Recycling bottle caps to save children from diseases PDF Print E-mail
By GPF-Office   
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Japan - On May 6, 2009 a group of volunteers went for their usual routine in search for plastic bottle caps in the town. The volunteers asked shops and collected bottle caps from rubbish bins beside vending machines in front of the shops. Knowing the volunteers come around, people who do not know where to take the bottle caps bring them to the volunteers.  

 

The volunteer group, Fukuoka wo genki ni suru kai, began collecting bottle caps since the bottle cap recycling campaign during Global Peace Festival Japan 2008. Global Peace Festival Japan 2008 encouraged participants to bring plastic bottle caps to the venue and collected over 1,100,000 bottle caps last November.

There are a number of non-profit organizations (NPOs), which promote a similar project of recycling bottle caps with the purpose of providing vaccines to children in developing countries. Since this project is widely known, many individuals, local communities, schools and companies collect bottle caps for the cause throughout Japan.

The project has two fold benefits – it contributes to environmental protection and at the same time saves lives of children from diseases such as polio and measles. In general bottle caps are brought to a recycling company and the money given in return for the bottle caps reach children in the form of vaccine through an NPO, which provides vaccination. Recycling bottle caps is an environmentally friendly alternative to disposing. According to a statistics, burning 400 plastic bottle caps (about 1,000g) produces 3,150g of carbon dioxide gases, considered to be the primary cause of global warming.

With the help of the local community, the number of the plastic bottle caps collected by the volunteer group in Fukuoka reached 21,000. The bottle caps were brought to IEON Kyushu, which is one of the few organizations accepting bottle caps for vaccines in Kyushu area. The company offers the donation raised from the bottle caps to an NPO called, Vaccines for the World’s Children (JCV), which strives to eradicate polio in Asia by supplying vaccines.

“We are devoted and active GPF supporters! We’ll continue to do our best in collecting rubbish, bottle caps, cleaning parks and promoting Global Peace Festival”, a participant expressed enthusiasm on the GPF Japan’s blog in joy of having donated 21,000 bottle caps. The volunteer group, Fukuoka wo genki ni suru kai - West Chapter shares their activities at http://genki-fukuokawest.org/.

Note: "Fukuoka wo Genki ni Suru Kai" is a partnering organization of GPF-Japan.