JEAN: Beach Cleanup Here In Japan


Ever wanted to join a NGO or thought about doing something for the environment? Local volunteers are making a huge effort to get people to join beach cleanup campaigns along Japan’s long coastline. Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN) was founded by three Japanese women who wanted to do something about the trash they found on their trips to the ocean, and held its first cleanup event in September 1990.

JEAN’s beach cleanup campaign is making waves not only in Japan. 40,000 volunteers helped to pick up trash here last year, carefully writing down each item as part of the international Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup campaign.

JEAN has a nice motto: “Think Globally, Clean Locally”.



More details over at Treehugger.

(Image from Okinawa: Takakuku)

(Graph from Ocean Conservancy 2006 Report pdf)

Comments

owenandbenjamin said…
That sounds like a good organization. The problem here in Los Angeles is the trash and other waste people throw out on the street washes out to the ocean.
11:15 pm, July 24, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
Thanks for the comment!! This is one issue where we are all much more near each other than we normally think.

BTW seems there is a lot of action in the Long Beach area, have you heard of them?

http://www.beachcleanup.org/
11:27 pm, July 24, 2008
Pandabonium said…
It is disturbing that such a large share of the problem is caused by people who are enjoying the very ocean they pollute.

Wouldn't it be easier to use regulations on producers to reduce the waste being created rather than trying to solve the problem at the disposal end? Sort of nip it in the bud.
12:28 pm, July 30, 2008
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