You don't use plastic wrap? Wisdom for saving/eco-living that I learned in Chile (Zero Waste)

Hi there, it's Minami.
This may seem sudden, but have you ever lived in a country other than Japan?

I spent a year studying abroad in Chile, South America, and I was shocked when I went to the houses of my Chilean friends and others and thought, what a good eco-friendly and frugal idea! This time I'm going to introduce some of the things I thought I would do.

1: Don't use plastic wrap to store the rice!

First of all, Chileans basically don't use wraps.
I grew up in an environment where everything in the house was wrapped in plastic wrap on a plate, so the culture shock of this time was amazing.
The Chileans basically use tupperware.

Nowadays, it may be quite common to use tupperware.

However, I admired the thoroughness with which even leftover food could stay in the Tupperware. Rather, some families do not have saran wrap.

In the case of something dry, such as a pound cake, the chili puts a cloth over the top.
しかし、ふきんをかぶせて保存することができるのは乾燥しているチリならではではないかなぁ、とおもうので、これを行う際は冬などがいいかもしれませんね。

I've also become an obsessive Tupperware user thanks to it.

2: Use soap instead of body soap.

When Japanese people wash their bodies in the bath, they probably prefer to use body soap rather than soap, but in Chile, they use soap

I actually switched from body soap to soap, but when I was younger I hated soap because of my family's influence.

When it comes to soap, in my case, when I was little I was told by the media that soap is not very hygienic because it causes mold to stick to the surface.

In fact, when I went to elementary school, there were two kinds of soap and hand soap by the tap, but I hardly used them. I thought the surface would be dirty when I used it, so I was lathering up the soap for a very long time and rinsing it off...

I'm not worried about it anymore because I'm an adult now and my body's immunity is much stronger than it was when I was little.

The good thing about soap is that it really lasts a long time.

When I used to use body soap, I would replenish it about once a month with a new one, but once I switched to soap, it lasted 2 to 3 months!

And there are a lot of fashionable things to look at these days. The soap can also be used in face wash and is really versatile. If you like simple soaps, I recommend the brand of soap you buy.

If you want to enjoy various fragrances, this variety set is a good choice.

The initial notion of "it's a dirty surface" may indeed be resistant if you're sharing it with an unspecified number of other people, but at home, even if other people are using it, it's up to your friends and family. I recommend the soap.

If you're traveling, soap is especially good. You don't have to take body soap with you, and because it's smaller than liquid, it's lighter and more solid, so it's perfect.

When I travel, I also like to buy soap that has a unique scent.

If you have children, it would be fun to make soap at home with them.

By the way, not only in Chile, but in most foreign countries, we live only in showers, but I got used to this too. There are times when I miss the bath, but those times are only a few times a year, so it doesn't bother me too much.

The time to take a bath is reduced and the hot water is not used a lot, so it's a good deal after all. It's often said that bathing is healthier, but I will try to exercise and stretch in other areas of my body on a regular basis.

If you want to enjoy various fragrances, this variety set is a good choice.

The initial notion of "it's a dirty surface" may indeed be resistant if you're sharing it with an unspecified number of other people, but at home, even if other people are using it, it's up to your friends and family. I recommend the soap.

If you're traveling, soap is especially good. You don't have to take body soap with you, and because it's smaller than liquid, it's lighter and more solid, so it's perfect.

When I travel, I also like to buy soap that has a unique scent.

If you have children, it would be fun to make soap at home with them.

3: I don't wash my clothes every day.

Thirdly, I reduced the number of times I washed my clothes.

Why do we need to do laundry in the first place?

This is, of course, fundamentally because they became dirty or smelly.

Until recently, many Japanese people used to wash their clothes every day, but this time it's not about that, it's about "using clothes once worn without washing them several times".

Of course, if you have sweat or dirt on them, wash them immediately.

But if that's not the case, there's no need to wash it right away, is there?

I spend less time doing chores, and I spend a little less money on laundry and detergent by not making choices.

4: I don't keep a box of tissues in my room.

This is a major shift from my accustomed home.

When I was spending time with my family, there was toilet paper in all kinds of places.

And I was consuming a lot of it.

But there are very few families in Chile that have tissue boxes in the first place!

I was wondering why...but in Chile, when you can use it instead of paper, you may have used a dish towel or cloth more often.

When paper such as a sneeze is necessary, I take it from toilet paper or I take it from a hand-held tissue.

If you have a weak skin, you shouldn't force yourself to do it, but in my case, it's okay to use toilet paper level.

箱ティッシュよりトイレットペーパーのほうが安いんですよね。こういう習慣になって、安易に紙を使わなくなりました。

After all, I think people are easier to use when they are in the field of vision.

5: Only shop once a week

This depends on whether you live in a city or not, especially among Chileans, but the pace of the supermarket is basically once a week.

If there is a convenience store or supermarket nearby, you can use it as a refrigerator, so why not go there three or four times a week?

Maybe people in Chile don't go to the supermarket as often because of the terrain or distance, but by going to the supermarket only once, they don't have to buy extra things.

Therefore, it is believed that this will lead to a reduction in food loss.

Food loss among the Japanese is, according tothe Consumers' Bureau, there are 6.12 million tons of so-called "food loss" - food that is discarded when it is still edible.

And while it may be hard to tell how much this 6.12 million tons is, it's equivalent to 1.6 times the amount of global food aid for starving people around the world (about 3.9 million tons per year in 2018).

I think the main cause of food loss is retail, but it would be nice if we, the consumers, could contribute a little bit too.

What did you think of it? What I wrote in this article is something I was surprised by in Chile, something I thought I would try to emulate and actually do now.

The example of Chile was introduced in this article, but it seems that Chile is not the only country that has made the above efforts.

Whether you live in Japan or not, if you have a new idea or something you haven't tried before, why not give it a try?