CulturalCreative
Sustainable fashion challenge: The Uniform Project, One dress, 365 days
Mar 8th, 2010
Posts Tagged ‘social action’
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[/caption]Uniform Project: Creative Commons. All Rights Reserved. Photo by OutsaPop
We’ve all heard of fast food, but… fast fashion?! That’s right, cheap and convenient, perfect for the modern urbanite; fast fashion tempts customers with new models of cheap clothing everywhere they turn. This trend towards cheap, fast fashion has lead to concerns of fostering a ‘disposable clothing’ market.
One project has begun to tackle this trend head-on by asking ‘what is a sustainable way of enjoying fashion?’ Let’s see what the Uniform Project: One Dress, 365 Days is all about. (more…)
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You may have seen this logo at a UNIQLO store near you. It is the logo for UNIQLO’s All-Product Recycling Initiative. The amount of clothes collected in March topped 1 million items – a commendable milestone even for a brand with 777 stores nationwide (as of June 2009). (more…)
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I went to a really interesting workshop at the British Council in Tokyo sponsored by some people I know are thinking deeply about sustainability and environmental issues. The panel discussion was a bit unusual but allowed people to cue in ideas and pet topics. A good mix of unusual people joined and I had fun.
This was the first of a new series of monthly learning and networking events, The Green Leaders Forum: The Future of Food @ British Council. (more…)
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Traveling Gaia is a project to launch 8 “Gaia Globes” on a world-crossing mission to connect people, places, thoughts and feelings. Each of the crystal globes has been constructed separately with its own identifying number and unique meaning as envisioned by its creator. (more…)
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Solar Microbot: Copyright © 2010 Karisruhe Institute of Technology, All rights reserved.
At 4mm in length, they may be as small as a fly, but don’t judge them by their size alone. These microrobots can not only walk around at will, communicate with each other, and collect and store data, but they run off solar power – a completely sustainable energy source.
These solar micro robots were designed by a team of Swedish, Spanish, German, Italian, and Swiss researchers, and draw inspiration from the behavior of bugs. Data is collected via a circuit board, and the robot walks with three of its four legs. The fourth leg is a sensor, which can sense stimulation from the surroundings. (more…)
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Recently greenz.jp has been attracting a lot of attention from international sources. Two of our most recent listings were in i-genius, a world community of social entrepreneurs that seeks to inspire a new generation of social innovators, social business and social enterprise, and Wend Magazine, a forum for real people, writing real stories about real adventures and real environmental issues. (more…)
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We’ve talked a lot about food at greenz.jp and about reducing waste associated with food, including ideas such as the okaeri plate and the “WASARA” Good Plate For Good Food, but there hasn’t been much discussion about wasted food itself. And yet, 19 million tonnes of food goes in the trash every year and 9 million tonnes of this hasn’t even expired before it hits the bin, while more than 650,000 people in Japan lack food security. Sad, wasteful and shameful statistics that Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) is trying to do something about. (more…)
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Photo by Hot Rod Homepage. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.
Find inspiring people with Spysee. Help them make a difference with Cheer.Spysee
Spysee is a specialized search engine for finding people. It has has over 40 thousand profiles of people that you can browse and search. And it has its own charity site. (more…)
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SustainableCommunity
Corporate social contribution a deciding factor for consumers: eneloop survey
Jan 8th, 2010
Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Photo by Simon Whitaker
The eneloop circle campaign we’ve talked about previously on greenz is just one way Sanyo is working for the environment through the eneloop brand. The campaign has accumulated over 300,000 points, meaning the third batch of eneloop lanterns are on their way to Uganda, to bring light to areas with no electricity. (more…)
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In 2007 countries with internal armed conflicts numbered 31. That was down from 87 In 2003. There has been a decrease, but we still can’t say it is a small number. Small conflicts sooner or later develop into large wars that create a great number of casualties and refugees. But there are people who are trying to prevent these disputes from turning into large scale wars. They are private civilians that are not related to the United Nations, nor the countries in the conflicts, or event a third party country. These people are referred to as “hikeshi” in international society.
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“You don’t have to be a pro to do it!”
