Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Do you ever go to recycle your takeout container or water bottle, see all those different categories, and get so confused you just end up throwing everything in the regular trash bin? 

Knowing how to get rid of waste is trickier than it may seem. But one small town in Japan may have figured out the key to eliminating waste all together.

Here to tell us more are Luci Jones and Ashley Junger from our Possibly Team. Welcome, Luci and Ashley! 

Luci Jones: Hi, Megan! 

Ashley Junger: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, tell me about this place in Japan that doesn’t create waste. 

Luci Jones: Ok, it’s a very small town called Kamikatsu, on the island of Shikoku

Momona Otsuka:

Our town is located in a beautiful valley, the Tokushima prefecture, with a population of about 1500, mostly elderly people. 

Luci Jones: That’s Momona Otsuka, the Chief Environmental Officer at the Zero Waste Center in Kamikatsu. 

Although Kamikatsu is the smallest town in Shikoku, it has a big mission, which is to have zero waste by 2030.

Megan Hall: Wait wait wait. Is it really possible for an entire town not to produce any waste?

Luci Jones: Well, “zero waste,” doesn’t mean there is literally no waste. The movement is about reducing waste as much as possible and then finding ways to reuse or repurpose the rest.

Ashley Junger: So when Momona says their goal is to have zero waste by 2030, she means that they want to get to the point where zero waste goes to the landfill 

Megan Hall: Still, doing that by 2030 sounds pretty ambitious… How are they going to get there? 

Luci Jones: They’re already well on their way. These days, the town of Kamikatsu is recycling about 80% of the waste it produces.

Ashley Junger: The rest of Japan only recycles about 20% of its waste on average, so that’s a huge difference.

Megan Hall: Wow! And how are they making that happen?

Luci Jones: Back in 2003, the government made a commitment to achieving zero waste. Since then, the town built an entire Zero Waste Center out of recycled materials. This is where Momona works.

Ashley Junger: Each month the shop recirculates almost 900 pounds of household items.

Momona Otsuka:

Local residents bring in their clothes, plates, books, and anyone can take it for free. 

Luci Jones: In addition to these kuru kuru shops—which literally means “round and round” in Japanese—the residents of Kamikatsu are encouraged to sort their garbage into 45 categories.

Megan Hall: Forty-five! I didn’t even know there were that many different kinds of waste!

Ashley Junger: Yep, it’s pretty incredible, there’s nine ways to sort paper products alone! 

Luci Jones: Signs on each bucket show what will be made of the recycled items, how much money will be saved through their reuse, and where they will be made in Japan. 

Ashley Junger: This, along with encouragement from the government to compost at home and use ride-share systems, has helped create a sense of social responsibility. 

Megan Hall: That’s cool to see that this kind of progress is possible, even if it’s just one small town at a time! But do you think this is something we could do here in the United States?

Luci Jones: Well, how likely is it that Americans would willingly sort their trash into 45 different categories? 

Megan Hall: I guess you’re right. 

Luci Jones: But Momona says, all these questions about the future are the whole reason why the Zero Waste Center exists! The Center itself is shaped like a question mark.

Momona Otsuka: The town wanted to question, why do we throw things away? 

Ashley Junger: So, even without an official zero waste declaration in your town, you can still pause and ask yourself whether something can have value in a new way.

Luci Jones: And, you can take the extra time to make sure your waste is clean, dry, and sorted correctly rather than throwing everything right in the trash can

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Luci and Ashley! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

These days, we can buy almost anything we want online—fancy food, designer clothes, new computers, the works. But is all this online shopping creating more greenhouse gas emissions compared to shopping in-person?

We had Luci Jones and Ashley Junger from our Possibly Team look into it. Welcome, Luci and Ashley! 

Luci Jones: Hi, Megan! 

Ashley Junger: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So how do you determine if it creates more greenhouse gas emissions to buy a product in a store or have it delivered?

Luci Jones: This is a tricky question since every industry is different.

Ashley Junger: So, we talked with Stephen Kemper, a retired supply chain partner at PwC, to learn more. He told us that there are three main factors to consider.

Stephen Kemper: One is the space sufficiency of transportation.

Luci Jones: This basically means we want to know if a vehicle is holding as much as it possibly can. If it is, then it doesn’t need to travel back and forth as much.

Stephen Kemper: The second one is the return rate.

Ashley Junger: Which is basically the percentage of merchandise that’ll be returned.

Luci Jones: And lastly, Stephen says you’ve got to think about packaging.

Megan Hall: Okay…but this is all very abstract. Can you give me a real example?

Luci Jones: Well, let’s say you want to buy your weekly groceries.

