environment

Starbucks Japan is calling it quits with paper straws

After years of grumbling from customers, a Japanese supplier is stepping in with a new straw material.

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Studio Ghibli store has a secret Donguri Bank account that rewards you for collecting real acorns

Totoro is hungry for acorns, and it’s all for a good cause.

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Support Hayao Miyazaki’s real-world Totoro forest with hoodies featuring exclusive anime art

Acclaimed director draws special design to help promote his passion project.

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Summer survival tip! Muji lets you fill water bottles for free, even if you didn’t buy them there

Even most Japanese shoppers aren’t aware of this cool free service.

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Hayao Miyazaki-painted Totoro post cards on sale, proceeds help preserve real-life Totoro forest

Postcards and more are part of the special Totoro Fund line.

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KFC swaps straws for new drinking lids at all stores in Japan

Sayonara, straws — a newly designed lid is set to replace you all. 

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Starbucks Japan’s newest Frappuccino is a summer cake delight

New limited-edition beverage helps to kickstart a new campaign to reduce waste in Japan. 

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Japan’s newest vending machine absorbs CO2 from the environment

Eco-friendly system turns vending machines into metallic trees. 

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A visit to Green Lawson, the futuristic Japanese convenience store where you get served by an avatar

Strangely, this convenience store turns out to be surprisingly inconvenient…

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Garbage-collecting samurai keep Japanese streets clean, but what’s their real story?

We sit down with the environmentally conscious Gomihiroi Samurai to find out what they’re really about. 

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Synthetic fossil fuels made from light, water, and CO2 in the air tested in Osaka

A fuel that consumes the CO2 it produces to make more of itself.

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Kyoto town changes names for burnable, landfill trash so people will think about what they’re doing

As always, words have a second meaning behind them in Kyoto.

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Johnnys’ Jr. group leader makes breakthrough discovery in marine biology in downtown Osaka

You don’t get much more Japanese than an idol fishing for eel on the Dotonbori.

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7-Eleven Japan begins to implement new colorless food containers to reduce CO2 emissions

The new containers have already been rolled out at store locations in Japan’s northernmost prefecture Hokkaido.

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Ramen-based fuel now powers one of Japan’s most beautiful sightseeing railways

Leftover tonkotsu broth gets a new purpose in Kyushu.

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Japanese government seeking power to turn down private home air conditioners remotely, report says

Ministry wants new authority to aid shift to renewable energy sources.

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Japanese convenience store will now ask customers who ask for a fork to use chopsticks instead

Family Mart no longer gives a fork.

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First-ever carbon-neutral sake coming in October

Sip some sustainable sake soon.

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Real-world forest that inspired Hayao Miyazaki to create Totoro will become a nature preserve

2.6-billion yen project will protect some 7,000 trees.

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Family Mart convenience stores will stop offering plastic forks, recommends chopsticks instead

Family Mart sticks a fork in forks.

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