Plastic Harmony

[Big Booger]

Here is a thought,
In Japan, they are so keen on separating garbage and recycling such things as glass, aluminium..

yet everywhere I turn, it seems like Japan is wrapping shite in plastic.. At the convenience store, the consumables are double and triple wrapped in layers of plastic. Anything and everything they can think of has to be wrapped in plastic.

I bought some chocolates the other day, and this is what sparked my plastic wonderings..

First the chocolates are individually wrapped in plastic, second, the box had two layers, each wrapped in plastic, then the outside of the box was wrapped in plastic with some aluminium foil decorations, and then that box was put in a plastic bag and tied with a plastic ribbon...

I couldn't believe it.

There are other things that make me wonder if they love plastic... and I have also noticed, Japanese plastic seems 2 or 3 times stronger than the American counterpart..

I tried opening a bag of Doritos the other day, and it was like ripping into a block of lead.. I had to go get the trusty hasami to take a wack at the plastic.. why is the plastic so tough? In the US, I could rip the back without any effort, yet in Japan, you have to literally be able to benchpress a bulldozer just to get in and grub down.
:P

[wreddock]

In the US, I could rip the back without any effort

Actually the tensile strength of the plastic is the same. It's you who has got weaker.

[Big Booger]

I am telling you, the plastic here is like superbondo or something hehehehe

Titanium plastic, that is what I am thinking.. they have melded together the strength of titanium into the molecular level of plastic to create titanaplast.. hehehe

[ramchop]

Titanium plastic, that is what I am thinking.. they have melded together the strength of titanium into the molecular level of plastic to create titanaplast.. hehehe

Just how did you attempt to open this packet of Dorittos? You may not have noticed but all the packaging in Japan has little pointers on where to tear. :P

Chip packets at home are routinely pulled apart at the join... here they tear across the plastic foil. Maybe it's not the plastic that's strong but the glue they use to hold it together.

[Big Booger]

that's the thing, the plastic Doritos bag didn't have the customary notch to rip through, and I tried ripping down, across sideways.. it was just too tough. Maybe the glue they use is the key.. I don't know. But it was a killer. And that is not my first time at battle with a Japanese plastic bag mind you. I've experienced this more than once.

One other time I tried to open a teishoku meal from 7/11, and I don't know if it was me being weak, or the superheat from the microwave radiation, but I had to get a knife to rip the plastic.. it was like rubber.

And there are other items too. But yeah usually, there is a notch that says open here or something.. but in the case of the dreaded Dorito bag, they must have forgotten.

[ramchop]

that's the thing, the plastic Doritos bag didn't have the customary notch to rip through, and I tried ripping down, across sideways.. it was just too tough.

Well you've failed the Doritos IQ test. I passed (barely). Have a look at the back of the packet. A little down from the top you'll find it. It's on the back join, not on the top.

And joy of joys, I recently found out that my local supa does stock sour cream after all.

[Taro Toporific]

... why is the plastic so tough?... in Japan, you have to literally be able to benchpress a bulldozer just to get in and grub down.

I can't even find the opening "secret" either. I just filed my teeth.

[ramchop]

I'm wrong it's not the Doritos with the opening notch at the back it's those evil packets of plastic cheese slices.

The Doritos are very easy to open though (unless you have greasy hands). Simply tear from the top down.

[kotatsuneko]

i too failed with doritos.. thats one tough motherfucker of a snack package..

best not to use ya teeth tho, those minute plastic particles can fuck you with cancer later,...

totally agree with the sentiments here, in sapporo also its vv strict on recylcing which would be fine if you could store the shit *outside* in separate bins.... shame no one in the govt thinks of that, i can`t imagine the smell in summer..

paper also seems to get way over used like plastic, and imho the individual wrapping of biscuits etc screws with the taste, not to mention being irritating..

some bins on the street wouldnt go amiss either ^^

on the weakness thang, well i try to drink 2 cartons of milk a week as i`m sure i`m not getting enough nutrition here..

[GomiGirl]

best not to use ya teeth tho, those minute plastic particles can fuck you with cancer later,...

You really have a thing about everything giving you cancer..

some bins on the street wouldnt go amiss either ^^

Nope - you are supposed to take all your rubbish home..

