One of our Japanese retail clients recently informed us that their store team were mighty impressed by Clean Planet.
Inspired by Clean Planet they have done away with plastic bags , plastic clips, metal pins , plastic band for collar , tissue paper. Garments are soft packed and given to the customers in paper bags.
One of the many ways in which we are inspiring…and enabling a Clean(er) Planet !
Our voice as a customer matters. Often we find (in India) customers being passively tolerant of bad service , poor quality, waste. Or being aggressive.There is a mid path (and a necessary one) of being assertive and persistent.
When you encounter bad quality , poor service , waste – pl take a few mins to assertively voice your feedback. Equally important – Suggestions . If you’d like your local supermarket to stock organic products then ask to meet the section-in-charge or the store manager to share your views. Request your family n friends to do so as well. Doing this consistently improves the odds of the change you are seeking to manifest.
And hey , pl acknowledge good service and practices !
Remember , no one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
I want to introduce you to the wall. The wall holds up a raging dam of human potential. It’s held together with money – the money the same people spend. Change how you spend money and the wall collapses, and the world changes. Drastically. Forever.
If you think that soda is bad for people (which it sure as hell is), never, ever, ever, buy soda. That’s a vote in the ballot box. Same goes for meat, alcohol and other plagues on humanity. Want more organic food? Bite the bullet and buy organic. That’s a vote for the organic industry and more power to them.
Every dollar in your pocket is a vote. Don’t forget it. Every single one is counted. It’s a failsafe system. It’s perfect democracy.
Japanese carry a lot of stuff . Most folks carry between 1-3 bags . Women on an average carry 1-2 bags (some 3 ) . Men carry at least 1 bag.
This is a country where bags are sold extensively . All kinds of bags – leather , cloth , nylon , polyester , faux leather . Yet , in my visits to retail stores I seldom see customers declining the retailer’s plastic bag and taking the product purchased in their own reusable bag . There must be folks who do so . I’ve not witnessed it yet whether in a dept store , convenience store , people buying lunch boxes from stalls or any retail format for that matter.
The Japanese are geniuses at making products that fold up into a compact size . The customers can easily carry a folding bag in one of their bags and use it to carry items purchased . Thereby reducing plastic ( Japan is a HUGE consumer of plastic . More on that in another post ).
Japan has a very high literacy rate + bags are easily available in retail . It’s puzzling why using a reusable bag for purchases is not a widespread if not default behavior .
Until few years ago Japanese men wore suits to work . No exceptions . I suspect that the Wachowski brothers got their inspiration to dress the agents of Matrix in suits after a few rides in the Tokyo metro . Until Cool Biz came along it was unthinkable that a Japanese corporate male employee could turn up at work in any other attire . Cool Biz was almost like legalizing wearing just a shirt and trousers to work. Possibly Japan needs an initiative similar to Cool Biz to make it acceptable / necessary / cool/eco friendly to take a reusable bag to stores and use it to carry products.
They can call it Eco Biz.
