W.Minh Tuan
Japan’s population is about 123 million people, but Japan has more than 5 million vending machines to sell water bottles, tea bottles, coffee, softdrink, milk, milk tea, icecream.
Currently, Japanese people almost rarely drink tap water from public taps, from the faucets in their kitchens. Most Japanese drink water bought from vending machines.
On average, around 23 Japanese people have 1 vending machine, and the Japanese used to be very proud of that.
The Japanese and the world believe that having many vending machines is a manifestation of civilization, of progress, of development, it is cool because automatic sales without a salesperson, saving staff costs, and extremely convenient.
It is convenient because vending machines are everywhere, all the time, from remote islands, to unspoiled mountains, to remote rural villages with very few people also have vending machines. And of course, in all cities, schools, hospitals, offices in Japan,,,, there are vending machines everywhere.
The Japanese are proud of that. Many foreigners who come to Japan also admire that.
But actually, having many vending machines is a disaster both for the environment and for health.
In terms of health, processed and bottled drinks are junk food -a ready-to-eat fast foods, like instant noodles, potato chips, instant coffee, instant meals, are very unhealthy.
You eat and drink all kinds of fast food and fast drinks, which is convenient because it’s fast, but all kinds of diseases will also hit you very quickly.
Your skin will deteriorate, aged, wrinkled, moldy, rough, you will get all kinds of itchy diseases, skin diseases. The Japanese have the highest rate of skin diseases in the world.
Diseases of the liver, kidney, stomach,,, will also come to you very quickly, very instant.
There is no better bottled orange juice than eating a fresh orange. There is no better bottled apple juice than eating a fresh apple. There is no better bottled soft drink than fresh fruit juice.
All of the food industry that is producing bottled and canned food and drinks is an industry that produces all kinds of diseases, contributing to your frequent visits to hospitals for medical check-ups and cure more diseases, and contribute to shortening your lifespan.
The Japanese often boast that they are the most longevity in the world, that the amount of Japanese people who live over 100 years old are more than any other countries in the world.
It’s correct. But those who are 100 years old are Japanese people born 100 years ago.
As for the Japanese born recently, it is unlikely that they will be able to live long, and healthy lives like their ancestors.
Japanese people born in the era of civilized, era of convenient industry, of vending machines, of pepsi, colla, era of instant noodle, of junk food, bottled water, era of internet addiction, of starbucks coffee, of MacDonald’s hamburger, the era of more gasoline smoke than fresh air, the era of indoor sit down more than outdoor activity, will not be able to live as long as their ancestors did before.
And that is not only the situation of Japan, but the general situation of the whole civilized and modern world, the same as of everywhere in the world now..
The more civilized, the more modern it means that the more people eat and drink processed foods, the less fresh and natural foods they eat, the more diseases there are, the more people become obese, toothache, eye pain, scabies, itching, hair loss, cancer, diabetes, bedridden, heart diseases,,,.
Recently, in Japan, some researches said that about 1 in 10 babies born in Japan has some kind of birth defect, either neurological, mental retardation, or physical deformity, such as paralysis of the legs or arms, distorted mouth,,,.
I have seen many old Japanese living well, but their children get sick and die before them.
I have seen many healthy Japanese people, but their children have deformities, have to use strollers, wheelchair, they have to take care of those disabled children for the rest of their lives.
Once upon a time, in the samurai era, there was no such tragic situation.
In the past, the birth rate of children dying at birth was quite high, due to poor sanitation and lack of nutrition.
But today, there is no shortage of nutrition, no unsanitary conditions, but the number of children born with disabilities is much higher than in the past.
Is it because of the unnatural diet?
You eat and drink prepared foods and drinks because you think it’s convenient, fast, and saves a lot of your time and effort.
But actually it is wasting your time and effort much more than you think. Because those types of food and drinks will make you go to the hospital more often.
You have to spend so much precious time going to the hospital, waiting for the doctors, going to the hospital for treatment, going to buy medicine, doing all kinds of tests, then surgery, cutting, injection, testing, conducted a biopsy-cut your small meat inside your body to check- there are so many annoying, painful things you have to do every time you go to the hospital.
As long as you refrain from buying bottled water at vending machines, eat fresh, natural foods more than dry and prepared foods, you will avoid many inconveniences of going to the hospital and healthcare.
In Tokyo, in the subway stations, on the streets, more than 10 years ago, there were about 196 public fountains, so people could drink water there for free, no need to buy water anywhere.
But now there are no more public water fountains on the streets and in subway, train stations in Tokyo. You can only drink tap water in some large parks, and tap water in public toilets, or in toilets at train stations.
In addition, you can only bring water from your house with you, and when you have finished drinking, you have to buy water from those vending machines.
Japan has more than 123 million people, let’s assume every day half of that population buys bottled water in those vending machines, that means every day, the Japanese throw away about 50 million plastic bottles and steel cans. Every year, the Japanese throw away about 3 billion plastic bottles and steel cans.
About a third of those plastic bottles are recycled to make other types of plastic bottles, or make other plastic things. About a third is thrown into the sea, thrown into rivers, lakes, forests, mountains, and sold to abroad for regeneration.
Scientists have predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic bottles thrown into the sea than fish. But I predict that with vending machines, this speed to make plastic bottles more than fish in the sea will be faster, will come sooner.
For many years now, I have bought a few plastical my bottles to bring my own water to drink, no longer buying water bottles from vending machines. I put tap water from my kitchen faucet myself into these my bottles that go to the schools where I teach Vietnamese. When I ran out of water, I went to the school toilets, filled myself with water, and drank from the toilet.
It sounds terrible, teacher Tuan drinks water in the toilet. But actually that water is just as normal as the tap water in my kitchen.
In addition, I often grind fruits, and mix water to drink. I grind fruits that can be eaten with the skin on, like apples, grapes, strawberries, kiwi, blue berries. Then take the tap water to mix them, it’s a great drink, just drink and eat the ground fruits, there is a lot of fiber, very good for digestion, very good for urination and defecation.
In Zimbabwe, 50 years, there were no any diabetes, obese, itchy skin diseases. But now, Government allows to sell pepsi, cola, MacDonal, softdrink, junk food, chip potato, instant noodle, ,,Then Zimbabwe people start to have such diseases like diabetes, obese, skin itchy,,,.
I have talked about that experience about drinking tap water, and drinking pureed fruit juice to many of my Japanese students who studying Vietnamese, but not many people followed suit.
Most of my students buy drinking water from vending machines, and that is, they are both destroying their health and creating a lot of plastic bottle waste into the environment.
US President Bill Clinton once said that the most difficult thing is not finding a right solution, but the most difficult thing is convincing others to follow those right solutions.
That’s why I opened https://fightcor19.com to convince the world to buy less bottled water from shops, from vending machines, please drink water from your bottle, and grind fruit, mix water to have the best nutritional water, replacing many artificial and harmful bottled drinks such as pepsi, cola, softdrink,,,.
In Singapore, the Government has banned the sale of softdrink for many years. Countries around the world should also follow, levy high taxes on vending machines.
Let’s join hands to live healthy, and stop plastic waste, stop vending machines. //
