Who Needs a Shopping Bag With a Mottainai Furoshiki?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08. 9.07
The Japanese Minister of the Environment doesn't like plastic bags any more than we do, but instead of a shopping bag that one always leaves at home, she uses a furoshiki made from recycled PET bottles. Furoshiki were first used as wrapping cloths in the Muromachi era, 1392-1573. She says "The furoshiki is so handy that you can wrap almost anything in it regardless of size or shape with a little ingenuity by simply folding it in a right way. It's much better than Plastic bags you receive at supermarkets or wrapping paper, since it's highly resistant, reusable and multipurpose. In fact, it's one of the symbols of traditional Japanese culture, and puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding wastes." The ministry has produced a PDF with instructions with 14 different ways of folding a cloth so that you can carry just about anything. We are going to start practicing today! ::Japan Ministry of the Environment, Download a PDF of the folding plans here, (or view online here) via ::MocoLoco
UPDATE: I was so excited when I saw this on Mocoloco that I did not search and find that Alex covered this exact story last December. And that Jasmin did too! Apologies all round.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
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- 350.org Gets Obama Onside, Kallari Winners Make Chocolate at Night, Triple Pundit Examines Shell, and More
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That is pretty cool, but haven't you posted this same story several times before?
Now that is a solution!! This intrepid person has a readily available solution that is unique, fun, useful and likely fashionable/attractive. It is ideas like this that can change the world - I think...
Handy. I wonder if you could do this with a large bandanna? I'm linking this to my blog as well.
You gotta love furoshiki. I saw this little guide the Ministry of the Environment put out a few months back, but why is the word "mottainai" tagged onto the title of this post? It essentially means "what a waste." After googling, I found out that the phrase is tied to some environmental movement. Is there any connection? Or pure coincidence?
To close the loop, the (square!) PDF of how-to-use illustrations needs to be printed on a furoshiki.
@Clew: It's only two colors. Anyone have a silkscreen shop? This looks like it'd be all too easy to set up.