Japanese man invents 'edible' plastic bag alternative to save Nara's sacred deer

"I wanted to do something to protect the deer, which is the symbol of Nara," he stated.

The baggage are comprised of rice bran and milk cartons.

Courtesy Bunyodo

In July 2019, nonetheless, a neighborhood welfare group stated 9 deer had been discovered useless, with plastic baggage of their stomachs, and known as on guests to not throw away plastic baggage within the park.

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Matsukawa wished to provide you with a distinct answer to the issue, and teamed up with a neighborhood paper producer and a design agency to work on the venture.

These plastic baggage had been pulled from the abdomen of a useless deer.

Courtesy Bunyodo

Between them they developed "Shikagami," or deer paper, which is comprised of rice bran and milk cartons.

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"We learned rice bran are mostly wasted in the process of rice polishing," stated Matsukawa. "So this paper helps to reduce that waste as well."

Matsukawa has had the baggage examined and says they're secure for human consumption.

"We do not have the data to back up that this paper is not harmful to deers, but I believe this is safe for them as well as for human beings," he stated, laughing.

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The baggage have since been examined at native banks and the Todaiji temple, Nara's fundamental vacationer attraction. The temple and banks purchased 4,000-5,000 of the baggage for 100 yen (round 95 cents) every as a part of the pilot venture.

The worth will fall if extra companies join to make use of the baggage, stated Matsukawa, who goals of changing plastic baggage throughout the town to forestall extra deer from dying after consuming them.

"The news about the death of deer by plastic bags creates a negative image, as though the park is a cemetery for deer," he stated. "The paper bags can protect deer, as well as the brand image of Nara with deer."

Simply 45 minutes from Kyoto by prepare, Nara is a well-liked vacation spot for guests to Japan.