Environmental pollution is one of the significant problems that human beings have. Garbage, which we need to dispose of every day, is one of the causes.

There are not many places to reclaim rubbish, therefore, each nation should try to reduce it: recycle, reuse and so on. However, I found that the pursuit of quality prevents Japan from reducing its garbage.

In this essay, I would like to show some examples of false information from Japanese paper companies and the excessive packaging of vegetables in Japanese supermarkets compared with those in the United Kingdom.

We need to keep in mind that recycling is not the perfect solution for our garbage problem. When we recycle plastic bottles, we cannot make new plastic bottles again. We cannot use them as a raw material like crude oil. We can say the same thing about paper. For used paper to be recycled, it needs to go through many processes: cutting, melting, bleaching and so on. Therefore, it requires a lot of energy and money to recycle paper.

Earlier this year, some deceptive information about recycled material was uncovered. It was found that many paper companies falsified reports about the proportion of the recycled material and raw materials.

Nowadays, eco-products are trendy all over the world. "Eco" has become a kind of brand and has become very popular. However, Japanese consumers are especially careful about the products they obtain. They claim that recycled paper is not good for printers, or the recycled sheets are weak even though they do not need such toughness.

In order to make the quality of the recycled pulp close to that of virgin pulp, it needs a lot of energy and money, as I mentioned above. As a result, good recycled paper becomes expensive.

However, expensive recycled paper cannot satisfy greedy Japanese consumers. They demand good but cheap recycled products. This mind-set made many paper companies create false recycled paper.

The paper companies are definitely one of the worst offenders. However, I think that Japanese people have a paralyzed sense of products in the flood of things.

When I went to the UK, I was surprised at the quality of the merchandise in supermarkets. Sometimes, plastic cases have many subtle scratches and tins of baked beans are dented. In Japan, those items must be removed from shelves and given a reduced price. In the UK, however, those goods are regarded as non-damaged products. Although this really shocked me, I have noticed the fact that these kinds of damages have no effect on the product.

Small scratches can occur once we start using the products, and dents in tins don't affect the quality of the baked beans in them. Japanese people often want perfect things, and even a small imperfection in the box is unacceptable. I think this way of thinking can damage the environment.

Now I will mention foods that are sold in supermarkets. In Japan, most of the vegetables are put on plastic trays and wrapped with film. However, in the UK, I noticed that most of them are sold loose. Because potatoes are not divided into bags, I could buy any amount that I needed. Bananas are not wrapped with film, and other fruits, such as strawberries, are put into plastic cases but not wrapped like in Japan.

Some organic vegetables or other value-added vegetables are put into bags, but most of these foods are also not wrapped.

I think this UK-style of packaging can reduce not only plastic rubbish, but also food waste, because when we buy (ready-) packed vegetables, we sometimes cannot eat them all, and often just throw the rest away.

In Japan, why is everything wrapped with loads of plastic, which becomes garbage after it is purchased? I think the Japanese hygiene spirit causes this problem. If foods are wrapped carefully, they can be protected from germs, bugs or damage, like scratches. Actually, the bananas I saw at a supermarket in the UK were bad because many people had already touched them, and some parts had gone rotten. Some onions were spoiled from falling; however, most of them were still good to eat.

I reckon throwing away some vegetables is better for the environment than lots of plastic packaging. However, in order to get high-quality products, Japanese people do not allow such relaxed selling practices.

Of course, what the paper companies did is wrong and they are to blame. Moreover, I can agree with the desire to want safe and good-quality foods.

Nevertheless, we need to think about our "fixation" on perfection, which may be one of the causes of our environmental problems.

(China Daily August 29, 2008)