machines do the sorting later. Easier for the citizens, not so easy for the recycling facility. **Many recycling facilities have a goal to keep contamination under 20%--the initial tolerance level for shipping recyclables to China. But they've been failing majorly because people try to recycle everything instead of what is accepted in their local recycling program---and there are no repercussions for improper recycling. Now that China has raised their contamination standards, they've stopped accepting recycling from the US. There's been some chaos as recycling facilities struggle to find new buyers of recyclable materials. In smaller cities and towns, they've even had to suspend recycling programs due to being unable to find a place to send materials. In conclusion: the US is trash at recycling and we should all just try our hardest to make less trash.

[@masumigartman9684]

Your outtro (most likely spelled that wrong...) gets me every time lol I love your videos and they are always the highlight of my day!

[@ForestHag]

I never knew trash was this hard in Japan geez! In the Netherlands it's slightly easier. You have regular trash (burnables), where you can put almost everything. It is however encouraged to separate your garbage. There are locations (usually right by grocery stores) where you can separate plastic, glass (3 separate ones for green, white and brown glass), paper, clothing, deepfryer oil, small electronics (such as phones, cables etc), lightbulbs and batteries. Plastic bottles, beer bottles and some wine bottles can be returned to the grocery store (you get 0,05 to 0,25 cents back for each bottle). The rest of the trash can be put in a large bin (which gets picked up every week) or an underground container nearby (you can open it with a pass). If you have a garden you most likely have a "green bin", where you can toss in everything that is compostable (you do have to pay for this bin, which kinda sucks), they take this bin every 2 weeks in my area. Items that are still usuable can be donated to thrift stores or sold on a website called "marktplaats" (Marketplace), nextdoor or local facebook groups. If you have bigger stuff that's broken you can call your local government so they can pick it up (for a fee) or toss it in your car and bring it to the dump yourself (it depends on your area how often you can do this for free). For fridges, washing machines, dryers etc you can call specialized stores in your area and they will pick them up (and re-use some of the parts that are still in good condition).

[@Big-boned_Pikachu]

Great video! I really enjoyed how it was something I had never considered about living abroad. I also really enjoyed the editing done in this video! Here in Canada (or at least where I live) my city doesn't have a very detailed system of garbage collection. It's basically garbage or recycle but a lot of what you would assume should be recycled actually can't be recycled in our local facility which is super lame. Both garbage and recycle go to the curb once a week. Stuff like natural garbage can be included, so soil, plant waste etc can be thrown out if it's larger and wont decompose quickly in your yard. For larger items we can donate them to used item stores which then sell them for cheap. Kind of like a thrift shop I guess but extra cheap which is great for the less fortunate or people looking for a nice deal on a nice item. Or if it's garbage you can load it up and take it to the dump. Although I think you do have to pay a fee. For large electronics there is also a fee for recycling them. For smaller things they have free drop off points but those are a bit harder to come by around here. Ikea takes used batteries which is nice! Also the only vehicles with speakers around here are ice cream trucks in the summer lol!

[@mudslynger2109]

I so wish we had those kinds of entryways where I live. Thank you for sharing - that was so intersting.

[@heidilou1985]

I'm in the UK, and it varies from area to area but where I live now, we have one large bin outside for mixed recyclables, 2 bins for food waste (a small bin in the kitchen and a larger bin outside) and a bin for all other waste. My last place, only 10 miles away, we had a rubbish bin, two food bins and then three recycling boxes, one for paper, one for glass, one for tins and plastics. Anything large that's still in good condition I either take to a charity shop or try to sell privately.

[@waltzingaranel]

