ＥＭＥＣＳ９ International ConferenceEnvironmental education program for the youth

An approach to reduce the garbage at the

bottom of the Seto Inland Sea through two

activities：

collecting garbage at the sea bed and raising

public awareness of the consequences of

inappropriate waste management

Saori Takahashi

Sanyo-Girls High School

■The general view of

the Seto Inland Sea

Japan

Seto Inland Sea

Hiroshima

Yamaguchi

Hyogo

Kagawa

Ehime

Shimane

Tottori

Osaka

Tokushima

Kochi

Wakayama

Okayama Prefecture

Yorishima Port

Sea of Japan

Pacific Ocean

Sanyo-Girls High School

■Marine garbage

○Garbage washed up on the beach : pollutes

and has a bad effect on the quality of the beach.

○Garbage floating in the sea :

sea animals eat the garbage floating in the sea mistaking

it for food and die as a result.

○Garbage covering the seabed : damages the

seas fragile ecosystem.

Categories of marine garbage

■The Seto Inland Sea’s marine

garbage problem Over 13,000 tons of garbage is covering the bed of the Seto Inland sea

The ratio of marine garbage entering and flowing out

from the Seto Inland seaThe amount of garbage carried into the sea by local rivers 3000t/ year 66%The amount of garbage brought into the Seto

Inland sea from the surrounding region 1200t 27The amount of garbage brought into the Seto

Inland sea from the Pacific ocean 300t 7The amount of garbage collected by ships and

fishermen 1400t 31The amount of garbage floawing out from the

Seto Inland sea into the Pacific ocean 2400t 53

The amount of garbage covering the seabed 700t 16

■Negative environmental influences on local

fishing industry

Transition of a fish catch all over Seto Inland sea

The influence of marine garbage causes

⇒ The reduction of fish catches

Cause : Water pollution caused by the marine garbage,

The reduction of hatching area

All over Seto

Inalnd sea

a catch of fish

sea weed

the other sea

animals

Shellfish

lobster・crab

squid・octopus

fish such as eel

fish living in the

sea

wide-ranging fish

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of awareness of marine garbage

age ＹＥＳ ＮＯ

６１over 90% 10%

５１～６０ 75 25

４１～５０ 57 43

３１～４０ 30 70

２１～３０ 17 83

under２０ 5 95

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2009

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of marine garbage covering the seabed

age ＹＥＳ ＮＯ

６１over 27% 73%

５１～６０ 18 82

４１～５０ 13 87

３１～４０ 9 91

２１～３０ 2 98

under２０ 0 100

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2009

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of awareness of the connection between poor waste

management and the growing volume of marine garbage

age YES NO

６１over 38% 62%

５１～６０ 30 70

４１～５０ 22 78

３１～４０ 18 82

２１～３０ 3 97

under２０ 0 100

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2009

■ The activity of raising public awareness of

the consequences of poor waste

managementThe inability to see the connection between marine garbage

and our poor waste management

The waste discarded in our daily life is carried into the sea

through the rivers of surrounding areas

Ignorance of the problem doesn’t lead to its

reduction

Raising public awareness leads to the

reduction of the volume of waste

■The activity of collecting marine garbage

covering the seabed

（small type of trawling fishing net） （separating the garbage into different kinds on the boat）

（ collecting the garbage in summer ） （ collecting the garbage in winter ）

■The marine garbage collected from the seabed

5 12 9

82

70

1

8

155 5 7 001

布

紙類

材木・木片

プラスチック製品

ポリ袋

トレー

ペットボトル

ゴム製品

漁具（ロープ・網）

その他

金属製品

缶類

ビン類

ガラス破片

その他

cloth

paper

wood

plastic

products

plastic bags

tray

pet bottle

rubber

products

fishing nets

and ropes

miscellaneous

metals

cans

bottles

pieces of

glass

miscellaneous

plastic bags

tray

fishing nets and ropes

■Raising public awareness of the

consequences of poor waste management

Through Media

Through academic activity

Through making educational materials

Toward local area

■Making a video and educational materials

regarding about the marine garbage problem

Audio-visual materials

Making cards

Children can enjoy playing cards

and simultaneously learn about

the problem

What we saw while collecting

the marine garbage

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of awareness of marine garbage

age ＹＥＳ ＮＯ

６１over 87% 13%

５１～６０ 90 10

４１～５０ 88 12

３１～４０ 68 32

２１～３０ 62 38

under２０ 58 42

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2010

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of marine garbage covering the seabed

age ＹＥＳ ＮＯ

６１over 68% 32%

５１～６０ 70 30

４１～５０ 67 33

３１～４０ 62 38

２１～３０ 59 41

under２０ 59 41

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2010

■Public awareness toward marine garbage

The degree of awareness of the connection between poor waste

management and the growing volume of marine garbage

age YES NO

６１over 58% 42%

５１～６０ 62 38

４１～５０ 57 43

３１～４０ 50 50

２１～３０ 38 62

under２０ 29 71

200 people in Okayama city took part in the survey , 2010

■What we learned

●The inability to see the connection between poor

waste management and the growing pollution of

the Seto Inland sea

●Developing and maintaining activities designed to

raise public awareness

●The importance of collecting garbage and

simultaneously raising public awareness

The present situation regarding the problem of marine

garbage covering the seabed

●The reality of living in a consumer society and appropriate and

responsible waste management.

●The lack of legislation regarding the retrieval of marine garbage

covering the seabed.

●A problem which will occur forever unless people become

aware of the consequences of their behavior.

●Local efforts to take on such a huge problem have little result.

●Working under the harsh natural

conditions ( weather & climate)

●The volume of garbage on the

seabed far exceeds The volume of

retrieved

●Collecting unburnable garbage &

industrial waste

Activities to collect

marine garbage

Raising awareness of the problem and educating

local people

About consequences of their behavior

■ Future subjectSee the process of how badly discarded waste

materials becomes marine garbage.

Beautiful mountain stream

Collect the garbage

around the river

Garbage discarded in a daily life should

not be marine garbage.

Collect the garbage before it

becomes marine garbage

Aim for “zero” emission of marine

garbage

We would like to make friends all over the world through our

activities cleaning up marine garbage

The sea is a precious resource.

Enclosed coastal seas have the same problems.

【Ku】rushiiyo Umi ga Sakendeiru

Help us. The sea is crying for help.

【Su】tenaide Umi wa gomibako jya nai

Don’t throw it away. The sea is not a garbage dump.

Why don’t you tackle the restoration of our

sea’s beauty?

Why don’t you join our activities and help us clean up

marine garbage?