Zero Waste Life

Inagaki Ryota, who runs a stone carving business, and his partner, stone artisan Inoue Koji, use stone castoffs to make beautiful tableware that also helps keep food at the optimal temperature.

Branches from trees culled to thin the forest, once of no value, are the ideal material for Ishibashi Tetsushi. Extracting the essential oils, he transforms them into forest fragrances and hand soaps.

If even slightly damaged, yacht sails can no longer be used. Inspired by her love of the sport, former pro yacht racer Tagami Amiko takes such sails and makes them into bags and other products.

Uda Etsuko turns fibre from hard-to-process waste pineapple leaves into yarn and fabric for textiles in Okinawa. Expanding her operation to Indonesia, she hopes to take this untapped resource global.

Forester Omura Daisuke transforms harmful overgrown bamboo in the mountains of Japan into distinctive lights. Instead of seeing it as a nuisance he seeks ways for bamboo and humans to coexist.