This Sunday we hosted Sunday Pick Me Up in Kanayama!
In one hour we managed to collect over 31kg of trash! 
Do you remember this month’s Eco-Habit? Yes, that’s right! Chopsticks!
Did you know that in 2017, Japan alone consumed over 20 billion chopsticks? Globally, about 1.4 billion people throw away 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks each year. 
The wood to produce these single-use utensils comes from trees, of course, and deforestation leads to a worldwide loss of biodiversity, loss of wood as a major resource, erosion of fertile soil, alterations in climate, and an increased potential for massive landslides and severe flooding. The entire ecosystem depends on the vitality of forests everywhere. Disposable chopsticks are certainly a convenience, but this convenience comes at a cost.
So what’s the solution? By far the easiest is to switch from single-use chopsticks, to chopsticks that you can use over and over again.
We suggest you to:
Say no to single-use chopsticks – bring your own!
Thank you to everyone who attended Sunday Pick Me Up this month, and special thanks to the lovely people from the Kanayama Outdoor Market for being so supportive (and even giving us some goodies!).
We hope to see you all again next month!
– Matthew, Katrin, Rodrigo and Kaja
