We’ve heard many stories of individuals across the world who’ve adopted a zero-waste lifestyle, but it’s not often that we come across an entire community that is trying to become waste-free. The residents of Kamikatsu, Japan, take recycling so serious that they actually hope to become the nation’s first zero-waste community by 2020.

Kamikatsu has no garbage trucks — so residents need to compost their kitchen scraps at home. They also have to wash and sort the rest of their trash into 34 different categories, and bring it to the recycling center themselves where workers make sure that the waste goes into the correct bins. It apparently took some time for the residents to get used to this rule, but they eventually managed to adapt to the drastic changes and are now seeing them as normal.

The Japanese town has turned recycling into a streamlined process — there are separate bins for different types of paper products — newspapers, magazines, cartons, and flyers. Even plastic bottles and their caps go into different bins as do aluminum, spray, and steel cans are collected separately too. Many of these items are resold or repurposed into usable clothing, toys, and accessories. The labels on each bin show the recycling process for that specific item, so the residents know exactly what happens to their trash.

Reuse is highly encouraged in Kamikatsu — they have a local kuru-kuru shop where residents can exchange used items with new things at no extra cost. And the kuru-kuru factory employs women to make bags, clothes, and stuffed dolls out of discarded items. Businesses are also encouraged to participate in responsible waste management — the town has a zero-waste brewery, housed in a building constructed of reused materials.

With a population of just over 1,700, Kamikatsu recycles about 80 percent of its trash and only 20 percent goes to landfills, so the town is very close to achieving its goal. They’ve been practicing prudent waste management for the past 13 years after declaring their zero-waste ambition in 2003 and giving up their old practice of dumping trash into open fires.

采取“零废物”生活方式的个人屡见不

鲜，力图实现“无废弃”目标的群体倒很少见。日本上勝町的居民把回收利用废物当作一件重要的事，他们希望到2020年时，能把家乡建设成日本首个“零废物”小镇。

上勝町没有垃圾车 — 居民需要在家中将厨余垃圾制成堆肥。除此之外，他们必须先清洗废物，并对照34种分类标准 一 归类，然后再将其送至回收中心，那里的工人会确保废物被正确放入相应的回收箱。显然，适应回收规则需要时间，但上勝町的居民最终成功适应了这些巨变，并渐渐习以为常。

这个日本小镇让回收过程变得高效 — 上勝町针对各类纸制品（譬如报纸、杂志、纸箱及传单）设置了不同的回收箱。甚至连塑料瓶和瓶盖都必须分开投放，铝罐、喷雾罐和钢罐也必须归类至不同的回收箱。人们会出售某些废物，或将其重新用于衣物、玩具和饰品上。每个回收箱都贴有展示此类废物回收过程的标签，这

样，居民就能清楚得知废物的处理方式。

上勝町特别鼓励居民重复使用物品 — 当地设有kuru-kuru商店，人们可以以旧换新，而无需支付额外费用。kuru-kuru工厂会雇佣女工用废弃物品制作包包、衣物或毛绒玩具。上勝町支持企业参与废物管理 — 小镇有一家“零废物”酿酒厂，它的厂房采用可再生材料建造。

小镇仅1700多人，回收了近八成的废物，需要运至垃圾填埋地的废物只剩两成，小镇已快要达成“零废物”的目标。2003年时，上勝町宣称要实现此目标，他们放弃了焚烧垃圾的旧做法。此后的13年里，他们始终严格践行废物回收管理。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【偶然遇见】ǒurán yùjiàn come across meet or find by chance

    【酿酒厂】niàngjǐu chǎng brewery a building or establishment for brewing beer or other malt liquors