With those words one young man began running. The 3000 kilometer “You Can Do It” Marathon, form Aomori to Okinawa began on September 27th. This cruel journey begins in Rokkasho village in Aomori prefecture and through full distance, 42.195 km, daily marathons ends 71 days later in Naha city, Okinawa.
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GLOBE BANKThere is a new social benefit website that is the subject of much praise from creators and designers. ‘Globe Bank’ began in July as part of the CSR program of Konica Minolta. A fusion of fun, art, and social contribution, the website is slowly gaining in popularity.
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Kiko is the Japanese word for “climate change” and Kiko Network is one of the Japanese NGOs that participated in Copenhagen to try to influence the negotiations. Based in Kyoto, they have a lot of members and activists who wanted the Kyoto Protocol to be succeeded by a binding protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That didn’t happen, as the United States, China and others failed to find common ground for a global agreement.
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CulturalCreative
5 Ways to green your Christmas with 200 people. greendrinks Tokyo Xmas Party Report !
Dec 18th, 2009
The lucky winners of great Christmas prizes display their bounty!It’s time for Christmas. It’s time when everybody thinks how they can spend a fun, entertaining and warm time with friends and families. But it’s also a time to re-think how fortunate we are to be able to celebrate this happiness. So we decided to throw not just an ordinary Christmas party but something that would be meaningful anfd fulfilling to many people. At greenz.jp, we held the green drinks Tokyo Xmas Special kindly supported by Sanyo Electric’s eneloop universe series and was reported to be the greenest Christmas event in Tokyo.
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While electricity may have become an indispensable part of our lives, there are still around 1.6 billion people worldwide who do not have access to this luxury. eneloop manufacturer Sanyo Electric has begun a project to bring light to those who live without electricity. Let’s take a look at this project, and how you can get involved.
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SustainableCommunity
Freecycle, the people movement that is changing the world one gift at a time
Dec 10th, 2009
Freecycle is one of the world’s largest online eco communities whose mission it is to reduce waste and keep things out of landfills for longer. The way it works is simple. Use the internet to connect people who want to swap things they no longer need. You can find anything from TVs to bikes, furniture or fondue sets being given away for free. In the words of founder Deron Beal, “The goal is to make it easier to give an item away than to throw the item away, thus keeping good stuff out of landfills and helping Mother Nature.”
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We received this email from The OneHundredMonths Crew through a friend of greenz.jp. Be sure to get involved in this most important project!
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CulturalCreative
Voice yourself! Non Profit “KATARIBA” provides open communication hub for high school students
Oct 28th, 2009
Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Photo by mctrentDo you have any “diagonal” relationships?
Someone who is a little older than you, other than your parents or siblings, a friendship that is feels different than others, in a good way? Can you think of someone that fits this description?
NPO Katariba, roughly translated as “speak place,” offers places that high school kids can make “diagonal” relationships, meaning with someone who is older than them that can be a role model, and speak freely about their feelings. Katariba is made up of, primarily, university student volunteers who go to high schools and talk with students, called the “Katariba Cast.” It may seem like not that big of a deal, but participants say that it has a great effect on the way students think. So, let’s take a look at some of the stuff they are doing.
Katariba holds “speak places,” which are classes that put the students and the Kariba Cast together and give them a chance to talk together. The students speak about the kind of people they want to become and the “cast” talks about what they did growing up. Though, it is hard to imagine that they get all that personal and frank right away.
Since the volunteers have put in a lot of careful preparation and have an earnest desire to listen, the students can feel it, I think. Katariba looks at each schools aims and issues, one by one, and holds meetings with the school administrations to make appropriate custom-made plans. On occasion, Katariba goes on the look out for volunteers who are appropriate for a particular plan.
We want to make small opportunities for all kinds of students to meet people that they can connect with.
From this idea, the organization has continued to put this into practice in classes in schools. Until now, Katariba has held classes at over 71 schools.
A picture of students lively speaking on the Katariba website
To the students, the volunteers are strangers, but so the students will feel relaxed and can have the opportunity to look at themselves, the staff speak face to face with them and look them in the eyes as much as possible. If the students sit in a chair, the volunteers sit in a chair, or if the students sit on the floor, so does the volunteer. Then, the volunteers, as an older role model, tell the students about the things they wanted to do themselves when they were high school students and the students little by little begin to speak about their experiences, failures, hopes and sorrows. The room becomes a quite emotional place. A students who has taken part says,
It feels relieving to hear that the adults had the the same kinds of worries was us.
