Japan’s environmental protection is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people
People who come to Japan often see signs saying “Visitors are asked to take away their garbage with them” erected in scenic spots with green mountains and green grass. In the National Wetland Reserve in Hokkaido, we found several kilometers of boardwalks laid out in the wetlands. Tourists walked consciously on these trails, and no one trampled on the wetlands.
Learn to take out the trash
When living in Japan, you must learn one thing: take out the trash. In the community where I live, Mondays and Thursdays are the days for taking out "combustible garbage", Tuesdays are for "non-burnable garbage", and Fridays are for "recyclable garbage" such as old newspapers, bottles and cans. At the mailbox downstairs, there is a piece of garbage sorting instructions. Nearby small supermarkets have special recycling bins. In addition to beverage bottles, finished milk cartons are also specially recycled.
While Japan has entered the ranks of the most developed countries, it also has the highest average life expectancy and forest coverage rate among major industrial countries, as well as the most developed environmental protection industry. The concept of circular economy has not only been written into Japanese legal provisions, but has also been deeply rooted in the hearts of ordinary people.
It was once a polluted country
Those who have been to Japan may find it hard to imagine that such a clean country was once a famous polluted country. After World War II, Japan concentrated its efforts on the development of heavy chemical industry. Due to the lack of effective environmental management, Japan's environment became smoky as the economy took off, and the Seto Inland Sea became the famous "Dead Sea."
In the 1950s and 1960s, residents became ill due to environmental pollution. In Kumamoto Prefecture, the local nitrogen fertilizer plant directly discharged mercury-containing wastewater, polluting the Minamata Bay. Local fishermen suffered from Minamata disease; in Yokkaichi, due to the exhaust gas emitted by petrochemical plants, many surrounding residents died of asthma; in Toyama, due to the local lead-zinc mines emitting cadmium-containing wastewater during mining and smelting, many residents suffered from the disease Suffered from osteoarthritis.
In the beginning, the local government and the manufacturer responsible for the incident did everything possible to conceal the truth in order to protect their own economic interests. This led to an outcry. Therefore, with the promotion of all parties, in addition to promulgating a series of environmental protection laws, the Japanese government also strives to use cultural concepts to promote the conscious environmental awareness of the people.
Enterprises are also environmentally friendly
The concept of environmental protection is also deeply rooted in the production processes of large Japanese companies. When we visited the Toyota Motor Company factory, we discovered that the final discharge link of the factory's sewage treatment tank was actually used as a fish pond, with many beautiful carps raised in it.
At the same time, Japanese companies have also developed many environmentally friendly products. Japanese companies have mastered the technology of extracting resin from recycled plastic bottles, allowing them to be reused as drinking containers.
Currently, in order to solve the problem of increasingly tight steel supplies, Japanese companies have begun planning to use wood to build high-rise buildings. Wooden buildings can reduce environmental burden: processing, assembly and even future demolition are simpler than using concrete, and the entire process does not emit carbon dioxide, and the dismantled wood can be reused.
I hope that the experience and lessons accumulated by Japan will help our developing country avoid detours and achieve a "win-win" for the environment and economy.
Environmentally friendly Japan
From October 4th to 12th, our delegation of college students from Guangdong Province paid a nine-day visit to Japan. In Japan, we visited scenic spots in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Yokohama, Tokyo and other places. We also visited places such as the Kobe City Environmental Future Museum and the Humanity and Future Disaster Prevention Center. Through a few days of seeing, hearing and experiencing with my own eyes, I gained a better understanding of Japan.
The most impressive thing is the cleanliness of Japanese city streets. Guangzhou is also a densely populated modern metropolis. Guangzhou may not be inferior to Tokyo and Yokohama in terms of urban hardware infrastructure such as high-rise buildings and three-dimensional transportation, but the city's health status is far behind.
