Edo — the ancient Japanese city now known as Tokyo — may have been one of the world's first large-scale ecological civilizations. From 1603 to 1868, as a result of the government's policy of not trading with outside nations, there was a scarcity of cotton and timber, which meant that everything was reused, repaired, repurposed or recycled. Traditional kimonos would become pyjamas, diapers, floor cloths and eventually fuel; candle wax drippings were remoulded, modular house design meant that floorboards could be reused; leftover straw from growing rice became sandals and rope. Here's Roman Krznaric's story for the BBC on what we should learn from this era.
