![\"Left](\"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Left-is-a-plastic-oil-decanter.-Right-is-a-glass-air-pump-oil-sprayer..jpg\" "\\"Left")
<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 On the surface, 100 yen shops and 3-coin shops seem like a godsend. When compared to dollar stores elsewhere, they are better organized, cleaner and contain a breadth of useful, cute and kitschy products. You can indeed get your hands on many essential tools for daily life by shopping at The Daiso and Seria. However, I am actually writing this month to try and convince you to avoid them.<\/p>\nThe first and most obvious reason is that most of what you might purchase at a 100 Then, there is the plastic. Stores like these pride themselves on their overseas plastic factories (look at The Daiso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s homepage! They have literally the largest plastics factory in the world<\/a>). Items at 100 yen shops are often far over-packaged in plastic wrapping and casing as a result. Most of this packaging is labeled recyclable (bearing in mind that plastic is not infinitely <\/a> Furthermore, 100 yen shops are a slippery shopping slope. While I try to avoid them, I occasionally go for items I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t easily find, or can be found elsewhere but with unnecessarily high markups, such as office supplies. But, while I am there, I often think to myself, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I could also use one of these, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a But most of all, the primary reason you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re better off finding your survival goods outside of the discount shops is that you have viable eco-friendly alternatives. Recycle shops in Japan are phenomenal. They blow other countries\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 charity shops out of the water, because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not really charity shops. Recycle shops pay relatively little<\/p>\n for things that people bring in, and sell them at respectable, competitive prices, and they only take items that are fully functional and of a certain degree of quality. Think of the unique omiyage<\/i> you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be able to find in second-hand stores!<\/p>\n They also often carry some of the miniscule items we find ourselves at 100 yen shops trying to buy, such as light bulbs and batteries. These get sold to recycle shops when people move, and despite being similarly priced, they are usually of better quality than their 100 yen shop counterparts. The best recycle shops are often off the beaten path, so check in with your coworkers about their favorites in the area.<\/p>\n Although you have just arrived, and need some<\/p>\n<\/a>yen store is, well, cheap! The likelihood of an item that you buy at one of these places lasting through your JET tenure is extremely low. While this is not an economically big deal, if you are environmentally conscious like me (and what would motivate you to read Miso Green if you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t?), the idea of these items\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ultimate fate is a scary one. Spend a couple of extra yennies to break the cycle of replacing cheap with cheap.<\/p>\n<\/a>recyclable, but typically takes one more form before its final landfill resting place), but, and this is my other key point, the products themselves are not. The majority of products in 100 yen shops are plastic, including items you might not suspect, like those made of fabric and silicone, all of which will end up in landfills when they fail. And consumable 100 yen items are typically sold in smaller containers, which mean more unnecessary plastic packaging.<\/p>\n<\/a>hundred yen, and I feel like I could use a snack, and OH! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been needing this for a while\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and suddenly I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spent three bills on essentially nothing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n