May 30 is "Zero Waste Day": Let's think about what we can do every day to reduce waste
May 30 every year is specified as "Zero Waste Day" according to a pun on the date in Japanese, "5(go) 3 (mi), meaning waste, and 0 (zero)." "Zero waste initiatives" originally started with the call of citizens.
In 1993, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (currently the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare) formally specified the week starting on May 30 as the "Waste Reduction Promotion Week."
Currently, the week from May 30 to June 5 (Environment day) is designated as "Waste Reduction and Recycling Promotion Week," and 3R promotion initiatives and monitoring activities for prevention of illegal waste dumping are implemented across the country. *Reference: The Ministry of the Environment website (Japanese)
Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Group takes part in cleaning volunteer activities, not only on "Zero Waste Day" but on a regular basis, as part of its efforts to work towards a "World Without Waste," the vision shared among the Coca-Cola System. Every year, we host a coast cleaning event; in 2019, many of our employees participated in the cleanup activities at nine locations, including not only coasts but also downtown areas. (*Note: The event was canceled in 2020 in an effort to prevent the COVID-19 infections.)
Tsurigasaki Beach, Chiba Prefecture
Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture
Area around the Osaka City Hall
Miyajima, Hiroshima Prefecture
We also get involved in cleanup activities, supporting and working together with green bird, a specified non-profit organization active in collecting litter, in our efforts to "deliver happy moments" (*1).
"Sawayaka walk," a program implemented for health management, is designed to encourage a moderate exercise of walking and to stimulate communication among employees by competing on the number of steps taken by teams and individuals. Taking advantage of this initiative, some employees took on the challenge to walk their target steps while participating in the cleanup activities with "green bird." This illustrates how employees' awareness in "cleanup'' has been improving.
In addition, we installed a "green bird Kagoshima team support vending machine" in downtown Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this vending machine is donated to "green bird" to support their activities. Click here for details.
Together, let's think about environmentally friendly actions in daily life, taking advantage of "No Waste Day" as a good opportunity.
*Note 1: As of May 2021, the company-wide cleaning project has been suspended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
*Note 2: Green bird, a specified non-profit organization, is taking countermeasures against COVID-19 inflection including the following: request participants to pre-register, limit the number of participants, check body temperature when participants arrive at the field, wear masks and gloves, use tongs, disinfect hands before and after activities, and call on participants to dismiss immediately after activities.