we should be turning japanese

Channel surfing led me to a random show about Japanese technological developments. It was pretty interesting to see that a country as advanced and as forward as Japan has grown more interested in sustainable development. Its amazing to see a whole country take a more progressive stance in protecting the environment. If they can do it, I'm sure the rest of the world can.

Here are some of the more interesting things:

1. Green Roofs - Japan, being the country where the Kyoto protocol was signed, has made it a law in its capital that buildings being renovated or built have roofs with vegetation. To take it further, the local government requires that 70% of the roof be covered by plants.

I don't know the exact details of the Kyoto protocol. I am sure however that it was signed by several countries to regulate cO2 emissions. A country, I think, is given a certain quota (in tons of cO2) that it cannot go over. For every ton that it goes over, the country is taxed.

2. New Plastic - They actually developed a plastic that is microwavable. This was being featured when I stumbled upon the show so I don't know the whole deal. All I know is that the plastic is biodigradable. It can cut down the amount of non-biodigradable waste the world has immensely.

3. Paper Discs - This one was such a trip. They can now actually make compact discs made of paper. And yeah, the discs aren't bad. In fact, they have a 25 gb capacity. Crazy!

Things are looking up. All of us have a responsibility to the environment and every little thing counts. Keep it green everybody!

Shoots!