Stuff it in the Bunny

The Trader Joe’s cashier always flashes me a smile whenever I hand him a Japanese eco-bag to stuff my groceries with. That’s because Japanese bags come in all kinds of off-beat shapes and colors. So imagine handing the cashier this lil fella:

I’ll guarantee, he’ll do a double-take and ask why you gave him a plush doll. Upon which you tell him, “I have a crush on you.” And he’ll say, “Really?!” And then you respond, “No, just kidding. Pack my groceries, please.”

A nylon tote bag – folded into the rabbit called Picnica – spreads over a foot wide, so you can get some medium-sized grocery shopping done while looking animal chic. And when you’re not shopping, Picnica makes for a great travel companion. Though don’t expect him to help you through the carpool lane.

If he’s sitting in the front seat, you’ll never forget to take him to the grocery store. So many times, I’ve forgotten to bring my eco-bag because they were stowed away in the back trunk. Such a waste.

Picnica comes in four different colors: black, brown, gray and orange. With a $45 price tag, he’s pricier than a real Peter Rabbit, but no worries, this one will do you a world of good.

Himawari

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An Eco-Friendly Cell Charger

You know you’re a smart-phone addict when life depends on your phone’s remaining battery juice. 10% left?! No!

Lucky for metropolitan Japan, modern day dilemmas are completely solved. These days, so many restaurants, stores and fast food chains are now offering to charge your cell phone for free. Even taxi cabs are doing it. It’s just one of the creative ways they get customers through the door.

But let’s say you’re nowhere near civilization and your battery is dying. What do you do? Why not use this?:

The HY mini is a universal cell phone ($50) charger powered completely by wind or sun. It fits in the palm of your hand so it’s ultra portable. And not only your cell phone, it can charge iPods, digital cameras and PDAs, too. The built-in fan is hooked to a lithium ion battery and when fully charged it can get you up to 20 extra minutes of phone time. Woohoo! \(^o^)/

Though if you’re looking to turbo-charge your electronic device, this eco-conscious unit may not be the one for you. Think of it as the Smart Car of cell phones; it may not run fast but at least it won’t kill the planet.
The HY mini has become a popular item in Japan, probably because it’s yet another cool gadget to trophy. I might get one just to show off to my American friends’ whose phone batteries are always dying. It’s too bad they can’t just walk into a KFC for a free charge. Damn you, Japan. You always have the best of everything!

Himawari

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A Guilt-Free Phone

My cell phone is beeping to its demise and I can’t recharge it! I usually don’t keep my charger on me, so when I’m low on batteries I pray to the cellular gods to keep my phone running ’til at least sundown.

Wish I was in Japan. Then I’d get a Solar Phone SH002 by Sharp. It’s the first of its kind, recharging the battery under the sun so that you can wander for days in the desert and keep in touch with your BFF.

For every 10 minutes of golden rays, you get one minute of talk-time or 2 hours on standby, which isn’t bad if you’re the type who spends lots of time outdoors. Vampires be warned.

In true Japanese fashion, you get a nice array of colors to choose from: sky blue, prism white, and sparkling red. And as an added bonus, the phone is also waterproof (!?) — though water-boarding isn’t encouraged.

Compared to the iPhone, it doesn’t come with many apps but the ones that it does have will come in handy for sporty types: a pedometer and a tool to measure your golfing performance. I love the iPhone for its limitless vault of apps, but I also love this phone for its sheer ecological value. Maybe one of these days, the two will have offspring! \(^o^)/

Himawari

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The REAL Eco-Bottle

I didn’t take Arrowhead seriously when they introduced their eco-shaped water bottle a couple years back. Its ‘new and improved’ shape seemed to have more to do with a curvy woman than with saving the environment. It touted “30% less plastic!” but also looked like it had 30% less water, too. Boo~ I was not impressed.

But now there’s one by Coca-Cola Japan, ILOHAS, a water bottle that practically disppears before your eyes:

The half-liter bottle weighs just 12 grams when empty and uses 40% less material than most other water bottles. In a year, that amounts to 3,000 tons less in the landfills. But the real eye-catcher is just how quickly and effortlessly it shrinks in size. It’s like a work of art! With a little imagination, I bet you can twist it into a flower, a robot, or even a person. If only it were biodegradable.

