This Will Be The First Trash-Free Community In The World. Let's Take A Peek

No matter where you go in the world, as long as there are people, there will be trash. It's a sad reality that every quaint town and bustling city is dotted with sidewalk bins of crumpled wrappers, Dumpsters filled with food scraps, and forgotten bottles. Trash, it seems, is the great unifier, whether we like it or not. But what if it didn't have to be that way?

Kamikatsu's approach to trash is unique and exciting and spectacular—but it doesn't have to be. Let's dive into the town's sustainable initiatives to see how we can emulate each one in other pockets of the world.

It's this initial frustration that keeps most of us from recycling diligently. A study on recycling habits found that 25 percent of Americans don't recycle because it isn't convenient where they live, with another 10 percent saying they find the practice too time-consuming. Almost nobody had ideological concerns preventing them from recycling more often.

Putting a little extra thought into what you're throwing away could shake you out of the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality and remind you to stay a bit more responsible for what you're buying and tossing.

Gomi stations, or trash stations, are where Kamikatsu residents drop off sorted waste to be further processed. There, a worker oversees the sorting process and volunteers sort waste for the elderly and anyone else who isn't able to do so themselves. Signs over each bin tell people where everything goes, how each material will be repurposed, and how much money the town is saving in the process. Akira Sakano, the deputy chief officer at Zero Waste Academy, which monitors the stations, estimates that Kamikatsu has cut down waste management costs by up to 60 percent with this system.

Implementing something similar where you live would likely take government action. "The bins and instructional signs might need to be provided from the top down, and it is likely that residents would want some sort of stipend or compensation for transporting their trash," says Szaky. While this may seem like a tall ask, advocating for a more responsible waste disposal system doesn't have to be difficult. First, familiarize yourself with your community's current recycling system (it will be single stream or multistream) on Earth 911. Then, reach out to your representative asking that they collect more types of recyclable material or put out more centralized bins that people can use for drop-offs.

Drop Kamikatsu as an example of how effective, and ultimately cost-efficient, a developed recycling system can be. More local examples of successful recycling initiatives include San Francisco, which has made recycling and composting mandatory for residents and businesses, and banned Styrofoam and disposable plastic bags.

Gomi Stations aren't the final destination for everything in Kamikatsu. Townspeople will often take higher-value waste (think torn clothing or broken toys) to Kurukuru shops, or circle shops, to be revived into new items by local crafters. From there, they are returned to the original owner or sold in an adjoining shop. These marketplaces are wildly popular, and of the 10 tons of goods taken to Kurukuru shops in 2014, 9.7 tons found new owners.

This communal reuse system is actually relatively easy to implement, and other cities around the world are already catching on. Repair Cafés, an initiative that Martine Postma kicked off in Amsterdam in 2009, encourage visitors to breathe new life into broken items alongside repair specialists. Even if you have nothing to repair, you stop in for a cup of tea or coffee and pick up some tips and techniques. Today, there are 1,252 of them across the world. Most popular in the Netherlands and Germany, these cafés preach the importance of craftsmanship and remind people to value everything they own—from small kitchen electronics to full-size musical organs.

If you're lucky enough to live near a Repair Café, go check it out or create a mini version by setting aside a few hours with friends to see what you can upcycle or repair together.

Green innovation defines the local businesses in Kamikatsu, too, with eateries like Cafe Polestar and Rise & Win exemplifying a "waste not, want not" mentality.

Cafe Polestar doesn't leave paper napkins on its tables and doesn't print receipts unless a customer specifically asks for one. Employees use their own reusable shopping bags to buy local, seasonal ingredients to be fashioned into staples like curries and soups. Rise & Win, on the other hand, is a brewery made from recycled mill wood, dotted with light fixtures made of old bottles hanging over used tables and chairs. The space also has a general store that sells unpackaged dried fruits, nuts, and pastas by weight and invites shoppers to bring their own storage containers. Even the simple uniforms that employees wear are fashioned of recycled materials.

There's so much to learn from Kamikatsu and the communities around the world adopting similar waste-reduction strategies. More than anything, they show that there's nothing stronger than a group of people united by a common goal. There are so many small actions we can take to make a difference—actions that are heightened to new extremes when others join in on the fun.