Everywhere in Guangzhou you can see paper towels, drink bottles and other garbage discarded by people, and the exterior walls of buildings are often mottled. However, in Japan, the streets are very clean everywhere, without any garbage, and the houses are neat and tidy. It's clean, even the public toilets are spotless and don't smell at all. What makes me even more incredible is that there are almost no trash cans on the streets in Japan, let alone large garbage stations. Not to mention in the bustling streets of Ginza, Shinjuku and other places, even in residential areas, there are many places where you can’t even chew the food. On the day of my omestay, Ms. Ryoko, who hosted me, came to Kobe to pick me up and take me to Himeji. Because I had a cold, I used several tissues along the way. When I asked her where to throw these paper towels, she told me with embarrassment that the trash can was difficult to find, so she should just hold it in her hand and wait until she got home before throwing it away. Although carrying garbage along the way would be somewhat inconvenient for me as a new foreigner, objectively speaking, this approach does ensure the overall hygiene and tidiness of the city. If our country can introduce a policy like this to “take garbage home”, I will definitely respond actively and work hard to promote it.
After visiting the Kobe City Environmental Future Museum, I have a more detailed understanding of Japan’s garbage disposal issues. Japan has divided garbage into two categories: combustible garbage and non-burnable garbage for recycling more than ten years ago. Now the classification of garbage is more detailed. As far as Hyogo Prefecture is concerned, they require residents to classify domestic waste into six categories, and even beverage bottles must be separated into glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, etc. for separate disposal. Residents are also asked to rinse bottles and cans before discarding them. Different garbage must be thrown away separately on different days of the week, and all kinds of garbage must be thrown at the designated garbage collection place before 8 a.m. that day. If you miss the time, you will have to wait until the next time the same type of garbage is collected. According to the staff of the Environmental Future Center, the classification of garbage into six categories like Kobe City is actually nothing in Japan. The town of Kamikatsu in southern Japan classified garbage into 34 categories a few years ago, and this number has now risen to 44 categories.
In addition, Japan has many specific regulations on how to throw away garbage. For example, domestic garbage should be packed and sealed in special garbage bags. Such garbage bags are non-polluting to the environment and are sold in general stores. Dangerous items such as knives, broken glass, etc. should be wrapped in newspapers and labeled with the word "DANGER" clearly written on them. Large packaging cartons must be flattened and tied with ropes. If you have any large items at home that you want to throw away, such as furniture, large appliances, etc., you must purchase a special large waste disposal coupon and affix it to it, otherwise it will be rejected.
Such a complicated method of sorting garbage sounds like a headache, so Japanese children must learn the correct way to dispose of garbage from an early age. For example, the Kobe City Resource Recycle Center we visited is open to the public for free, and many elementary and middle school students will visit here during their school trips. The lecturers inside are all retired elderly people who are volunteers. They will tell you enthusiastically and tirelessly about the importance of classifying garbage and teach you how to distinguish different kinds of garbage. Indeed, to live in Japan you must learn to dispose of garbage. For those who do not dispose of garbage according to regulations, the government will usually send people to visit and persuade them.
Japan is a society of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal. For this reason, the Japanese government and all walks of life pay attention to strengthening people's environmental awareness. The government's propaganda has changed from the previous 1R (recycle) to 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle), which means that the first thing to do is to reduce the amount of garbage, secondly to promote reuse and use after repair, to extend the service life of items, and finally to resources of recycling. In daily life, for example, environmental protection slogans are printed on the packaging of various commodities. On the beer cans, in addition to the words reminding minors not to drink alcohol, the most obvious sign is "This is an aluminum product, please cooperate with recycling."
Even the business cards that people usually use are openly printed with the words "This is printed on recycled paper."
Looking back at China, it is said that there are currently more than 6 billion tons of domestic waste and 6.6 billion tons of industrial waste in our country, and they are increasing at a rate of 130 million tons every year. The per capita garbage output reaches 0.7kg-1.2kg per day. The problem of garbage disposal in our country is serious and urgent. There is indeed a lot that the Japanese have done on this issue that we can learn from.
Environmental-friendly agriculture in Japan
Environmental-friendly agriculture was developed from intensive agriculture. Due to economic problems, Japan, like other developed countries, has successively introduced some specific policies to Promote the development of environmentally friendly agriculture, while increasing publicity and strengthening national awareness of environmental protection, with a view to achieving sustainable development of agriculture as soon as possible.
Japan’s rice research ranks among the world’s advanced levels, and its rice production also has its own characteristics. As the population grows, the requirements for output are getting higher and higher, and soil nutrients tend to be insufficient. Human and animal excrement, plant residues, etc. need to be used as manure and applied to paddy fields. In this way, it is easy to cause the closure of rivers, lakes, and eutrophication of sea areas, and drinking water may also be contaminated. Therefore, relevant experts have conceived the specific posture of environmentally friendly agriculture based on water.