I’ve read Marie Kondo’s book and it helped me get rid of a lot excess. Before moving, I had a huge garage sale and donated the rest to a charity shop and books/media to my library. 3 years later and after watching the Netflix series, I need to declutter again. My fault. I couldn’t follow through on her papers and sentimental items advice and haven’t been giving away enough as I added more. How it works in America, first, illegally: dumping or abandoning items in the countryside or somewhere on your land to decay or in a business’ dumpster, littering on roadsides, or putting items like a mattress or large furniture on the edge of your driveway or property sometimes with a FREE sign on it. It will disappear in a day or so if it’s not rainy. Many people in my area have pickup trucks or access to one and will take it away quickly. A housing community might have a neighborhood-wide yard/garage sale weekend once a year; the richer the neighborhood, the more traffic and customers it will bring. Legally, you can hire a dumpster the size of your driveway, take it to a charity shop drop-off drive-up area, hire a service to take your things, a lot of communities have a day to drop off your tech items to recycle, car/metal junkyards drop off days and times. Sometimes you can get paid by the weight for aluminum cans at these places. There are clothing recycling bins in areas. For recycling, it depends on the community; previously, I drove my recycling to the recycling center and dropped it off in large separate bins for each recyclable. Now, I put everything they allow to recycle in a tall black bin on the edge of my driveway one day a week. If the weather is bad with snow or cold weather like lately or if there’s a Monday federal holiday, then pick up will be delayed a day or until next week with no notice or warning. Glass isn’t picked up here; I take it to a purple glass recycling bin near my work. Unrecyclables are picked up in garbage bags on a different day of the week. Some people compost in their backyards. Some towns allow burning of leaves on your own property. If you live in the countryside, you can burn your garbage on your property. Grocery stores and Walmart will take plastic bags sometimes. My library takes plastic bags all year for reuse by customers and collects holiday lights for recycling after Christmas for limited time. Most libraries will take any media: dvds, CDs, books, magazines. My library will take 2 boxes of items per person a week mostly books but including puzzles. Some stores will buy and sell used dvds and books. That’s everything I can think of. Add more as I can. I’ve lived in small towns and suburbs with yards my whole life, so this is my experience.

[@chantaldespres2917]

i live in MOntreal , Canada and it is pretty easy. We have special container provided by the City for recycle and compost and we provide our own garbage can. They collect them every week, we just have to put them near the street. For reusable stuff, we have store that take them and huge bins located in the city. We also have a lot of internet site dedicated for that (lespacs, kijiji, craiglist,facebook market, etc) .

[@roarmaus]

Maybe the stuffie could be donated to an animal rescue? Give the pups n kittehs something to cuddle/play with.

[@TokidokiTraveller]

I touched on this in the video but it was so long I had to cut it out 😭 I would love to donate locally, but I’m not comfortable enough to call them with my current level of Japanese! I’m going to ask my Japanese teacher if she knows of any schools or kindergartens that want them. Also I found a website that if you box your toys, they pick it up and ship it to kids in need! So i have a few options now 😊

[@Offensive_Username]

Or a children's hospital.

[@rosieeroots7562]

Offensive Username usually children’s hospitals don’t accept or just throw out donated plush toys, it’s a lot harder to decontaminate plush toys than it is to do the same for plastic.

[@Keirabug]

in America there are no guidelines posted on our dumpsters. If you live in a complex of some kind, chances are you have a dumpster (houses are a little different where your item has to at least fit in the container). And people throw whatever they want in there. I've seen christmas trees in the dumpsters. I've seen mattresses, couches, electronics, everything. And this isn't because im looking in the dumpster, it's more like it's poking out or people might put these items right next to the dumpster and the garbage people will eventually take it away because after some time i suppose they have no choice and they dont know who to hold responsible? It's pretty awful. I think america could use a little more trash regulation or at the very least some trash EDUCATION. People in america are not taught how the trash system works and so they dont have to think about it. It's like some distant trash land where we imagine all our recyclables being cleaned FOR us or burned. I'm pretty ignorant to it tbh. I dont even KNOW America's official trash rules if we even have any. I surely don't know the process we use. All I know is where it eventually ends up - in our oceans, in our water, into our food, and eventually into our bodies. All I really know how to do personally is buy less and use less and decluttering my home has helped me be more conscious of what i actually bring into my home so that i won't have to declutter again.

[@GarmanyRachel]

Keirabug Yeah, I live in an apartment like that. We just put literally anything in the dumpster. I’d actually like to do recycling and composting, should probably figure out if it’s even an option.

[@Keirabug]

Danae Goliath right? It would be more encouraging and feel good to do more proper recycling if we had clear and specific regulations like in Japan, and if it was a clear rule to wash your recycling before putting it in the bin. If I asked 10 random people in America if you are supposed to wash out your recycled bottles and plastics before recycling them, I’d bet I’d get confused and varied answers. We don’t know what we’re doing

[@kammymarie13]

It's so true we honestly have no clue! My family just recently got a recycling bin and I literally had to make a chart describing what can be recycled and how to recycle it and even then it took my parents forever to figure it out. It's been almost a year and I still find myself digging things out of bins to put them where they're supposed to go or to give them a wash.

