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After nine of Nara’s sacred Sika deer died from ingesting plastic bags, local entrepreneur Hidetoshi Matsukawa wanted to do something to protect them. The 1000 deer that roam the Japanese city’s park are considered messengers of the gods in the traditional Shinto religion and visitors to the town feed them treats. Although welfare groups ask visitors not to dispose of plastic bags or food packaging in the park, Matsukawa wanted to come up with a better solution to the problem.

He teamed up with a local paper manufacturer and a design firm to develop ‘ shikagami,’ or deer paper, which is made from rice bran and recyled milk cartons.

“We learned rice bran is mostly wasted in the process of rice polishing,” said Matsukawa. “So this paper helps to reduce that waste as well.” The edible bags are made out of similar ingredients to the rice ‘deer crackers’ which tourists buy to feed the deer.

The bags are being trialled at local banks and the Todaiji temple. Matsukawa hopes that as more businesses sign up to use the bags, his dream of replacing plastic bags with shikagami will save more sacred deer.