Garbage In, Garbage Out

Nara Park'
(Photo by Feri88)

It seems that Japan’s “leave no trace” norm has not caught on with the rest of the world. 

International tourists are leaving trails of trash behind.  This has been especially lethal at Nara Park, a Shinto site in which hundreds of deer roam freely.  “Tourists are only allowed to feed the deer special rice crackers,” but are littering the park with plastics. When plastics reach critical mass within a deer’s stomach, they can and do kill.

Public trash bins had been easily invaded by hungry animals, so other solutions were needed.  Nara officials recently set up solar-powered compactors with signage reading “Save the Nara deer from plastic waste.”  A volunteer clean-up squad also patrols the park.  All this will hopefully encourage visitors to clean up their act.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/squad-saving-deer-tourist-trash-021047201.html