TOKYO (dpa) – When Mrs. Yamamoto brings her sacks of “burnable garbage” to the edge of the street, entire flocks of large crows are lurking around.
Only on those days of the “non-burnable trash” collection, when styrofoam and plastic rise up in metre-high piles, do the plundering birds stay away.There’s hardly any place in the world which is weighed down by such huge quantities of packaging materials as Japan every day. Above all in the densely-populated areas the country is on the verge of suffocating in the trash created by such prosperity.But now, gradually, even Japan is starting to develop a “green consciousness”.According to the latest survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 77 per cent of the 2,000 people questioned spoke out in favour of protecting the environment even if this meant having to suffer some “inconveniences” in their daily lives.But all one needs to do is to go into the supermarkets to see how even such items as tofu or detergents, already sealed in foil, are first put into transparent plastic sacks and then in the plastic shopping bags, to realise what a huge gap there still is between such sentiment and reality.In part, the gigantic packaging effort can be explained by the Japanese’ penchant for hygiene and by climatic conditions. But a finely-tune sense of aesthetics also plays a large role.For example, luxury fruit shops offer – at very juicy prices – special up-market apples which are packed in wooden boxes as if they were some kind of jewel.The Japanese do keep an eye on their neighbours to see that garbage and trash are separated according to the rules, but in general there is a lack of awareness that it could be better to prevent unnecessary packaging altogether.At the international climate conference in Kyoto in 1997, Japan committed itself to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2012 to a level of six per cent below 1990 levels. About 20 per cent of such emissions in Japan result from the transportation system.Toyko mayor Shintaro Ishihara recently announced a campaign against diesel-powered vehicles. Which is why the bewilderment of many a foreigner is all that much greater when people unnecessary leave their car engines running. It points to a tough process ahead in developing environmental awareness in the population.Still, according to surveys, Japanese consumers today are placing increasing importance on environmentally-friendly products. Industrial companies are working more on “green” strategies and goods, and the Japanese market for environmental technology is considered to be one of the biggest in the world.Meanwhile, stricter laws are meant to induce consumers and companies alike to do more recycling and to conserve on energy.If so far the Japanese government has relied almost exclusively on nuclear power plants to cover the country’s energy needs, now more attention is to be paid to alternative energy consumption. It took a series of scandals and disruptions at Japanese nuclear facilities to get public opinion more strongly against atomic power.At the moment, only one to two per cent of the country’s electricity is derived from such alternative sources as solar power, hydroelectricity, wind generators or bio-gases. This market is to be promoted in the future.Next June, a law on recycling of electrical appliances such as refrigerators, television sets and air conditioners is to take effect, subjecting manufacturers to binding obligations.Critics say that recycling is still an underdeveloped area in Japan and that many recyclable materials are landing on the already filled-up trash dumps.Repeatedly there are protests by local residents against the construction of new trash dumps or incineration plants. Last October, one community went so far as to confiscate a piece of property in order to set up a trash heap on it.Meanwhile environmental groups are isolated an operate only at the local level and still lack a lobby. Nor does Japan have a “greens” party. Despite a gradually growing awareness of the environment, there can still be no talk about an ecological movement like the greens parties in Europe.