[@TEO.187]

We have a million categories too! Glass, plastic, matte paper, shiny paper, corrugated cardboard, flat cardboard, tin, magnetic metals, general trash, and once a year the borough has Big Thing Trash Day at the park where you can drop off furniture and electronics for them to dispose of If you don't separate it properly they'll just refuse to pick it up 😲

[@seasonlivingstone6541]

Every day you are getting more and more appealing. Greetings from Romania!

[@hollymerkur-dance1919]

In Toronto, we have 3 different types of trash - regular garbage, recycling and organic. All of my experience is with apartment living with buildings that hire private companies for trash collection, so I don’t know how the process is for houses and their trash schedule. In our building specifically, all small bags (think small kitchen bags or plastic bags from the grocery store repurposed for trash) of garbage are thrown down the chute to the incinerator. Larger bags won’t fit, and have to be carried down to the dumpster, as does all recycling. If you have anything large, like furniture, you can bring it down at any time and leave it near the dumpster, and it gets picked up on a less frequent schedule than everything else.

[@hollymerkur-dance1919]

Also, in apartments, they haven’t really gotta way to toss organic, so that sucks.

[@line1746]

Wow, garbage disposal in Japan sounds like such a hassle! I live in Denmark and we’re really into recycling. Most glass and plastic bottles and soda cans are part of a mandatory deposit system where you pay a little extra when you buy an item but get your money refunded when you return it for recycling. This is done at a grocery store or at a collection station where you can return entire pre-labelled bags at once and have the money refunded into your credit card. We sort our household trash into burnables, metals + plastics, paper + cardboard, glass + bottles (not in the deposit system), small electronics, batteries, light bulbs. For larger items we can call our local municipality and have them pick it up for free (up to four times a year). We also have recycling stations for larger items and they often have a recycling store attached which donates proceeds to charities. I think we’re really lucky to have it so easy! Definitely makes you want to make an effort when disposing of trash 🙂

[@chris999999999999]

Where I am (South Carolina, USA) the pickup days are for yard waste, recyclables, and garbage. For the last two, they'll take anything that fits in the 50 gallon bin (190L for you metric types). People normally put furniture out on the street early for anyone to take if they want. Sometimes it will be festooned with a "Take Me" sign, but I've gotten rid of things easier with a "For Sale $20" sign--not to make a sale, but so someone would just take it.

[@KryptonKr]

I found you from the tiny house channel and I’m really super impressed with your editing. Love your videos

[@springranch1384]

Happy to see the enthusiastic response you got from your viewers, re: disposal of unwanteds.

[@Victoria_Lee]

Oh boy that sounds complicated and time-consuming. That "stuffed-toy-funeral" sounds so heartwarming! Here is Korea we have one "trash-day" a week where you can get rid of your trash. That day they turn the parking lot in front of the apartment compound into a trash segregator and you have to put everything into a designated bag/pile/corner: there is one for plastic bags, solid plastic, cans, glass, styrofoam, paper, recycled paper, cardboard and many more ^^; I'm still getting confused hahaha :D Thanks for sharing!

[@rolephantgaming]

In the uk or at least in my local area, we do the same as the Japanese. We call up the local council and pay to have large items taken away, you have to detail exactly what needs taking. It costs about £25 and they take up to 8 items for that.

[@thehobbygirl5770]

I watched every one of your videos last night from day one feel like a total stalker 😂😂😂😂 your beautiful inside and out keep up all the great amazing work and videos.

[@kammymarie13]

Man I wish our waste system in the US was this nice. Especially where I am (Colorado) it's really hard to get people to recycle. It's pretty simple (we don't need to separate items by material or bring it to a facility) but people don't like having to think about which bin their trash goes in let alone taking off wrappers and washing things before putting them in the bin. The companies that come once a week also collect the recycling but it costs a bit extra to get the recycling bin which also turns people off. This definitely varies by region, though, because the town of Loveland supposedly has one of the best recycling programs in the country and when I go to California it's really taboo if you don't recycle. Unfortunately unless a law is put in place that requires people to handle their trash responsibly I don't think many people here will bother with it and just toss everything in one bin and leave it on the curb to forget it ever existed. And unfortunately a lot of Americans have a "keep the government out of my business" attitude so any new law that's put in place is suddenly an infringement on their freedom. Colorado just announced a new law in which you need to ask for a straw at restaurants instead of having one automatically given to you and you would not believe how angry this has made some people....

