‘Mymizu’ – The best plastic-free app for green travelers in Japan

Chop chop, it’s Olympic 2020 at the door. 40 million tourists are coming and where are we at with fighting off the plastic waste issues in Japan?

  • Is Japan a 100%-green country?

Have you ever had the same wondering before?

To many people’s surprise, despite its recycling technology and infrastructure of word standard, Japan is, recently, listed as the 2nd most country to produce PET bottles in the world. The local Japanese people are famous for their strong self-discipline to dispose of their own trash responsibly, yet, where and how all the plastic trash, that they throw away is processed and recycled, is barely known within the local community. 

Every year, over 25 billion PET bottles are consumed in Japan, only a small percentage of which – 2.5 billion, is recycled, whereas the majority are either incinerated, swept away to the ocean or exported to developing countries.

For all the adventurous souls who have been to Japan for the first time, you might be amazed by the huge variety of beverages that Japan got to offer. Except for a few remote areas, it’s almost impossible to not get a hold of a refreshing cold water bottle at any place in Japan, thanks to the widely-located vending machine system and convenience store branches. However, as the excitement for the drinks explodes, comes along the environmental issues of over-usage of plastic bottles and many other follow-up consequences in Japan. 

The responsibilities of protecting the country’s environment and one’s local community do not only fall on the local people themselves but also anyone who imposes an impact on the areas they reside in, more or less. 

It’s truly difficult to fully deplastify your personal routine, especially when you are constantly on the road. 

On the other hand, taking baby steps such as making use of reusable bottles and refilling freely at water stations located all over Japan will definitely be of the best actions to become an environment-friendly traveler in Japan.

It sounds a bit infeasible, right !? 

Then, I got something for you guys!

  •  ‘Mymizu’ – The first water refill app in Japan!

Website Link: https://www.mymizu.co/home-en

Download App: 

As a project launched by the team of ‘Social Innovation Japan’ with the goals to create and foster a sustainable community in Japan, ‘Mymizu’ app was released in pursuit of reducing plastic bottles and raising awareness towards the plastic issues within the community, firstly in Japan. 

‘Mymizu’ functions as a pinpoint, showing its users various places to refill water free of charge. Through the app, users have access to 8,000+ refill locations, including public water resources (e.g water fountains) and local businesses (cafes, restaurants, coworking spaces, hotels, and shops) nationwide. ‘Mymizu’ has not only accomplished at helping commuters/travelers in keeping themselves hydrated but also keeping down the consumption of the single-use plastics significantly. 

 

With the three main call-to-actions: Discover / Refill / Track, the app allows users to explore the surrounding area deeper as they are looking for the water resources, which will surely be full of spontaneous fun for someone new in town. Besides, ‘Mymizu’ keeps track of the water amount its users have refilled and provides personal tracking stats such as how many plastic bottles they have saved successfully by their responsible actions or how much money they have saved up thanks to refill their own bottles.

As the community of ‘Mymizu’ users gets bigger and bigger, so will the network of water refill stations. The app lets its own users and local businesses to register any founded water refill location directly onto the app system. What if, you would find a new favorite secret spot for yourself on the journey of searching for the tasty water! 

 

If you are interested and got some refill locations in mind, why not sign it up and contribute to the foster of a sustainable society in Japan? 

Let’s get yourself a thermos/ reusable bottle and get some delicious water right away!

Spend wisely, save the planet and have lots of fun!

P/s: Don’t worry about the water quality in Japan, tap water is 100% drinkable.

Ha Thu Do – Aki