Do you know the meaning of Mottainai? In this article, I would like to explain the Japanese word Mottainai. It means, “Don’t waste what is valuable.” Therefore, Mottainai is the best word the Japanese people use when reminding others to stop wasting all sorts of valuable resources.

Have you ever wasted food? Maybe you didn’t like it, or you couldn’t finish eating in a limited time. But, if you schedule to eat correctly, you don’t have to waste food a lot. The Japanese define food waste as the unnecessary loss of important food. The cause of food waste can be from supermarkets, restaurants, and also from houses. So, we have a responsibility to solve that problem.Why is food waste a problem? Why is food waste getting attention recently? Food loss is transported to a waste disposal facility as combustible waste and burned, using a large amount of energy. As a result, a lot of carbon dioxide is emitted, which affects climate problems, such as global warming.

Currently, there are about 800 million people around the world suffering from hunger and undernourishment. The world population is about 7.5 billion as of 2019, but it is said that it will reach about 9.7 billion by 2050. In wealthier countries, more than 40 percent of food loss and  waste occurs at  the retail and consumer stage. The wealthier counties should trade more equally with developing countries to reduce this.

I think supermarkets set too high a standard for what food should look like. That means that imperfect food  is often discarded, even if it’s perfectly edible. So, supermarkets should put it on sale, even if it’s a little uglier than others. It’s just the same food. Restaurant, retailers, and caterers can help each other and reduce their waste by selling food more appropriately.

We can change our world; we need to change our behavior and actions.

We should protect our earth and also we should  consciousness about Mottainai.