From July 1, 2020 shops will be charging for plastic bags that do not break down in seawater or made from plant-based materials in an effort to reduce disposable plastic waste. A coworker (my coworkers are talented and so nice!) gave me a traditional Japanese market bag called azuma bukuro. She sewed together the part that rests on your shoulder but if you go search on the web you will be able to find most of the bags will not have that part sewn and is tie-able. This particular one is made out of a tenugui (手ぬぐい thin Japanese hand towel made from cotton) but if you have unused fabric that is 3 times longer than the width, then you can make one quite easily (at least that is what she said) . You can use old kimono or yukata too! Look for tutorials on the web. To give you a bit of trivia of plastic bags in Japan- In the 1960s, the model, Twiggy and the mini skirt was a big fashion trend. Around that time, at a nashi pear picking farm focused on tourists near Tamagawa river, women in their miniskirts carried bamboo baskets to enjoy the nashi pear picking activity. Bamboo baskets and the mini skirt did not get along because the baskets would rub against their expensive hosiery, make them run and make everyone really unhappy. (The price of stockings around 1961 was 382 yen which would be around the present value 3,184 yen) As the tourists complained and the farm asked the Tokyo branch of a plastic company if they could make a bag to replace the despised bamboo basket and the rest was history. #azumabukuro #handmade #noplasticbags #экосумка #japanesefabric #origamibag #tenugui https://www.instagram.com/p/CCHllhVniOP/?igshid=s6kqtq01393w
