Japanese firm to promote conservation

The Center for Environmental Education and Communications and Kao Holding Co Ltd, a Japanese chemical and cosmetics company, kicked off a joint campaign to promote water conservation in Beijing, to mark the 26th World Water Day on March 22.

This year, Kao will focus on water conservation on campus, calling students from more than 60 universities nationwide, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, to promote the idea of water conservation on the premises of their respective institution.

Besides educational institutions, households will be targeted. Kao will sponsor the water conservation promotional activities to show how even average households can save as much as 30 liters of water daily, or 10,000 liters a year.

Promotions with positive audience response will be granted up to 10,000 yuan ($1,600), said the company.

Conducted since 2012, this is the seventh year that Kao and the CEEC will jointly run the campaign, sharing water conservation tips through various ways, including games and brainstorming sessions to stimulate creative ideas for efficient water use.

Previous highlights include games conducted in shopping malls in Beijing and Shanghai to promote minimum use of water, how to reuse and recycle water in ways that minimize the environmental impact of wastewater, environment-themed painting contest for children, as well as promotions highlighting some of Kao’s water-saving laundry detergents.

Kao has been involved in China’s National Cleanliness and Water-Saving Initiatives, jointly with the Ministry of Environmental Protection since 2012. More than 300,000 people have been involved, said Minoru Nakanishi, Kao China’s chairman.

... Kao remains devoted to lowering the environmental load and damage during production, usage and waste treatment processes.”

Minoru Nakanishi,

China remains an important market for Kao with the introduction of water-saving techniques at the core of its social responsibility program, and Kao remains devoted to lowering the environmental load and damage during production, usage and waste treatment processes, Nakanishi said.

According to Dong Xuhui, chief engineer of the CEEC, this year the promotion will focus on campuses and involve more students in the mission of water conservation.

The CEEC functions as the department of environmental technology exchange and public education of the Sino-Japan Friendship Center for Environmental Protection, and its major tasks involve activities concerned with national environmental protection.

“As the water shortage problem worsens, we need to take further action, and the students play a key role in the mission getting the message out there, as water shortage has given rise to serious problems,” Dong said.

The country is confronted with a grim situation involving water resources, and the demand for fresh water is rapidly increasing every year, he said.