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Global Environmental Happennings
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, June 12, 2005

I burned a few calories laughing out loud when reading the Daily Grist last week. The Japanese have come up with a new idea for saving energy: leaving suit coats and ties at home. Their Environment Ministry launched a campaign urging government workers to keep office temperatures at 82 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 77 degrees in an effort to conserve energy by reducing air-conditioner use.

The Energy Conservation Center says it's possible the country could save 81 million gallons of oil in one summer just by turning down the AC. In May, the Daily Grist borrowed this column’s title, "A Sorted Affair," to report on new Japanese recycling programs. Yokohama officials sent to its 3.5 million citizens a 27-page instruction book on how to sort trash into 10 different recycling categories. The city aims to slash the amount of waste being sent to incinerators by 30 percent by 2010. Kamikatsu, a small town of 2,200 residents, has set its goal even higher: Zero Waste by 2020. The town requires citizens to sort their waste into 44 different recycling categories. In the last four years, Kamikatsu's recycling rate has hovered around 80 percent.

Ko Sasaki for The New York Times listed some of the "Sorting" rules: "Lipstick goes into burnables; lipstick tubes, after the contents have been used up, into small metals or plastics; kettles under 12 inches go into small metals, but over 12 inches go into bulky refuse; neckties go with used cloth but only after they have been washed and dried." Intense social pressure helps as volunteer garbage guardians inspect their neighbors' sorting efforts and pester laggards to get with the program.

SPAIN
Spain's biggest power company, Endesa, built two plants to generate electricity from the leftovers from olive oil production. The plants produce enough electricity to meet the household needs of 100,000 people.

SWEDEN
At midnight on June 1, technicians at Sweden's Barseback-2 nuclear reactor hit the off button, shutting down the country's oldest nuclear power plant for good. In a 1980 referendum, Swedes voted to phase out nuclear power in favor of renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass power. The country's 10 remaining nuclear facilities will be shut down in a few years.

LISBON
The World Wildlife Fund and U.K. development group BioRegional is planning an ambitious project to build a small, sustainable community in Lisbon. The project will include five communities each housing around 5,000 people that will include residential, work, and leisure facilities. All energy in the settlements will come from renewable energy sources. Rainwater collection and wastewater recycling will cut water consumption. Half of the food will come from within a 30-mile radius and 90 percent of organic waste will be composted.

LONDON
If you want to drive into central London, you have to pay a congestion charge of five pounds per day ($9). The program that started in February of 2003 has sped up traffic flow, cleaned the air, and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. The fee has forced people out of their cars and filled double decker buses, subways and sidewalks. Speaking at the Mayors conference in San Francisco, London Mayor Ken Livingstone challenged American cities to do the same. To get into San Francisco, we pay either $3 or $5 to cross the bridges. Those who live on the peninsula pay nothing. Maybe it’s time to consider a congestion
charge for the city.

LOCAL ACCOLADES
Congratulations to Vallejo residents and businesses for recycling over 90 tons of electronic waste and over 1500 old tires at Vallejo Garbage on Earth Day in April. I am happy to report that over half of the gardens featured on the Vallejo Museum’s 2005 Garden Tour had active backyard composting systems. Using your own compost makes your garden healthier and reduces your need for petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

VALCORE Recycling Vice President Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling manager at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.

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