Culture shock

摘要

European business has a lot to learn from the way the Japanese manage their environmental impacts. Environment Business talks to electronics manufacturer Brother about the company's approach. There's an old Japanese phrase - Mottainai. It's hard to translate, but is best summed up as "waste not want not in the eyes of God". In the old days, a mother would weave thread into cloth for a kimono for her daughter's wedding present. In time, the daughter would make it into bedclothes, then into cushions, then into a dust cloth and finally into a wick for a candle. This constant recycling was seen as letting the god that dwelled in the cotton return to heaven. In other words, recycling isn't such a new idea at all - and the principle of Mottainai has found its way into modern day Japanese industry.