posted 3 hours ago
Hey Everyone,
I wanted to make this forum to make a log of places where I inquired about receiving things that would otherwise be thrown away in Japan, and my successes and failures for any Japanese Permies who might need to find similar things in future. I will continue to update the thread as time goes on and I locate more things.
If there's anyone with advice for me also, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Furniture:
Picking up free furniture really isn't hard in Japan, especially if you like the older, Japanese style. Most young people don't want it, so copious amounts end up on sites like jmty (Japanese craigslist) for free providing you are willing to collect.
Wooden Pallets:
A staple of the up-cycling world, pallets was one of the very first things I went looking for... But so far I've not had much luck! So far I've managed to locate 3 and build a single compost bin, but preferably I'd like to find a lot more...
Hardware Stores:
DCM: I asked, but all their pallets are rentals and get reclaimed by the shipping company they work with.
Komeri: The locations I've visited only have domestic wooden pallets (unmarked with no stamps, but likely untreated wood), and plastic pallets for international shipping... I haven't asked them for any yet because I'm really looking for a solid source of marked HT pallets.
Shipping Companies like Yamato are my next target, I always see large amounts of pallets stacked outside their offices, and by the looks of the ones at the bottom of the pile, they're not intended for re-use.
Woodchips
Municipalities will often do river clear-ups and chip down driftwood into big piles for collection. Sometimes they just leave them as logs also. There's often other stuff they found in the river mixed in... So I don't know if I would personally recommend this for use as mulch.
If you become friends with a carpenter they'll give you all the mill ends you could possibly want, disposing of things in Japan is expensive and generally speaking people are more than happy to get rid of stuff for free. Wood shavings are often incinerated on-site also. If it's a carpenter that only works with kiln dried wood then you can be pretty sure that your supply will be gick free.
I haven't had responses from arborists regarding woodchips, but I get the impression that most people don't own chippers like they do overseas... There are often large piles of green waste left out on burnable rubbish collection days, and the prefectural waste plant owns enormous chippers to process all of it. I've inquired with them to see if I can collect woodchips, but no responses yet.
Manure:
I'm lucky enough to live near an amusement park that does pony rides for kids. The rancher owns 4 horses that produce about 100kg of manure a week. A farm near me takes all of it from him, but there's about 3 years worth piled up in their storehouse (and consistent weekly deliveries), so they've kindly said I can take as much as I want.
90 Gallon Drums:
No such luck yet. Any I can find were previously used for holding agricultural chemicals/have unknown history. I'd like to find food-grade ones, so the hunt continues here. I'd likely have more luck inquiring with small restaurant owners...
IBC Totes
They seem easy enough to purchase for around 10,000 yen (60 or so USD), but their history is generally unknown by the scrapyards which have them. Again, I'd like to find ones that haven't been used for petrol or chemicals... Maybe I'm overthinking it and a good wash would sort them out?
Living, learning and growing day-by-day
