July 2019 ♪♪♪
The city of York (Yorkshire, England) has ancient long city walls and was founded in about 70 AD. It is famous not only for the setting of story of Harry Potter but also for its National Railway Museum (Leeman Road, York). The picture above shows the inside condition of the museum where you will see the first Japanese “Shinkansen”. Nearby, I found a simple litter bin.
The children, in an open space of shopping district, maybe enjoying a school excursion. I guess, a bin seemed to want to join them (the left above picture). I saw, by chance, a litter bin of “BigBelly Solar” in the nearby open space (the left below picture). The functions were shown in the former issue of Chester, please find it.
In the backyard of York Minster, there are some blue large bins for the rubbish collection of city council.
A bin stood in front of Clifford's Tower within York Castle (the left picture) which was used as a jail and prison until around 1930. As I explained the other issues, rubbish bins often have ashtray on its top, and two or three openings, but the inside of the bin is not separated. Some Japanese bins have such a fake separation design, too.
The poster said, “Do not dispose household or commercial rubbish”. Sometimes we find the similar caution notice near garbage cans in front of the Japanese convenience store chains. In Japan, many litter bins in front of convenience chain shops have played a role of serving the public for a long time, but they are gradually disappearing now, especially in Tokyo. It’s very disappointing. Ī guess the reason is why they try to avoid disposal of household waste, and to reduce costs. But I think, one of responsibilities of the Japanese convenience store chains is to collect household plastic at least bottles waste, because they sell too many. As well, large supermarket chains are already collecting them. I predict that the convenience store chains will say that they have already taken responsibility of recycling through paying the fees stipulated by Containers and Packaging Recycling Law of the Japanese government, but I emphasize that it is not enough for them. Simultaneously, they should not give up the public role because they changed Japanese consumption structure and advanced disposable society. Yes, it’s our citizens’ fault, too.
In the York Station (the main station of the city of York) where I stopped, litters were separated into two kinds; namely, general waste and plastic bottles. The station is very beautifully design. When I sat down on the bench to wait for my train, an old guy asked me. "Where from?" I talked with him for a while. He was heading back to his home of Scarborough, a seaside resort by the shores of East York. It will take him about an hour by train.
When I was not busy observing bins, I searched for good cuisines. During our visit to York, the three of us dined at Côte-York (YO1 7HT) and had steaks. They were very succulent. I highly recommend them.
See you soon in the next issue!
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