Recycling in Japan and attention to the environment often goes hand in hand with the Japanese saying of "mottainai", which tries to convey regret and concern over being wasteful. This helps stress a mindset of using everything you can and not causing unnecessary waste. It also spawns some pretty creative resourceful thinking, like using the plastic containers of capsule toys, gachapon, to keep your fruit fresh!

Japanese Twitter user and motocross fan @moeKLX125 spread this awesome idea, which has been re-Tweeted over 60,000 times. It turns out that the plastic capsules for capsule toys are the perfect size for storing mikan, mandarin oranges, and keeping them fresh and tucked away. This can be pretty helpful for Japanese students and workers who pack a bento with them, or just anyone who wants to throw fruit in their bag with the minimum amount of space taken up. As an eco-friendly reusable container, fruit lovers can keep their mikans protected and not be a jerk to the earth.

We thank @moeKLX125 for sharing this little life hack to avoid any smashed mikan in bags going forward.