Plastic is the largest growth material on Earth, but it has many downsides.
A Japanese town is trying to remedy this in an unusual way – by transforming the remains of thousands of deer that were hunted or poisoned into non-toxic, edible bags.
Nara’s municipality in Honshu, a northern island nation in Japan, started the product in 2011 as a way to feed hungry humans as well as to reduce litter.
Okinawa’s deer women reveal truths about Japan’s #peasant lifestyle (video above) pic.twitter.com/OGeF4OtPTc — 环缉点板やー (@shinaka2538) April 8, 2015
When residents live close to deer and use plastic bags to catch and ferry them, the carcasses provide a chance to burn the plastic, which makes the deer food for the processors and effectively removes plastic from the environment.
Though plastic bags made from the deer heads are not yet commercially available, the practice has taken off in Nara. The Yamato-Jinyi Churin Museum offers an exhibit dedicated to the product.
Another preserve in Japan grows dyes that is sold to manufacturers of synthetic products such as diapers, powdered infant formulas and others with dyes.