Kawaguchi City in Saitama Prefecture observed Eco-Life Day - with remarkable results - on June 29, 2003, as part of celebrations to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its incorporation as a city. The Kawaguchi Citizens Environmental Council (KEC), a local non-governmental organization, has held the event annually since 2000 to give citizens concrete suggestions for environmentally friendly activities and encourage them to spend one day carrying out these activities. This year's Eco-Life Day was the fourth in the series, and KEC compiled and analyzed the data collected from participants to gauge the event's overall effect on the environment.

With the cooperation of the city government and its board of education, students of elementary, secondary, and high schools in the city and their families have also been involved in the effort. This year, a total of 28,904 people participated in Eco-Life Day and successfully cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3,105,823 grams in one day. This figure is equivalent to the amount of CO2 that 223 trees can absorb in a year.

Although the temperature on the Eco-Life Day was higher than the week before, power consumption dropped by 473,000 kilowatts per hour and the amount of water supplied decreased by 1,066 cubic meters. When converted into CO2 emissions, the decline was equivalent to about 171 tons, or roughly six kilograms per participant, for the one day. Given that average daily CO2 emissions per capita in Japan are 26.11 kilograms (based on 2001 data), it was calculated that Kawaguchi City cut CO2 emissions by 23 percent on Eco-Life Day. This rate of reduction is greater than the emission reductions Japan has pledged under the Kyoto Protocol.



Posted: 2004/01/02 12:03:08 PM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Food/Water , Global warming , Local government , NGO/Citizen , System/Law