Remove plastic straws from Japanese school lunch (給食)

下の日本語

 Millions of unnecessary plastic straws are being used in Japanese schools everyday. These straws are either given to students and faculty separately by the school during lunchtime, or are attached to the milk cartons that come with every school lunch. School lunch (kyushoku) in Japan is mandatory in elementary and junior high school by law since 1954, and milk cartons were introduced into these lunches during the 1970s. Using a straw is not part of the law, but a part of the Japanese culture.
 There are approximately 12.5 million students and faculty members partaking in kyushoku every school day throughout Japan. There are 180 school days in the year.
 Not all of the 12.5 million people are using plastic straws during lunchtime since some schools, such as schools in Osaka and Tokyo, have switched to glass bottles and plastic/wax coverings. But even if a mere half of the 12.5 million were using the plastic straw each day, it would still add up to a substantial number of plastic straws being used once and discarded annually.
 More than 1,000,000,000 straws a year.
 This unnecessary waste must end.
 Milk cartons can easily be designed so that they can be opened and consumed by themselves, without the need for a straw. The plastic straw cased in a plastic sleeve is wasteful, as well as costly for the milk companies producing the extra material, negatively effecting the environment. As recently as 2008, MEXT was able to revise the School Lunch Act to better suit the current time. I’m calling for action in response to the current plastic crisis the world is undergoing. MEXT has the power to regulate Japanese Kyushoku and create a straw-free environment that promotes eco-friendly habits. Cutting out plastic straws in kyushoku will put pressure on the milk companies to produce plastic free cartons, leading to less waste not only inside the schools, but also outside where cartons with attached straws are sold in convenience stores and supermarkets. It’s time to challenge what is commonly accepted and to stand together for a better world, one straw at a time. This will not only lessen the amount of plastic circulating in Japan, but also encourage students and teachers to lessen the unnecessary plastic consumption in their daily lives.

日本の学校給食に欠かせない牛乳パックには、必ずストローがついています。全国の生徒と教職員は合計1250万人、それが1年に187日の給食で使うストローは単純計算で1年に10億本以上にもなります。東京や大阪の一部の学校は牛乳容器をガラス瓶やプラスチック/ワックスのカバーに切り替えましたが、それでも年間100億本以上のストローが消費されているのです。これは無駄ではないでしょうか。

今日、世界ではプラスチック危機に対応する行動が求められています。牛乳パックをストロー無しで飲めるように設計するのは簡単です。環境に優しい習慣を促進するのは決して難しいことではありません。ストロー付きのパック飲料のストローを廃止するだけで、学校内だけでなく、コンビニやスーパーでの無駄が大幅に減ることになるのです。当たり前だと思っている日常を見直し、より良い世界のために役立つことをはじめましょう。一本のストローで始められるのです。あなたもはじめてみませんか。