[@shizu8088]

Wow this is so much better than in Hawaii! Here we only have regular trash pick up 1-2 times a week. If you have bottles or cans to recycle you have to take them yourself to a recycling center. But for people who don’t have time or transportation I think they usually just end up throwing it out in the regular trash :( For bulky items like furniture you leave them on the designated curb on the one day a month when the pick up is. And for people in suburban/country areas there’s also a separate trash for “green” trash like branches, leaves, etc. And of course you can sell things to charity shops, but if you have big furniture or something sometimes they will bring a truck to pick it up depending on the charity!

[@TrulyMiaa]

Here in my city we have a compost bin, recycle, and garbage. We also have a limit on how many bags we can throw out, and we can’t put our trash out until after 6am on trash pickup day. There’s no limits on recycle or compost. If we have to toss out something large, we’ll put it on the side of the road and the city *may* pick it up. If they won’t dispose of it, they put a sticker on it.

[@mlem6951]

I live in Germany and here it is mega easy. We have felt 100 methods to get rid of things and most of it for free. For example you can call , for large pieces simply at a service here and they pick it up for free. But that's exactly how they come one way or another once a month. In addition, there are second-hand shops that accept almost everything, or you can donate the things to organizations. With furniture or bulky things, they sometimes pick it up themselves. So it is, very simple here xD.

[@als_pals]

Here in the UK basically if it can't fit in your wheely bin, it's your problem. Normally we give things away and people will come pick them up but sometimes we have to drive it all to the dump.

[@withjulz]

Love watching your Japanese adventure!

[@audrey9561]

I live in a small New England town and here most people get rid of larger items like kids outdoor play equipment, couches, tables ect by leaving it near the street hoping someone will like it and want to take it home. FOr my town, we pay about $10 for a pack of special trash bags that we put our normal trash in and we sort our recycling into glass, large cardboard, and miscellaneous. The recycling is free so it is encouraged in town. My family has chickens so we give them our food scraps and any old clothes or household items in good condition go to secnhand stores like salvation army or goodwill who take them for free. If you have something big and beyond repair like old tvs or crappy furniture you can pay a small fee and you can leave it at the dump.

[@papaenmamalief]

Your hair looks so pretty, love your videos!

[@socialinteraction_8252]

Hmm, interesting. In america we only have two bins for our trash. Recyclable and Regular trash, if you live in a house usually there are big trash bins to put stuf in for you to take it to the curb. For me ones green ( normal trash) and one is blue ( recyclables ). They usually come about once a week to take the both normal and recyclable trash, on separate days. If you live in and apartment there is usually a big dumpster in the alley way or on the side of the building.

[@jessicasummers8531]

I live in the USA and we have a small dumpster in our drive way that we throw EVERYTHING into....we used to recycle when I was younger. We'd burn our own burnables (cardboards mostly.) Idk why we ever stopped. But now it all just goes into a dumpster in our driveway that gets collected once a month I think.

[@cerar.4428]

Trash procedures change in the U.S. depending on where you live, particularly if you're in an apartment or a house. Growing up in a house, we had a separate recycle bin for glass, paper and certain plastics. Living in an apartment doesn't often give you the option of sorting your trash, it's all in the same container. I want to recycle more, but it's a hassle and the closest recycle station is far away and inconvenient. I passed by a trash burning facility twice through the middle of Texas desert, it smells FOUL. But it's a source of energy, can't knock that.

[@stephendallasdraws2929]

You should get a vaccum bag for your spare futon! We use them for winter clothes in the off season. Game changer!!!

[@porcelina956]

We have "Thrift Stores" where I live or other parts of the world call them charity shops you can bring in items in good condition toys, clothes, furniture, etc. etc. and they sell them to raise money for their cause. You don't get any money maybe a tax write off if you can use it but you can feel good about not putting stuff in the trash and helping a cause.

