Today I saw something I had never seen before. While walking along, I spied someone's garbage out on the street -- the usual carefully tied plastic bags waiting patiently at the curb for their appointed pick-up (OK, not quite). But on top of the bags was a toilet seat! In Tokyo I have seen some surprising stuff in the trash. But a toilet seat??? Never!
I suppose toilet seats, like other no longer wanted households items, have to go someplace too. And in Japan, where the appetite for used things is minimal (vintage clothing is one notable exception) and homes do not have much storage, lots of those items end up in the rubbish bin. To handle the load, the city periodically collects "giant garbage" (sodai gomi). The morning before the round up, the street can become a veritable cornucopia of used goods. Electronic equipment, furniture, toys, pet carriers are all there for the clandestine taking -- this practice is frowned upon by the locals.
Japan's propensity to discard stuff that still has life in it seems quite wasteful. And it is a little sad to see belongings that lived in someone's home relegated to the dump. I once read an article by someone who furnished his entire apartment from sodai gomi. I myself do not make it a habit to sift through other people's discards but there was that perfect set of wooden blocks I scarfed up for a friend's son and the dollhouse I stealthily picked up for Eve. Like the toilet seat, however, the vast majority really does belong in the trash and is best left alone.
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