Anyway, last week we had snow in Tokyo. The next morning, as I was walking to the train station, the sun had just risen and its rays were warm enough to start melting the light dusting that had fallen on the treetops. Throw in a little wind and the result was a flurry of light snow falling all around the woods while the sun shone in a blue sky on a crisp day. The video below doesn’t do full justice, but does pick up a bit of the atmosphere. Crows can be heard in the background and the whole scene was one of serene calm amid the sprawling suburbs of Tokyo. This is why I walk through the park everyday on my way to work.

While we may have insulated ourselves somewhat from the chaotic and harsh whims of nature and the elements, we have become almost too far removed from it at times. For all it’s destructive and awesome force, the natural world is gorgeous, whether it be at the tiny scale of a lady bug on a leaf or at the hard-to-take-in vast scale of the Grand Canyon. If we are to truly become sustainable, we cannot forgot our dependence on and inseparability from nature. In the precious 3 minutes of calm and quiet I walk everyday through a small park in the largest metropolitan area on earth, that fact perhaps hits home more than ever.

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photovoltaic (PV) power increased by 36.1 percent (%) from the previous fiscal year, with the launch of the Excess Electricity Purchasing Scheme for PV Electricity in November 2009. Wind power and biomass power also continued to increase by 16.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Micro-hydropower (10,000 kilowatts or less), geothermal power and solar thermal power decreased slightly. All told, the domestic supply of renewable energy increased by a mere 4.2% from the previous fiscal year.

Given that a feed-in tariff system approved by the federal government last year will be implemented this summer, the amount of renewable energy being used should see even larger growth. This is one area where Japan should not look to the U.S. for guidance or advice but take a strong and clear leadership position by itself. There is a lot the U.S. can learn about energy efficiency by studying Japan.

[Image by author]

The car is manufactured in Iwate prefecture, one of the areas hardest hit by the March 2011 tsunami. Made by Toyota’s subsidiary Kanto Auto Works, President Tetsuo Hattori hopes the Aqua acts as a “small light” in the recovery from the March 11 disaster.

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The New York Times article mentioned that Coca-Cola “plans to work with three companies that are developing competing technologies to make plastic from plants, with bottles rolling out to consumers in perhaps a few years.” As with the recycled content competition, the race to manufacture a plant-based bottle involves Pepsi as well. According to the article, the company also announced “it was on schedule to conduct a test next year that involved producing 200,000 bottles made from plant-only plastic”

Unless the plant-based bottle is cost-effective, there will be no time table for the full scale deployment. Companies have reduced their plastic usage in bottles by reducing the amount of raw materials needed. Royte mentions that Dasani, Coke’s brand of bottled water, reduced the amount of plastic needed from 18.2 to 13.8 grams per bottle. Other bottlers use even less, like Nestle – at 12.5 grams. Many of the bottles on the market are noticeably lighter in weight and less “sturdy” than earlier renditions of the PET (polyethlene terephthalate) bottles.

Unfortunately, plant based bottles miss the mark. Without higher rates of recycling (and lower consumption), plant-based plastic bottles only trade one problem for another. As Royte discusses, there are issues with recycling plant-based plastics. She writes “Recyclers don’t like corn plastic . . . it doesn’t mix well with the conventional stuff” (p. 163). Additionally, it depends on what plants are used. Is there competition with food by using corn or soy? A sustainable plant bottle will need to come from a resource that does not cause food shortages or squeeze out crops because they are grown on agricultural land.

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The other piece of news comes from Coca-Cola, a company with a huge commercial presence in Japan. They have made several green moves here, including introducing a partially plant based PET bottle (check back tomorrow for more on plant-based bottles). More impressively, Coca-Cola Japan Co’s 2011 Sustainability Report mentions that the company reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 420,000 tons from its 2004 output (chart below). 

The total CO2 emissions reduced by the Coca-Cola System far exceeded its target of about 360,000 tons compared to 2004 levels by 2010, with emissions reduced in all business processes including manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and office operations. Innovations in distribution contributed the most to such a large reduction. Having shifted to a supply chain management (SCM) system in 2009, the distribution division reviewed manufacturing and distribution flows and streamlined shipping routes, thus achieving a CO2 reduction of about 70,000 tons.

Aside from being a smart PR move, initiatives like Coca-Cola’s eventually positively impact the bottom line, the true proof of the benefits of going green.

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