Mottainai: The Four R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ...and Repair)
Wangari Maathai first learned of the concept mottainai while visiting Japan. One meaning in Japanese is "what a waste!" But it also captures in one term the "Three Rs" that environmentalists have been campaigning on for a number of years: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Maathai is seeking to make mottainai a global campaign, adding one more "R" suggested by Klaus Töpfer, the head of the UN Environment Program: "respect" resources.
We can practice mottainai in rich countries where overconsumption is rampant, and we can do it in regions where environmental devastation is causing the poor to get poorer and the ecosystems on which they depend to be degraded, some beyond repair.
In Wangari Maathai's case, mottainai means continuing to plant trees. She has also called on her parliamentary colleagues to ensure that government offices use both sides of each sheet so they can halve the amount of paper they consume.
Wangari Maathai urges the public (and manufacturers) not to use plastic bags that are so thin they tear almost immediately, or are used once and then thrown away. These bags clog waste dumps and blight the landscape in Kenya and other countries. They also provide good breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. If we did not use these bags, and instead carried our shopping in more long-lasting and environmentally friendly containers, we could revitalize traditional industries like basket and cloth weaving.
This could become a global trend. If Kenya began exporting millions of baskets woven by women from sustainably harvested sisal plants to developed countries at a fair price, that would be an important contribution to the protection of the earth, to rural livelihoods, and to fair trade. This is just one example of mottainai. Wangari Maathai encourages us to think of others relevant to our life, our community, and our country.
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