Japan Survey Finds Few Shoppers Buy Plastic Bags

Eco-Conscious?

A survey in Japan found that 48.1% of respondents “never purchase” a plastic bag when shopping, while 35.5% “rarely purchase” one. The general tendency is for the percentage of non-buyers to increase with age; more than half of those 60 or older report that they never purchase a plastic bag at a store.

The survey was conducted by the retail sales support company Mitoriz on around 3,000 registered members of its service.

The survey also asked respondents about sorting garbage, and found that 56.9% said they “basically follow the sorting rules,” while 28.8% “correctly sort their garbage.” The results show that older people are more diligent in separating waste compared to the young.

When asked what they are doing to reduce waste, the most common response among respondents was “reducing the use of plastic bags by bringing a reusable bag,” mentioned by 73.2%. The next most frequent response was “reducing food waste,” at 48.6%, followed by “choosing refillable products,” at 45.4%. Only 6.6% of the respondents said they are “doing nothing in particular,” suggesting that most people are at least aware of the need to reduce waste in some way or another.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)