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              Florence Chen
              Joshan Yao
              Kevin Kuai
              Lily Tan

 
 
 Global Village
 
Japan''s first zero-waste community

The town of Kamikatsu lies in the densely wooded mountains of Shikoku Island in south-west Japan, almost an hour's drive from the nearest city of Tokushima and about 600 kilometers from Tokyo.  The population of the town is only around 2,000.

In the streets of Kamikatsu, it's hard to find a public trash can, and only one rubbish recycling station is set up for the whole town to use.  The target of the town is to claim the title of Japan's first zero-waste community by the year 2020.

In Kamikatsu, people are used to cleaning and sorting the waste before putting it into trash cans without being reminded.  The rubbish recycling station has divided the waste collected into 44 categories, for instance, batteries, florescent lights, plastic bottle lids, all have to be separated into different receptacles.   Kamikatsu's recycling rate has soared from 55% a decade ago to around 80% today.

Kamikatsu’s hot spring is very popular among tourists, and all the local hotels use bio-fuels for room heating, not only saving USD76, 000 per year, but also reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide.

The residents of Kamikatsu have taken it upon themselves to engage in environmental protection activities, such as eating with used chopsticks, shopping with bags made of recycled materials, and voluntarily picking up along the highways trash discarded from passing vehicles.

Just as a local resident said, "Everyone needs do something now in order to create a better life for their descendants."

Source:
http://news.sohu.com/20081222/n261340525.shtml


2011/4/27
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