Coca-Cola Japan shows the sad transformation recycling boxes can go through if people are too selfish to use them properly.

Japan, famously, has very few public trash cans. On the other hand, when out and about you’ll come across quite a few recycling boxes, both next to drink vending machines and in spaces like parks and train stations.

However, it’s important to remember that these recycling boxes are specifically for plastic PET or glass bottles and aluminum cans so that they can be gathered for recycling. They’re not for people to toss other various types of trash in, and even if you’ve got recyclables, if the box happens to be full, you’re supposed to find somewhere else to dispose of them. To remind us all of these points, Coca-Cola Japan has created a video titled The Tale of the Collapse of Recycling Boxes.

Backed by soulfully plaintiff music, the video’s narration begins with:

“In the town, there were sorrowful recycling boxes which had changed into something so very different from their true form.”

The video then shows us ways in which recycling boxes can figuratively collapse as misuse prevents them from contributing to a clean cityscape. The first example is what the narrator calls the “antenna type,” in which someone has jammed a fast food cup and a fancy domed dessert drink cup, straws still inserted, into the recycling box, blocking anyone else from inserting proper recyclables.

▼ “What sensations does it feel with these straws?”

Next we come to the “offering type,” in which due to either the box being full or people being too lazy properly insert the recyclables, an array of empty bottles has formed in front of the box, resembling offerings placed on a memorial altar for the deceased.

▼ “Is this intricate arrangement meant to provide some kind of solace?”

The “open-mouth type” occurs when someone tries to ditch trash in the recycle box that’s too large to fit through the holes and instead lifts off the entire lid.

▼ “It’s as though it’s crying out in anguish, or perhaps laughing in rueful exhaustion.”

And last, we come to the “hidden collapse style,” where people have attempted to hide their litter by leaving it behind the recycling box, but just because it can’t be seen doesn’t mean it’s OK.

▼ “The darkness of the town is hidden behind the recycling box.”

“Through casual littering, recycling boxes change into these forms,” the narrator laments, while adding “Please help stop these sad transformations and provide peace and tranquility for the recycling boxes.”

Some might say that the fact that problems like the ones shown in the video occur is proof that Japan should swiftly increase its number of public trash cans. However, while there are Japanese people who use the recycling boxes improperly, they’re the exception, not the norm. For most Japanese people, the kinds of behavior discussed in the video are all clear breeches of etiquette, the sort of thing that makes someone look immature at best, and a selfish jerk if they’re old enough that they should know better. Adult manners dictate that if you’re going to be generating any sort of trash in public, you should be prepared to hang onto it until you find a proper place to dispose of it, which might mean carrying it back to your home or hotel, and that includes hanging on to even empty recyclables if the recycling box you come across is full.

Source, images: YouTube/コカ・コーラ
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