Earth Day Clean-up in Nagahama, Shiga April 25th: RESCHEDULED TO MAY 10th!!
Written by Salem on Feb 19th, 2009 and posted in 2009, Event_Archive, News
Shiga Earth Day Clean-up Cup 2009
Sponsored by BEE Japan, Shiga AJET, and Alishan Organic Center.
THE SHIGA EARTH DAY CLEAN-UP CUP 2009 WILL BE POSTPONED TO MAY 10th DUE CLIMACTIC WEATHER! PLEASE BE ADVISED AND TELL ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO WAS PLANNING ON COMING TOMORROW! The worst has happened, and tomorrow’s weather forecast shows 90% chance of cold rain, thunder, strong winds, basically any event planner’s worst nightmare. I don’t want to risk anyone’s safety, and I’m not naive enough to believe that anyone would want to show up in these conditions anyhow, so we are postponing the event temporarily. THEREFORE WE HAVE RESCHEDULED THE EVENT FOR AFTER GOLDEN WEEK: May 10th.
THE DETAILS:
When: Saturday, May 10th
Where: Nagahama, Hokoen
Time: 10am–early bird gets the worm, right? Really, whenever
you can join us is cool, but the sooner you can get started the better
chances you have a winning a cool prize!
THE PLAN:
-Apply in teams of about 3-4 people.
-Show up at Nagahama eki at 10am. We will
provide you with some gunte (gloves), bags, maps, hopefully metal tongs.
-Let’s cleaning Nagahama. Anywhere is fair game,
but for those who really want to go for Michael
Phelps-water-pipe-8-gold-medals-GOLD, I suggest the shoreline. There’s
no end to the gomi that washes ashore there.
-Rendezvous at 1pm at the usual ShigaJET BBQ Pavillion
THE STIMULUS PACKAGE:
-Prizes for the teams that collect the most gomi!
1st place: 10,000円 cash prize!
Other
awards for -1) BIGGEST GOMI & 2) MOST SURPRISING GOMI (pictures
will suffice, please don’t hurt yourself trying to haul in anything too
outrageous (and Nagahama Castle does not count!)
THE FEE:
-500 yen/person
THE POST BYOBBQ:
BEE Japan promotes vegetarianism and supporting
local business, however, I realize that not everybody is a vegetarian.
Therefore, we will be using AJET grills for a BYOBBQ after the events.
There is a Heiwado just on the opposite side of Nagahama eki with a
stock of local specialties (meibutsu) where you can buy food to throw
on the grill, and I’ll look up to see if there are any local markets in
the area. Charcoal and other starters will be provided.
THE VOLUNTEERS:
If anyone doesn’t want to get their hands dirty in
the Clean-up Cup, we could really use volunteers to help set-up the
grills for the BBQ. Please contact me at teamleader@beejapan.org. I can forward maps of the area with the dirtiest parts of Nagahama!!
FOR MORE INFO:
http://shigajet.eslwell.com/events/2009/04/shiga-earth-day-clean-cup
The event is open to anyone who wants to join, pick up trash, BBQ,
however, participants will not be eligable for the prize if they do not
contribute to the 500yen entrance fee. If you just feel like heading
out the morning of the event, that’s cool. Team names, uniforms, mascots, flags, theme songs, idols–are all strongly encouraged! Let’s have a good time while we kick that garbage in the be-hind and be-kind to our be-autiful Mother Earth!
Hope to see everyone on May 10th!
Peace,
Salem
BEE Japan 2009 Ride Team Leader
I want to give a big thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday! We had about 17 people, 9 of whom were students from one of the high schools I teach at (Kusatsu High). For most of them getting out and cleaning up Lake Biwa was a first-time experience, and many commented on how surprised they were by the amount of junk people just toss into Biwa without thinking. It was an eye-opener and I hope an great start to future efforts to take care of Biwa and the Earth.
Highlights:
~The Most Gomi Award of 10,000 yen donated by Shiga AJET went to a team of 4 boys from Kusatsu High School.
And the wonderful Alishan Organic Center/Tengu Natural Foods Gift Bags:
~Most Suprising Gomi Award went to Dale & Kenji, who found a 1 meter metal stake (eerily in the shape of a harpoon)
~Biggest Gomi Award went to a team of 5 girls from Kusatsu High. They found a 2.5 meter long cylindrical plastic/foam pad (used to pad metal wires that support telephone poles, to the best of our knowledge).
Other notes: We gathered about 14 bags (45 liters) of garbage, uncovered 3 plastic crates (which we used to separate our recyclables), 1 tire, 1 stereo, 1 loose buoy chain, 1 gas range, 1 Seiyu shopping basket, and several shoes which we separated and disposed of as instructed by the Nagahama City Environment Department.
Thanks again to everyone! Cleaners, sponsors Alishan and Shiga AJET, and Nagahama City Hall for their cooperation and support of Lake Biwa and BEE Japan!