Water purification. Purification along the water flow and reuse of wastewater: on the one hand, the purification function of the paddy fields is activated and reducing soil is used to achieve nitric acid reduction; on the other hand, the plants on the banks of the water channels are used to remove nutrients.
Water recycling and purification: Groundwater irrigates dry fields through pipes, and its nutrients are absorbed by the soil and crops and purified. This situation requires an irrigation reservoir to some extent, and to inhibit algae. appropriate equipment for the occurrence.
Establish a regional water circulation system: consider the groundwater and surface water in the region together and establish an appropriate regional water circulation system to remove nutrient-rich substances in the region as a whole. In order to minimize the load outside the region, a regional environmental protection plan centered on agriculture is designed within the region to develop environmentally friendly agriculture.
Intra-regional recycling of organic waste. In regional environmentally friendly agriculture, organic waste generated in the region must be recycled within the region, or the reduction effect of cultivated land can be used to purify the regional environment.
The main types of organic waste are as follows: livestock waste to produce self-sufficient feed. The first thing is to apply livestock waste to cultivated land to maintain its fertility. If the price is suitable, this can also be considered. This treatment is brought to market. Special attention should be paid to the moderate addition of heavy metals in feed and the use of antibiotic powder.
Sludge, domestic wastewater, feces and urine, and sludge in village drainage should be treated as appropriate for farmland restoration as possible according to the properties and conditions, but they must meet certain texture standards, and fertilizers related to heavy metals, etc. are banned Laws and soil environmental standards also impose restrictions on the treatment of sludge. At present, the amount of cultivated land reduced accounts for only one-third of the sludge amount. It is expected that with the improvement of living materials, the development of residential construction and waterway design, the sludge utilization rate will be greatly improved.
The food industry, industrial and mining by-products and waste, and the food industry by-products are generally used as organic fertilizers. It is expected that with the strengthening of environmentally friendly agriculture, the amount of cultivated land restored will become higher and higher. Industrial and mining by-product wastes such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, silicate lime, etc. are processed through direct application in agriculture or through soil recycling.
Crop production process. The basis for establishing a regional material recycling and processing system is the production process of crops in the region. This foundation determines the environmental capacity and becomes the foundation of regional environmental planning. Japan regards organic, crop rotation, and fertilized agriculture as the core of environmentally friendly agriculture. Organic matter is the basis for maintaining soil fertility. Crop rotation can avoid obstacles to continuous cropping, and fertilization can regulate the growth of crops.
The harm of pesticides to users and the impact on the environment cannot be ignored. Japan’s groundwater has repeatedly found harmful substances exceeding the standard. Therefore, Japan restricts the aerial spraying of pesticides near drinking water sources to avoid causing the reduction of natural enemies, and promotes comprehensive prevention and control of pests and diseases to reduce environmental load.
Japanese experts believe that measures such as crop rotation that do not increase yields significantly because soil disinfectants are not applied should also be counted as environmentally friendly agriculture.
Japan’s environmentally friendly agriculture plan promotes “organic agriculture” as one of its aspects. Typical organic farming is crop cultivation without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. While environmentally friendly agriculture absorbs the achievements of organic agriculture, it plans to explore a way to separate food supply and environmental protection.
Japanese people have a strong awareness of environmental protection
Everyone who has been to Japan, whether for permanent residence, short-term visit or tourism, has been deeply impressed by Japan's good environmental protection status. . The mountains and rivers are beautiful and the sky is blue. Every place that can be green has turned green, and even the roofs of many buildings have been planted with flowers and plants. According to Japanese official statistics, Japan’s green coverage rate is as high as over 66%. Because green embraces Japan, even if there is a strong wind, there is no dust flying. For many years, Japan has never had sandstorms or dust storms.
According to reports, Japan’s emphasis on environmental protection has also come a long way. After the Second World War, Japan's industries were waiting for prosperity. In order to change the extremely serious difficult situation, the Japanese government hardly considered how to protect the environment during the process of economic recovery. During the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s, destruction occurred frequently. Environmental incidents, polluted air, dirty environment, and people's health are also threatened. The Japanese government has summed up experience and lessons and has always put environmental issues on its important agenda.