One other drawback is that it sells at about 20 cents more than other water bottles ($1.30). But I think many people will find that at least 20 cents of satisfaction comes when they get to twist the bottle into a measly piece of wire. Pretty amazing, if you ask me. (^.<)V

Himawari

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Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
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Solar-Powered Bobble Heads = Happiness

Takara Tomy, a Japanese toy company, has found a way for its customers to go green and de-stress. Meet Nohohon-zoku (“carefree family”), a smiley bobble-head toy that uses solar panels. Place these shiny happy people in the sun and watch their heads do a slow, rhythmic wiggle and sway. It’s mesmerizing and oddly calming. Are they hypnotizing us??

The figurines evolved from a previous line of bobble heads that served as business card holders or singing, dancing toys — most required triple-A batteries. No more!

Find a sunny spot on your desk and you’re good to go. In the UK, the toys are being marketed as “Sunshine Buddies,” and used as cute, inexpensive gifts. This goes to prove that the line between child’s toy and adult’s fun collectible is getting smaller and smaller (see also: cell phone charms).

And yes, the bobble heads come in Hello Kitty and Pikachu flavor, but Winnie the Pooh is my favorite 🙂 Too bad he’s a rare item priced at $75. The regular ones go for around $10.

People are so proud of / obsessed with their Nohohon-zoku that they’re putting them on YouTube. Check it out:

Sarah S.

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Get Lunch Smart!

First there was the Smart Car. Now there’s the Smart Bento produced by CUBEEGG, the most compact lunchbox known to man (2,290 yen). Measuring at 7 inches long and 2 inches wide, it’s a sleek mode of food transportation that you can plop in your purse or keep warm under your armpits. (^o<)v

‘Smart’ is the way to go these days. With the ‘smart car’ it’s about fuel efficiency and park-ability. With the bento it’s about saving cash and making use of last night’s leftovers. Too many of us grew up with more food on the table than we knew what to do (thus, the invention of food fights). But with the economy gone kaput, the ‘smart’ ones can weather this storm just by packing their own lunch a few times a week. Believe me, it adds up. On average I blow $10 just on a sandwich. Meanwhile, Wednesday night’s chow mein is sitting there collecting mold specks in my fridge.

The Smart Bento is also neat because it doesn’t take an extra bag to carry it. And the top lid contains a pair of chopstick so you never have to go fishing for plastic forks among your drawer of soy sauce packs. You also get an elastic belt for keeping each anti-microbial compartment tightly shut and you can choose from red, green, yellow, white, pink or black — nearly all the colors of the rainbow!

Lucky for us, now we can buy it from overseas. Check it out!

Himawari

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Mottainai: Don’t be Wasteful!

Soon after moving back to the U.S., I found myself sitting in one of those $8.99 all-you-can-eat salad bars. I ordered a cup of hot tea and the waitress handed me a fistful of lemons, creamers and sugar packets; three wedges and five sweeteners, to be exact. Most Americans wouldn’t think much of it, but after living in Japan, the land of “take only what you can eat,” my first thought was “What a waste!” After all, anything unused would inevitably be trashed.

In Japan, people express their disdain for wastefulness by saying, “Mottainai!” It stems from Buddhist philosophy, but grew into the psyche during the country’s wartime days when people literally starved to death. To this day, my father reminds me of how he sliced a single apple every day among his siblings in order to stay alive. “Mottainai!” he’d say when I started flinging my mashed potatoes at the wall.

Young Japanese kids these days are spoiled. That’s why one mother decided to write a children’s book called “Mottainai Grandma” to teach her son the importance of finishing his food. It sold over 400,000 copies.

But compared to the U.S., Japan is a country with conservation on the brain. Most public areas have separate trashcans for recyclables and non-recyclables. Eco-friendly grocery bags are the latest trend. And there’s little in the way of paper towels in restaurants and restrooms. Most people carry handkerchiefs. Though, I must admit, Japanese stores tend to go excessive on the gift-wrap, even when it’s not a gift. I brought that point up to a Japanese friend and she counteracted it with, “Well, why do Americans have a constant supply of paper towels at home?” Touché.

So if you’re thinking of doing business in Japan, think less, not more. It’s a tiny island country over there. The last thing it needs is an extra heap of waste. Well, so as long as they’re not planning to build anymore airports.* (^_<)

*Kansai International Airport was built on a man-made landfill island.

Himawari

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