(かさ)

umbrella

(かりる)

to borrow

(さーびす)

service

(ひろがる)

to spread

(きゅうに)

suddenly

(あめ)

rain

(ふる)

to fall (rain, snow)

(えき)

station

(こんびに)

convenience store

(つかう)

to use

(ひと)

person / people

(すまほ)

smartphone

(とうろく)

registration

(かえす)

to return (something); to give back

(ちかく)

nearby

(みせ)

shop, store

(びにーる)

vinyl, plastic

(ごみ)

trash, garbage

(へらす)

to reduce; to decrease

(にほん)

Japan

(まいとし)

every year

(たくさん)

a lot / many

(すてる)

to throw away; to discard

(かいしゃ)

company

(おなじ)

same

(なんかい)

how many times / many times

(はなす)

to speak, talk

(いま)

now

(とうきょう)

Tokyo

(おおさか)

Osaka

(ちゅうしん)

center; core

(これから)

from now on

(ちいさい)

small

(まち)

town

(ひろげる)

to expand; to spread; to broaden

(けいかく)

plan

(りょこう)

Travel; trip

(くる)

to come

(がいこく)

foreign country

(べんり)

convenient

(いう)

to say

when ~

Indicates the time when something happened — when he was in junior high school.

and (non-exhaustive list)

や lists representative examples — Shikoku and Kyushu among other regions (四国や九州).

can do ..., to be able to ...

Verb dictionary form + ことができる expresses ability or possibility. More formal than the potential verb form. Common in written Japanese and announcements.

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

and then ~ (te-form linking)

The te-form links successive actions in one sentence. 置いて connects placing the clothes with comparing their temperature, and 考えて connects thinking with choosing.

you can just ~, it's fine if ~

The conditional ば plus いい tells the listener that doing something is enough. The article uses it to say that returning the umbrella to any nearby shop is all you have to do.

because of, due to

Indicates a reason or cause. More formal than から or ので. Can follow nouns (の + ため) or plain-form verbs/adjectives.

passive voice: was/were ~ed

Passive form indicating that the subject receives the action. '食べられて' means 'were eaten'. Central grammar of this article about tulips being eaten by deer.

want (someone) to do ...

Expresses a wish for someone else to do something. Formed with て-form + ほしい. The person you want to act is marked with に.

quotative particle

Marks the content of what someone said or reported. Used with 言う here.

傘を借りるサービスが広がる

Umbrella-rental services are spreading

急に雨が降ったとき、駅やコンビニで傘を借りることができるサービスが広がっています。

Services that let you borrow an umbrella at stations and convenience stores when it suddenly starts to rain are spreading.

使う人はスマホで登録して、傘を借ります。

Users register with their smartphone and then borrow an umbrella.

返すときは、近くの店に返せばいいです。

When they return it, they can simply return it to a nearby shop.

このサービスは、ビニール傘のごみを減らすためのものです。

This service exists in order to reduce plastic-umbrella waste.

日本では毎年たくさんのビニール傘が捨てられています。

In Japan, a great many plastic umbrellas are thrown away every year.

会社は「同じ傘を何回も使ってほしい」と話しています。

The company says, "We want people to use the same umbrella many times."

今は東京や大阪の駅が中心ですが、これから小さい町にも広げる計画です。

At the moment it is centered on stations in Tokyo and Osaka, but there are plans to expand it to smaller towns from now on.

旅行に来た外国の人にも便利だと言われています。

It is said to be convenient for foreign visitors who come to Japan on trips as well.