Elephants and Sweet Potatoes to Feed Osaka's Closed-Loop Project to Mitigate Heat Island Effects

Image by Dai44. Some Rights Reserved.

The mayor of Osaka, Kunio Hiramatsu, announced on February 18, 2009, that the city will carry out a closed-loop project using sweet potatoes and elephants in fiscal 2009. To mitigate the urban heat island effect in summer, the city aims to green the rooftop of City Hall with sweet potato plants and use the plant vines and leaves that are usually disposed of for feeding elephants in Tennoji zoo. The elephant's dung is then used as fertilizer to grow sweet potatoes.

As an effort to revitalize Osaka under a theme of "eco-friendly," the city plans to create a "green carpet" of sweet potatoes on the rooftop of the City Hall. Other ward offices, as well as elementary and junior high schools also plan to create "green curtains" of goya (bitter gourd).

The plant vines and leaves, which are usually thrown away as garbage after sweet potatoes are harvested in autumn, can be utilized as feed for elephants. The elephants' resulting dung can then be used as fertilizer for flowers and vegetables. The mayor said this is an "ultimate example of recycling," and that it would be a good opportunity for adults and children to become more conscious of the environment.

Rooftop Sweet Potatoes Win Eco-Products Award (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/027047.html
Osaka City official website
http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/english/

Posted: 2009/06/23 06:00:15 AM