Changing concepts and strengthening environmental awareness is the key to solving environmental problems. To this end, the Japanese government starts with children. From elementary school to high school, environmental protection is a compulsory course for students. Children not only learn environmental protection knowledge at school, the school also organizes students to go out of school, such as organizing students to conduct social surveys on garbage problems, or organizing them to visit garbage disposal sites and sewage treatment plants, etc., to increase children's environmental protection knowledge and awareness. Even when organizing students to travel, some schools do not forget to launch a competition among students to see which class in a tourist attraction is cleaner when they leave than when they first arrived. In addition, the school also regularly communicates with parents and requires parents to cooperate with the school in providing environmental education to students. Many schools regularly carry out some environmental-related activities such as waste recycling, allowing students and parents to bring waste newspapers, plastic cans and other waste from home to school. The school and parents will jointly send the old materials to the recycling bin. The proceeds are used to purchase school supplies for students. After years of unremitting efforts, paying attention to environmental protection has become a part of Japanese life.
In order to properly and timely handle garbage, the Japanese government has also taken some specific measures. Taking Tokyo as an example, the city government divides garbage into "combustibles", "non-combustibles", glass bottles, iron and aluminum cans, etc., and distributes recycling bins uniformly, requiring residents to put garbage into different bins according to different categories. Inside. Although sorting garbage is troublesome, because people have a strong awareness of environmental protection, everyone still does it very seriously. In addition, relevant Japanese departments have placed garbage recycling bins in all possible places, such as stores, parks, parking lots, streets, squares, etc. Garbage recycling bins can be seen almost everywhere in Japan, and there are dedicated personnel responsible for them.
There are many people smoking in Japan. It is reported that smokers account for 38.9% of the total population of Japan. However, smoking is not allowed in public places such as subways, elevators, hotel corridors, and shopping malls. People also consciously abide by the regulations. Some smokers are very addicted to cigarettes. In order to solve the problem of cigarette ash, they always carry plastic or metal ashtrays with them when going out and never discard cigarette butts anywhere. In order to reduce automobile exhaust, the Japanese government encourages citizens to use bicycles instead of bicycles and stipulates that bicycles can be used on sidewalks to avoid traffic accidents.
Industrial waste is an important cause of environmental pollution. To this end, relevant Japanese authorities have adopted a new surveillance system, using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track the path of trucks transporting waste. The trucks are equipped with sensors and continuously take satellite photos of suspected construction sites to verify changes in the shape of the land. , thereby identifying those places where industrial waste is illegally dumped.
As environmental protection issues receive increasing attention, the environmental protection concepts of Japanese companies are also changing. Many companies have begun to consciously strengthen environmental protection from being forced to comply with environmental regulations in the past.
People gradually realize that environmental protection issues not only affect the overall situation, but also determine the life and death of enterprises. Since 1999, Japan's "environmental accounting" system has been rapidly popularized among enterprises, and the number of enterprises achieving "zero emissions" is gradually increasing.
It is particularly worth mentioning that in recent years, Japan has successively formulated a series of laws and regulations such as the "Container and Packaging Recycling Law", "Household Appliances Recycling Law", and "Renewable Resources Utilization Promotion Law" and gradually improved them. The legal system for environmental protection has been established. Currently, the "Basic Law on a Recycling Society" (draft) drafted by the Japanese government is in the process of being implemented. The implementation of this bill will enable Japan to shift from a modern economy and society to a "recycling economy and society." The biggest feature of modern economic society is "mass production, mass consumption and mass waste", and economic development and environmental destruction proceed simultaneously; while the "circular economic society" is characterized by sustainable development of "optimal production, optimal consumption and minimum waste" . The establishment of a "circular economic society" will lead to major changes in the industrial structure and changes in the direction of scientific and technological development, and will bring new growth points to the economy and create new markets. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry estimates that by 2010, the size of the environment-related market will increase from the current 15 trillion yen to 37 trillion yen, and the number of employees will increase from the current 640,000 to 1.4 million. The Japan Economic Planning Agency predicts that by 2020, the environmental industry will be one of the important pillars of Japan's economic growth. Paying attention to environmental protection has become a major issue of concern to the whole country in Japan.