Cute Garbage bags

People generate a significant amount of garbage as they go abouttheir daily lives. In Japan, people separate their garbage into different types, such as burnable and nonburnable, and place it into semi-clear or transparent bags for disposal. The garbage is collected on particular days of the week in each community, and on these mornings garbage is placed in the appropriate locations on street corners or roadsides. Until the garbage truck comes around to pick them up, mounds of garbage bags on the streets are a common sight in Japan.
GARBAGE BAG ART WORK (C) MAQ inc

But what if neighborhoods got together and decided to use special bags for their garbage? For example, burnable garbage could be placed in bags decorated with pictures of red flowers, and nonburnable garbage in bags decorated with pictures of blue fish. Every week on garbage days, flower gardens and ocean scenery would appear on street corners instead of plain garbage bags. If garbage were sorted in this way, it might actually look cheerful.
A famous Japanese illustrator designed a garbage bag featuring a picture of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. The bag is being used by the Eco Kids Project that began in August 2008 in Japan. These garbage bags are not available for purchase but are provided free of charge to schools and other organizations that request them.

garbage bags from the "Mottainai" ("What a waste") environmental campaign, meanwhile, feature pictures of animals with tearful faces. Part of the proceeds from the sale of these bags is donated to tree-planting activities.

GARBAGE BAG ART WORK (C) MAQ inc.

If you need to carry garbage or plastic bottles back home after spending time outdoors, there’s the rabbit-shaped Love It Manner Bag. The bag has extra long plastic handles, so that when they’re tied together they look like the ears of a rabbit. The rabbit’s face is designed simply, with two dots for eyes and an x for its nose, and can be skinny or plump depending on how much garbage is put inside. With a unique rabbit face all your own, you may find that you actually enjoy carrying this bag around.

GARBAGE BAG ART WORK (C) MAQ inc.
The official trash bag for Picnic Expo 2007 featured a grasshopper motif. This bag was designed to be used as a mat for sitting on when having a picnic, so it has a special non-slip surface; once you have finished your picnic, of course, you can use it to pack up your garbage.

All of these cute garbage bags were made in Japan. If you put some thought into it, maybe you could decorate garbage bags by drawing cute pictures on the front?

When putting out garbage in Japan, though, be sure to follow the rules of each community.