[@imolaunger]

"There! I will show you how to throw away well, organise your feelings, and do not regret." Love it 😂 But not as much as "Rest slowly"

[@Holyfiremolotov]

In my town in the UK, we do the same with our council, you can contact them to pick up items you dunno what to do with. If it's stuff that cannot be used, they charge £30, if it's stuff they can refurbish and sell in the charity shops they pick up for free. :)

[@cutiepiechan]

You should maybe check with a local small childs' centre (like a daycare). they might like it! Or a hospital/doctors office? Something for kids to hold when they're scared? The school is the best bet though :)

[@justpassingby2932]

I'm sure one of your subscribers would love to adopt Plumpy 💖

[@marcelo01286]

For anyone having trouble were to put those Futton, there is a plastic bag in 100 Yen Shop that you can use a Vacuum Cleaner to make it really small. Like 75% smaller. Just remember to dry it some other time if you live in a really cold place and you're good :>

[@miniciominiciominicio]

really cool vid! different to what you normally put out. i enjoyed learning about the ways you throw out/recycle stuff. how many trips did you make to the store? you had so much stuff, i can’t imagine you were able to carry it all at once!

[@LouiseFranksArt]

We pay for oversize waste and garden waste to be taken. Then recycling and non recycling are taken every 2 weeks, on alternate weeks. It's pretty simple here but some parts of the UK have really complicated segregation and collections.

[@KIRforketta]

In Italy we separate plastic, metal, paper, glass and food. For big things like chairs or matresses we have to call the company that takes care of the trash and they will take them away for you for free

[@mattdinho]

Hi Emma i live in the UK in a apartment, all the rubbish in my building is disposed of in the outside bin (trash can lol) however if there is something we think may be of use to somebody else e/g clothing, shoes, etc we have a Donation container for used goods, they all go to a Charity called the British Heart Foundation, first time ive seen anything like that in the UK and i've lived here my whole life but i think its a really good idea.

[@actuallyclaudia]

Yeah I mean in Australia our recyclables have just been going to a tip for the last year since China stopped taking our garbage! It’s amazing that Japan has such a robust recycling system and I wish Australia could be more innovative and thoughtful. In my own apartment block I still see people putting food scraps into the recycling bins!!

[@sherrlon]

The easiest way to get rid of bulky furniture where I live is to put in on the curb with a sign that says "FREE: TAKE ME!" Sometimes the stuff is gone before I even can walk back into the house. :)

[@sweetarchangel6748]

Yeah, Australia is much, much easier. Bottles, cans, glass, cartons - depending on size can either go in the yellow bin (recycling) or to a return and earn system - depending if they have a 10c logo on them or not. Paper and cardboard also go in the yellow bins. Regular waste and soft plastics go in the regular - red bins - and food waste, grass clippings, tree clippings, etc go in the green bin - which is composted. Clothes, toys, etc can either be taken to op shops or sold on facebook sites.

[@Emma-jg4bt]

In Austria we got paper, plastic, metal and rotable waste and the big things get collected once a month

[@kristina_lynn]

Sort of unrelated but it was so frustrating in Japan having so much plastic waste! Everything felt so unnecessarily wrapped in so much packaging.

[@hiiclaudia]

If you read Marie Kondo’s book or watch the Netflix show, she explains that before throwing or giving away items, you should thank the items for being useful to you! Similar to the funeral and giving thanks to the stuffed animal :P

[@yaminogame7805]

I missed these simple videos :)

[@TeeBoyd88]

Thinking of you slyly disposing of soil in a public park made me think of the prisoners in 'Shawshank Redemption'. 😅

[@mangatakeshi]

kinda similar to Switzerland, but recycling is based on free will. You are encourage to recycle but can choose not to. My personal way of doing this is having seperated bags for: Papers, aluminium, glass, compost and PET/Plastic. It also depends where you live in the country or even the neighborhood but I have a "recycling area" down my street where I can go when I want (well...btw 8am and 10pm). For big objects, we have to take an appointment on the website of the city government and they take it for free :) or you can also donate it to a charity (it's a common solution). I was in Japan last year and was so confused by the label "non-burnable objects" ahah thanks for the video ! Now I know i've done it all wrong ! lol

[@RyoSakazaki83]

a good tip I heard was to take some stuff to a hard-off they won't give you much money but at least you don't have to pay to get rid of your stuff ;)