May 2008

Cover Story - Part 1

Survey with homemakers reveals tips for communicating:
Increase eco-product sales by “showing” eco-friendliness

 

Business opportunities in a tough environment: Ninety percent of consumers are still motivated to buy eco products

 

Unexpected benefits: Skillful advertising is a key to beating fierce competition

 

Stories about the birth of an eco-product: Using stories to convey messages of manufacturers and attract customers

 

Experience: Win consumer trust by appealing to all five senses

 

Survey of ecomom readers – Part 1: Half of respondents are likely to be affected by environmental messages

 

Survey of ecomom readers – Part 2: Totally divided in the degree of understanding environmental labels and terminology

 

My proposal: Izumi Momose, lifestyle columnist; and Fumikazu Masuda, Director of LLP EcoDesign Institute

 

Cover Story - Part 2

Effects and limitations of carbon cap policy

Close examination of domestic emissions trading

Heated discussion on cap-and-trade policy

 

Opinion: Government should subsidize energy-saving technologies rather than purchasing emission quotas

 

Learn about Technologies

 

First Step in Technology

[Dimethyl ether (DME)] China pays close attention to DME as a clean energy, while Japan works to accumulate technologies to produce it

 

Environmental Cleansing

[Electrochemical treatment of wastewater]

A venture company develops a new technology to decompose, sterilize and decolorize wastewater using electrolysis

 

Products

[Dyeable plant-derived plastic] Mazda uses the world’s newest polylactic resin in its auto seats

 

Learn about Environmental Laws

 

Re-introduction: Easy-to-Understand Environmental Law

[The Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global Warming] The amendment bill proposes to require stronger measures be taken by corporations and recommends publicizing the amount of CO₂ emitted by the use of products

 

Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law Q & A

Tips for creating a report on manifest issuance

 

This Month’s Environmental Law

The Energy Conservation Law and the Global Warming Measures Promotion Law are to be amended to expand the coverage of regulation

 

Easy-to-Understand REACH - Part 7

Activities at Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF)

 

Trend and News

Measures against Global Warming

Developing countries raise questions to the Japanese proposal of “approaches by sector” at the G20 meeting, causing concern about the Hokkaido Toyako Summit 

 

Asbestos

Construction workers demand a total of 7.9 billion yen in state compensation - the largest lawsuit filed by asbestos victims

 

Recycling

As the investigation on false labeling of recycled plastic stumbles, the possibility of revising the Green Purchasing Law emerges

 

Destruction of Nature

Yellow dust is coming from China more often this year, causing concern about worsening allergies among Japanese people

 

Measures against Global Warming

Diet member Naoki Kazama calls for underground storage of CO₂ to be suspended, blaming it for the Niigata Chuetsu earthquake

 

Water Problem

New waterless, odor-free men’s toilets at a quarter of the regular maintenance cost

 

Measures against Global Warming

Sagawa Express “goes on an offensive” by launching a series of eco-friendly parcel delivery services

 

Accounting Standards

Environmental liability standard revised at the last minute

 

CSR Frontline

Pension funds show growing interest in socially responsible investment (SRI) but need to be more aware of investor responsibility

 

An NPO that has developed 100-dollar PCs for developing countries opposes Intel’s stance

 

Learn about Environmental Issues

True and False of Environmental Science - Special

[Future of global warming] Weather: Risks of death will double 100 years from now due to heat stress

 

Junko Edahiro’s Eye-opening Facts on Environmental Terms in English

[D-S-R]

 

Threats Waiting around the Corner

Genetically modified rapeseed and its second generation derived from hybridization hide themselves in rape blossom field

 

Column

Kankan Gakugaku (Active Argument over Environmental Issues)

Agnes Chan Miling, singer, ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF

 

Analysts Teach How to Evaluate Green Stocks

Nuclear power companies and air-conditioning manufacturers are the hot stocks in the industrial machinery industry, which is prospering thanks to environment-related businesses/This month’s emissions rights prices

 

Front Runner

Takashi Kiuchi, Chairman of The Future 500, Chairman of E-Square Inc.

 

Contemplating with Environmental Thought - Part 11

“Rights of nature” seen in anti-whaling

 

Cuisines of Japan

Modern “North-South trade” where goods are exchanged in an atmosphere of warmth

 

THE ROOTS - Japan’s Environmental Technology

[Water-saving washing machine] Uses only one-twentieth of the amount of water used 10 years ago

 

Report

Anatomy of energy conservation in Heisei Era - Part 1

Kyoritsu Kanbara General Hospital

 

Recycling Business Entrepreneurs in Local Communities

[Seinan Shoji] Achieves rapid growth by introducing gasification melting furnace

 

Inside-Out

[Judicial judgment on the issue of waste landfill site - Part 3]

Court successively rules against residents on the grounds that the public interest benefits of general waste landfill should be prioritized

 

WorldWatch Institute

Social injustice in India, a rapidly developing country where farmers and the environment are sacrificed in the name of industrialization

 

From Business Week

Do not allow two-pronged tactics of big corporations

 

ECO Seminar

Challenges to ISO

[Eco-Action 21 – Part 2]

The number of non-manufacturers that obtained registration increases thanks to manuals for each industry

 

New Environmental Study

[Review of the Home Appliance Recycling Law] ASA violates the law, triggering a discussion over its fundamental points

 

New Environmental Study

[Measures to improve water quality in China’s lakes] With contamination of freshwater lakes worsening, Japan is expected to cooperate in taking measures to stop blue-green algae outbreak

 

Key Word

Green IT/BOD/COD

 

World Trend

 

From Washington D.C.

Trade volume in the bustling green electricity market triples in three years

 

From EU

While German legislation for recycling containers and packaging takes a weaving path, questions arise about the measures against free-riders

 

From UK

Nature conservation groups express concerns about adverse effects of the EU’s new goal for biofuels use

 

From USA

For automobiles’“CO₂ diet,” automakers make efforts to cut the weight of car body by changing designs and using lighter materials

 

From Germany

Recognizing that the key to a sustainable society is education, schools and companies work together to provide young people with practical vocational training

 

From China

In the backdrop of growing concern over China’s food safety, the country is expected to establish a risk management system that covers its entire food chain