I noticed the same thing in London though - there are NO rubbish bins on the street. But I *heard* they were all removed becuase of a fear of bombs being deposited.. correct me if I am wrong.

[jingai]

Haven't you seen the movies where the Japanese guy whips out a short sword. Yakuza, samurai, salarimen, they all carry those things to open plastic bags. When in Rome...

[ramchop]

its vv strict on recylcing which would be fine if you could store the shit *outside* in separate bins

We store shit outside on our balcony. And it really is shit, so we don't have to worry about the crows. The smell has been fairly well contained in plastic (there are advantage of the Japanese excess plastic fetish) and was still overwhelmed by the Mos Burger smell from downstairs. However, summer is warming things up a bit so I think it's time for some serious toilet training.


I've got no complaints with the rubbish collection here. Burnables twice a week, plastic (with hidden surprise) once a week, cans/bottles once a week, and newspaper/cardboard once a week. All on different days so you rarely have the rubbish mounting up. Unlike back home where it's everything at once, once a week.

Plus cans/bottles are on Monday, what could be more sensible than that?

[Big Booger]

yeah the recycling here is fine. It is the damn plastic culture that I have a time with..

And I like never buy any pet bottles, anymore because I dont want to recycle them hehehe

THe plastic here is tough on some things, a lot easier on others. Today I got an apple pie from 7/11, I could have opened it with a banana peel :P

[kotatsuneko]

heh well if you had the cancer scare i had, well you`d get paranoid too...

i think its great the way rubbish is recycled and all, i just hate having rubbish in the house is all...i mean we pay tax and the neighbourhood tax also so some of that going towards bins would be nice,,

i mean in the long aparment blocks near us *they* get outside bins.. so why not all houses /small apartments with parking space free?

i read somewhere here you can fill in a council form and they have to act on it or investigate your queury, anyone know what this is called?

man, yeh nappies! i never thought of that! man that is tough!!!

one of the wifes friends changed a nappie in golden week, i was right next to the kid and boy the smell was just the worst ever... i have a newfound respect for all parents out there...

i mean, when youre on the street and theres a seicomart or whatever nearby its not so bad, but ,really, bins please!

they took the bins out of london? man thats terrible, the streets must be a right old mess.. guess it makes sense tho,, i`ve been in 2 buildings at work where there were real bombs in them at work so imho whatever it takes i guess..

and what is it with the crows?! i thought they mainly eat meat, but hey i`m no ornithologist.. damn noisy and so ugly! ugh..

[ramchop]

man, yeh nappies! i never thought of that! man that is tough!!!

Well things are definitely hotting up. Doesn't matter how many layers of plastic you put around the things the smell gets out eventually.

but then the other day I heard that nappies should actually go in the burnables!

Surely that can't be right. Everywhere else in the world they're the landfill fillers, but in Japan they go up in smoke as easy as a snotty tissue?

I can't bring myself to belive this no matter how much I'd like to - twice a week instead of once would do wonders to the smell inhabiting my balcony, might even get to smell like Mos Burger again. Can someone please decipher the Gomi guide and tell me the truth.

[ramchop]

heh well if you had the cancer scare i had, well you`d get paranoid too...

You can stop worrying now kots.... because:

WANKERS DON'T GET CANCER

Men could reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer through regular masturbation, researchers suggest.

They say cancer-causing chemicals could build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly.

Guess we're all safe here.

[ramchop]

... and that explains the low incidence in Japan. It's not the green tea, it's not the fish oil, it's the....



is there a tosser emoticon?

And here are the numbers:

Biggest Wankers in the Developed Word

#1 Japan
#2 Greece
#3 Italy

#9 USA
#10 Canada
#11 France
#12 UK

#17 NZ
#18 Australia

and last (#26) is Norway

[GargoyleTS]

The US is #9??? Damn!

*turns on a porno and commences to single-handedly (pun intended) make the US #1 again*

[kamome]

Maybe this means that the closer to #1 a country is on the list, the more likely it is that the guys aren't gettin' any (or, the more likely it is that the women aren't putting out?). Actually, the latter can not be the case, because if it were, I'd bet the US would be #1.

[Buraku]

Revised law aims to curb Japan's plastic obsession
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060612/BUSINESS/606120311/1092
Society's view of package as part of product will make reduction difficult.