Ashley Junger: Most food distribution sites are local and can pack multiple orders into a single vehicle. 

Luci Jones: And the return rate is low because most people just eat their food or throw it out. So for groceries, Stephen says… 

Stephen Kemper: E commerce make sense unless, for some reason you’re just driving by the store every day.

Megan Hall: So should we just start buying everything online?

Luci Jones: Not so fast. Remember, every industry is different.

Ashley Junger: For instance, most clothing stores only have a couple of distribution centers, meaning they have to travel longer distances to get your orders to you. 

Luci Jones: And many clothing companies only have a few standardized box sizes. So there’s usually going to be tons of unused, empty space.

Ashley Junger: And, returns are more common when people shop online. About 30% of all products ordered online are returned. But, purchases made in a store are only returned about 9% of the time. 

Luci Jones: So Stephen says for most people, buying your clothes at the store will really cut down on emissions.

Megan Hall: Got it. So I should always buy groceries online and go to the store to get my clothes.

Luci Jones: Actually- in an ideal world, you’d order your clothes online, so you’d know what you were getting, and then pick them up in the store. 

Ashley Junger: This way you’re sure the store will have what you want before you drive there. 

Megan Hall: What about other things, like electronics, or cleaning supplies?

Ashley Junger: It all depends on those factors we mentioned before- how efficient is the transportation that gets the object to you? What is the packaging like, and how often does it get returned? 

Luci Jones: So, if you need something, consider how you can get that product with the least amount of packaging and driving around! 

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Luci and Ashley! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook at ask possibly.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Our oceans are rising and taking over more land every year. Most governments try to fix this by blocking the water out and sealing the humans in. But is that the only way?  

Here to tell us more are Luci Jones and Ashley Junger from our Possibly Team. Welcome, Luci and Ashley! 

Luci Jones: Hi, Megan! 

Ashley Junger: Hello! 

Megan Hall: Before we get started, can you just give me a refresher on why our oceans are rising?

Luci Jones: Sure- here’s the quick version- A lot of the heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions gets absorbed by our oceans.

Ashley Junger: When water gets warmer, it expands, which makes it take up more space, and creep up on our shores. 

Megan Hall: And that causes erosion, flooding, houses falling into the ocean, stuff like that? 

Luci Jones: Exactly. And this is becoming a huge problem. In the next 80 years, scientists predict that sea level rise will displace up to 200 million people.

Megan Hall: How can we prepare for this? 

Luci Jones: To find out, we talked to Dr. Kelsey Leonard. She’s an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo where she focuses on indigenous waters, climate, and sustainability. 

Kelsey Leonard: A lot of my current research and scientific practice is connected to where I come from on the eastern end of Long Island in New York, being an indigenous Shinnecock woman. Shinnecock in our language means people of the shore or people of the Stoney shore. 

Ashley Junger: Kelsey says, a lot of the sea level rise strategies in the US are pretty similar:

Luci Jones: Just build a seawall or hurricane barrier, like we have here in Providence, and hope for the best.

Ashley Junger: But this really only puts a bandaid on the problem and often leads to the loss of habitats.

Megan Hall: Okay… but what’s the alternative?

Luci Jones: Kelsey’s been working on something called the WAMPUM adaptation framework which stands for witness, acknowledge, mend, protect, unite, and move. 

Megan Hall: And how is this framework different?

Ashley Junger: It focuses on something called our “living relationship” with water.

Megan Hall: But the water isn’t living… is it?

Luci Jones: According to Kelsey, it is.

Kelsey Leonard: Living relationship recognizes that water is alive. Sometimes indigenous community members that I’ve worked with will say water has spirit

Megan Hall: Okay but I’m confused. How does seeing the water as a living thing help stop sea level rise?

Ashley Junger: The idea is, if we view water as a being with a life of its own, we can work with it to prevent the negative effects of sea level rise.

Luci Jones: For instance, after superstorm Sandy, one Indigenous community created what’s called a “living shoreline” by planting seagrasses, creating oyster beds, and using stones and boulders to prevent erosion.

Ashley Junger: A “living shoreline” will look different in every community because each area has different people with different values, practices, and ways of living.

Megan Hall: And do we have any proof that this works?

Ashley Junger: There are plenty of successful examples. But, this approach isn’t widespread enough to say it’s a sure fix for every circumstance. 

Luci Jones: And of course the more global warming we cause, the more the oceans will rise, and the harder it will be to live with the water. 

Ashley Junger: But Kelsey says that the bigger takeaway is about our attitude when we respond to climate change.

Luci Jones: She says we’re better off working with our environment and adapting our approaches to the needs of each community instead of just building a bunch of walls.

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Luci and Ashley! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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