Let’s talk trash.
In 2018, as we were riding toward Toba, along the Pacific Ocean, we made a bit of impromptu beach riding. And there it was: littered all over the place, lots of bottles and cans, plastic bags, and lots of unindentified plastic debris, carried by the tide, piling up on the shores.
We like to think of Japan as a very clean country, which adds up to the magical experience of riding there.
This got us thinking – the Japanese Odyssey is quite a selfish endavour – and we use our fair share of plastic, getting our supplies mostly from konbinis.
Surely, there is a way to mitigate our overall impact ; and to help keeping Japan clean in some way.
For us it starts with reducing the amount of goodies we give to the riders. Having a full bag of swag is nice, but the riders really come for the experience, and are pretty much equipped already.
But we wanted to do more.
So we got in touch with JEAN (Japan Environmental Action Network), a NGO that specializes in ocean cleanup and litter analysis.
Beaches cleanup is nice and all. But, as they say themselves « Collection alone cannot solve the problem ».
So JEAN goes way further than that. Litter analysis allow to identify the type and source of garbage, and then act to prevent it altogether.
Each year since 2019, we and aim to make a donation at the end of the Japanese Odyssey, as well as raise awareness on the matter.
This is where you can help. Whether you ride, dot-watch, or intend to ride the Japanese Odyssey in the coming years – donate via PayPal on our address:
https://www.paypal.me/japaneseodyssey
All your donations will be transferred to JEAN at the end of the Odyssey.
Together, let’s make this count!
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