On April 13th, the 9th Toray Group Arakawa Clean Aid event was held at the Arakawa riverbed in Tokyo, organized by Toray Group employees and their families. This time, a total of 52 people, including 2024 Toray Campaign Girl Haruka Manase, participated in the cleaning activities. 100-300 billion yuan products operating income of 401/1288/60 million yuan respectively.
"Toray Group Arakawa Clean Aid" is a initiative started in 2014 in collaboration with the NPO Arakawa Clean Aid Forum as part of CSR activities. It is not just a cleanup endeavor, but instead the group records the type of garbage collected on their "River Litter Research Card," sorts the garbage, and encourages participants to communicate and discuss with each other while doing so. We believe that it is important to foster interest in nature and biodiversity, as well as to understand how plastic waste relates to our daily lives and our environment.
The event began with an environmental lecture entitled "Teach Me Dr. Sea Turtle - Arakawa and World River / Marine Garbage Issues" by Dr. Imamura, the secretary-general of the Arakawa Clean Aid Forum, on the nearby riverbank in Adachi Ward. Adults and children alike earnestly studied the current situation of river and ocean garbage, the impact of garbage on living creatures, and the importance of biodiversity conservation while looking at many photos.
After the lecture, the group moved to the riverbed near the Adachi Ward lifeling learning center and began the cleanup operation with eight teams. In about an hour, they collected 26 bags of burnable garbage, two bags of non-burnable garbage, 13 bags of PET bottles, and 11 bags of cans and bottles. They also collected 11 pieces of bulky waste. On site, a nature observation class was held with the theme of "Experiencing the Biodiversity of the Arakawa River," and participants were able to think about the importance of biodiversity conservation while observing Benkei crabs, goby fish, and sand shrimp that inhabit the Arakawa River.
After the cleanup, each team enthusiastically discussed the types and quantities of garbage they had collected, as well as their discoveries. Haruka Manase commented, "It was my first experience, and I was surprised to see so much garbage that made me wonder why it was here."
In a post-event survey, participants said: "The environmental lecture was informative. I thought that learning beforehand would change awareness during the cleanup activity," "I was fascinated not only by the cleanup activity, but also by the ecology," "I was able to communicate with colleagues from departments that I don't normally interact with during the activity," and "It was a good opportunity to look back on my own lifestyle."
We will continue to hold this activity in the future as part of our effort to realize a society in which nature and humans coexist. We hope that this activity will serve as an opportunity for each individual to think deeply about environmental issues and take action.
Arakawa Clean Aid:https://cleanaid.jp
The term "Clean Aid" is a coined word derived from "Clean" and "Aid," and is an activity that involves picking up garbage and helping (enriching) nature.