I didn’t even know we had this class today. I am glad I wasn’t. It was really good.
There are lots of excited quotes like that on the site. The classes are definitely a valuable experience in their lives, without a doubt. Katariba is also organizing meetings, events and workshops for students to meet working-age people too. Take a look at their implementation and achievements.
But, why high school students, I wonder? The answer is on their website.
High school is a time when most kids make decisions about what path their lives will take, a time where they begin to make choices about how to live. If we can change the way students think about the choices regarding their path is high school, then we can change society for the better, I think.
So, the thing they are focusing on is the future society that the students see in front of them. The organization’s mission statement speaks of this.
Meetings can become a chance. Communication can magically call forth motivation.
Motivation can undergo a change and bring for a desire for challenges. That can, in some time, connect to the health and kindness of society.Katariba, a non-profit organization, aims to create a geography of society made of individuals, families, and communities that we can all love to be in. Katariba is always looking for students and people who would like to help make this change. Katariba might be the seed that can change our society. Won’t you help? How do you help out? Check out Katariba’s webpage here
NHK had a television program about this sometime back! “Serious Teenagers’ Talking Place”
This article has been translated from the original Japanese post
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CulturalCreative
Change the World From Your Bottom Upwards! Introducing “Japan Toilet Labo”
Jul 3rd, 2009
Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Photo by jurvetson
There is no shortage of societies in this world, but did you know there was one specializing in this sort of research?
The Japan Toilet Labo is an organization that was set up to propose and bring to fruition ideas for how toilets should be, in order for all people on earth to enjoy healthy lives, in peace of mind.
Launched in July 2008, the idea behind this organization “Japan Toilet Labo”, is to approach social issues from the toilet seat. As long as they are alive, people will need to go. And if you go 5 times in a day, that works out to 1,825 times a year! We spend our whole lives indebted to the can.
In fact, you could say that the toilet is an indicator of that person’s lifestyle environment. Toilet environments around the world are incredibly varied, and according to “Japan Toilet Labo”, some 2.6 billion people around the world don’t have access to a hygienic toilet. There seems to be no end to children losing their lives to diarrhea due to unhygienic lifestyles and poorly equipped toilet facilities. And even in Japan with its clean toilet environment there are many problems, such as issues relating to water saving and drainage, and provision of facilities for the elderly and disabled people.Against this backdrop, “Japan Toilet Labo” was established. Its predecessor, the Japan Toilet Association (founded in 1985) was involved in all sorts of activities including toilet symposiums and research associations, investigative research, also collaborating with government departments and regional public bodies to undertake environmental, educational and also overseas projects supporting developing countries. As well as carrying on this momentum, the Japan Toilet Labo has stated its desire to expand the business and its activities so as to bring about social reform and make an international contribution from the toilet seat.
One of their projects is an on-demand class,The “Shit Seminar”!In 2007, together with their predecessor the Japan Toilet Association cooperate with oji nepia co.,ltd. that they began offering on-demand seminars at 5 elementary schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan area designed to learn about health and environment through a manure medium. Seminars are designed to be both fun and educational, and range from basic lectures outlining the importance of toilets and feculence, to activity-based classes including making “poopy pencils” and writing “dung diaries”.
Check out this link to get a better idea of what the “Shit Seminar”.In here you can see the candid reactions of children who have learned about the fecal fundament.“Before, I’d sneak off to the toilet when no-one is looking, but now I’m really open about popping off for a dump”
“I realized that far from being a dirty thing, a brown boulder is super important for your body”Comments like these came in thick and fast from delighted mothers. For their children, it appears that a fundamental shift regarding the concept of a crap had taken place, changing from something “dirty” and “smelly” to “an important thing”.
