Japanese Scouts clear 2M+ pieces of plastic waste

Over 30,000 Cubs, Scouts and Rover Scouts in Japan have picked up 2,082,950* pieces of litter to fight against plastic waste as part of “Plagomi Busters“, a Plastic Trash Busters project.   

In 2019, The Plastic Waste Makers Index found that in a year, every single person in Japan produces an approximate of 37 kilograms of single-use plastic waste. This plastic waste does not just stay on land, it can creep up to the country's coasts.  

In response to this problem, the Scout Association of Japan, in partnership with Seven Eleven Japan group, launched the Plagomi Busters project (Plastic Trash Busters) to mobilise Scouts of all ages, from Cubs to Rovers, to take concrete action against plastic waste. 

As part of this action, Scouts also collected PET bottle caps from all over Japan to be upcycled to create recyclable “SDGs” bags and dustbins to raise further awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals.  

The project started in July 2022 as part of the celebration of 100 years of Scouting in Japan and ran until 7 November 2022. Scouts downloaded an app to join the action and track the litter they picked up.  

According to Yorimasa Matsudaira, International Commissioner of the Scout Association of Japan, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Scout Region Social Impact Sub-Committee and World Scout Foundation Board Member this inspirational project will feature at the upcoming EcoPro2022 in Tokyo, 7-9 December 2022, where Scouts aim to inspire participants to drive further action and move away from single-use plastics. 

Let’s help them to do even more. Your support for Education for Sustainable Development, one our seven funding priorities, will contribute to the continued development of educational resources, training, activities and digital content to boost Scouts’ action to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), imbed education on the SDGs in national Youth Programmes and contribute to the delivery of an additional 25 million community service projects and actions over the next five years.  

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*Final tally just in! What an incredible effort!