Tatsuo
Badges
Japan Participants
- Your Points Percentile:
- 100th
- Total Country Participants:
- 1
- Changed thermostat
- Changed settings on refrigerator, freezer, water heater and washer
- Replaced at least one third of light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs
- Disconnected electronic devices when not in use
Wild Card Items
- Eliminated second freezer or refrigerator
- Insulated water heater
- Replaced appliances with green-certified products
- Hung clothes up to dry instead of using the dryer
- Sealed all of the windows and doors
- Switched to organic produce
- Switched to eco-friendly cleaning methods
- Switched to locally made (non-produce) products where possible
Wild Card Items
- Cut use of disposable items
- Repaired or extended use of clothing items
- Stopped using wrapping paper for gifts
- Rented or borrowed instead of buying infrequently used items
- Ate a vegetarian diet one day a week
- Cut down on take-away meals
- Limited daily intake of beef to 8 ounces
- Switched to sustainable seafood
Wild Card Items
- Started a food-based garden
- Ate vegan or raw for a certain number of days per week
- Bought grass-fed beef instead of conventional
- Gave up at least one processed food
- Drove no faster than the posted the speed limit, avoided rapid acceleration or braking
- Removed extra weight from car, inflated tires
- Used public transportation instead of driving
- Reduced your planned air travel by one trip
Wild Card Items
- Bought carbon offsets for travel
- Carpooled or found a ride-sharing program
- Invested in a more fuel-efficient car
- Recycled all glass, aluminum, plastic, batteries and paper
- Eliminated advertising mail
- Changed to paperless billing
- Eliminated the use of plastic and paper bags
Wild Card Items
- Began composting at home
- Used biodegradable bags for walking the dog
- Recycled old athletic shoes and clothes
- Recycled or donated old electronics
- Gave up bottled water
- Turned off tap when brushing teeth, scrubbing dishes
- Shortened showering time
- Replaced shower head with a low-flow model
Wild Card Items
- Used xeriscaping for yard
- Installed a rain barrel to collect water for garden, lawn and plants
- Insulated water heater
Turning Point in a Country’s Way of Life
Posted by Tatsuo on March 21, 2011 When I started to write this blog, I thought it was a good opportunity for us to reconsider our way of life. I enjoy living in this country, so rich in manufactured products such as cars, home appliances, PCs and so on. We are surrounded by convenient tools that make living easy. In mid-winter, I…
Electricity Shortages After the Earthquake
Posted by Tatsuo on March 14, 2011 My wife and I are safe following the tragedy in northern Japan on Friday. The Japanese government has announced that it will cut 25 percent of our electricity supply to compensate for structural damage caused by the earthquake. It is more than easy for us to accommodate this change. Even if the country were not…
Gross Domestic Awareness
Posted by Tatsuo on March 8, 2011 Whenever I think about the impact of individual action on the environment, I wonder how one person’s effort balances against the global scale of our issues and what is needed to solve them. We must do whatever we can do to improve the environment, of course, but each country has its own domestic, cultural and…
‘Unplugging’ Electronics the Smart Way
Posted by Tatsuo on March 1, 2011 Around February 26, Japanese traditional calendar moves into a season known as “First flow of mist.” We do not use this old calendar system anymore. Still, I believe this wording represents the softening of these days in between winter and spring very accurately. From our flat by the shore, the early morning view of mountains…
Where All That Recycled Plastic Goes
Posted by Tatsuo on February 21, 2011 I always thought our city’s waste collection system was troublesome, and tried to find out why. Then I found a quirky situation regarding our national standard. As I mentioned earlier, the city we live in, Kamakura, has a quite rigorous garbage collection system: With 15 different categories for trash, it’s one of the strictest systems…
On Driving and Car-Sharing
Posted by Tatsuo on February 14, 2011 On February 7, the Foundation for Promoting Personal Mobility and Ecological Transportation announced research documenting the rapid increase of car sharing. Members of car sharing clubs have jumped up by a factor of 4.5 over the last year in Japan. The report also showed that car-sharing depots were 3.4 times more numerous than a year…
A Sustainable Diet … But What About Fish?
Posted by Tatsuo on February 7, 2011 The food recipes at my house are 40 percent vegetables. The breakdown for our diet in the last month is as follows: Vegetables: 40% Fish: 30% Chicken and pork: 10% Beef: 5% or less, two or three times a month (less than 500 grams, or 18 ounces) Bread & rice: 15% We didn’t measure this…
Finding the Bills, and Ways to Cut Costs
Posted by Tatsuo on January 31, 2011 I found I am an energy waster. Wow! The producer of this site requested our tally of bills. Immediately I felt lousy, frankly. Both my wife, Mariko, and I tried to find these bills just casually. We had put them somewhere in a box. But once we set out to find them, it took quite…
Citizen of Japan, Citizen of Earth
Posted by Tatsuo on January 21, 2011 As a citizen of Japan, I believe I will be a good citizen of the Earth as well. At the 2009 UN climate summit in New York, the Japanese government committed to decreasing total greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020. This is very difficult to achieve. It will be impossible if…