This seminar has also taken place in East Timor. In a situation where 400 children were sharing one toilet, learning about the toilet environment and importance of excreta seemed to be a big hit. Further details of this episode are available here
Be sure to check out the children’s bright and smiley faces!Japan Toilet Labo also has opened a special website, disaster Toilet information network and Toilet support network in developing countries.
disaster Toilet information network is a website set detailing how regional self-governing and other bodies are putting out information in “normal times” on implementing measures regarding toilets in the event of a disaster, including information about earthquake-resistant toilets and examples of toilet initiatives that have worked in the past .Over at Toilet support network in developing countries, you can read about information accrued throughout past activities related to toilets in developing countries, including examples of aid that has been given. A very precious source of information for organizations delivering aid.
And not forgetting their most impish initiative,While this campaign seems at first to be stating the obvious, for example not wasting toilet paper and water and leaving the toilet clean for the next person, it has pegged a unique development:
Putting up this witty poem dedicated to making toilet paper last, in these cubicles public facilities and stores in the whole of countryAll God’s children wipe their bums
The Finance Minister wipes his bum
High School Girls wipe their bums
Wives and Mothers-in-Laws wipe their bums
Train Guards wipe their bums
Cabin Attendants wipe their bums
You wipe your bum
The next guy wipes his bum
Toilet paper is the shared treasure of
all humanityIncidentally, all of these 9-verse poems can be used as wallpaper, so go ahead download by all means. At a glance, some of them are not obviously toilet poems so how about using this wallpaper with an added awareness-reforming dimension? You can also download some cool blogparts here
The activities of “Japan Toilet Labo” are designed to remind of us of the important role of going to the toilet, something we take for granted.
The world, the environment, your own body. So much knowledge waiting right there in the toilet.
Next time you find yourself in the toilet, I want you to cast your mind back to this article. You never know, you may end up changing the world from the bottom upwards.This article has been translated from the original Japanese post
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CulturalCreative
“Moe Rubbish Bags”, “Moe Rice”. Social Design Meets Japan’s Otaku Culture and Animation
Jun 26th, 2009
After the cherry blossoms fell, did you separate all your rubbish out properly? And the bag in this picture, is it “Moeru” (combustible) or “Non-Moeru”?
Neither, it’s “Moe” rubbish!!
Just a pun, you might be thinking? Actually, this “Moe Rubbish Bag” bearing the famous anime character MOE is the brainchild of a group of students.“Moe Rubbish Bags” were developed by a group of Keio University Students known as “K-307”. These guys were all MOE fans and part of the same lab when they came up with the “MOE” anime pun on “Moeru” (burnable), which then turned into a rubbish bag concept. It’s a simple idea, but what is of note is that they linked it into one of their research themes, namely “regional vitalization.”
The Chiyoda-ward born members took their idea about rubbish bags to Chiyoda Tourist Association, which resulted in the decision to sell them at a Tourist Association Booth. They were on sale until April 5th at booths set up in famous Sakura hot spots like Yasukuni Shrine and Chidori-ga-Fuchi. As well as advocating responsibility for rubbish, they donated some of the proceeds to the “Sakura Fund” designed by Chiyoda Ward in order to preserve scenery. And when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom on the weekend of the 4th and 5th, their booth received a great number of visitors who came to check out the pink rubbish bags embossed with MOE.
According to Masamichi Kobayashi of K-307,
We originally came up with the idea of using the MOE character in order to get people interested, with the end result to be a set-up that links into addressing social issues and regional vitalization.
Under project Moeru Gomi, the novel-like story featuring the character on the rubbish bags unfolds.=
While at present only prologue is open to the public, from now on the plan is for this story, set in Chiyoda Ward, to “introduce the great parts of Chiyoda.”
The setting is of a young girl who can hear the voice of “Tsukumogami”, a spirit that lives in old things that have been used for ages, and this is reflected in the title.
Another great thing is the story, which develops around an adolescent comedy that hinges on a love of the earth and a passion for “mottainai” (not being wasteful.)In future, Hayashi wants to make in-roads into Akihabara, the promised land of MOE. In fact, there are already plans afoot for litter sweep events and sale of official rubbish bags in Akihabara shops. “Moemai” rice from Akita prefecture featuring the MOE character is a hit in Akihabara, displaying how “MOE” is breaking into a new product category altogether. Thanks to “Moemai”, a guy living on his own came to cook his own rice for the first time instead of relying on the microwave.
Will this MOE character social development catch on? Certainly, the “Moe Market” with its huge economic clout is one to watch.This article has been translated from the original Japanese post
