Mottainai

An older student of the FLP Sasaki Seminar was quick to notice the lamentations of officials from Hachioji City. Two years ago, graduating students of the seminar met a city official at a seminar workshop and learned about the collection and disposal of items thrown away in spring by graduating students. This was the beginning of a new theme.

A decision was made to hold a Reuse Market. Full-scale preparation began from April of last year, about 1 year after formulating the concept of the event.

After conducting a research, seminar students went to interview Yokohama National University which was known to lead this activity. A partnership was formed with Hachioji City, and the seminar project was selected as a model project of the Reuse General Consultation Center of Hachioji City Hall.

In 300 rooms of shared residences operated by the Chuo University Coop across campus, the seminar posted flyers calling for donation of furniture no longer needed by graduating students. In Japan, it often costs to throw away large items, but for this event, seminar students would go and pick up the furniture for free. It was a win-win situation for both parties.

Hachioji City cooperated with the transportation of donated furniture. The city even provided a truck and driver. Hachioji City is home to 21 universities (see table at end of article) and hopes to expand the project in the future.

The discarded furniture was cleaned and repaired by seminar students. They created a catalog which indicated the size and weight of each item. In total, 61 pieces of recycled furniture were collected, including shelves, desks, tables, television stands, fans and storage cases. Currently the project excludes home appliances in concern for safety and the Recycling Act.

Posters were put up throughout campus to announce the holding of the Reuse Market. Seminar students attended gatherings for new students to advertise the event. On the day of the event, seminar students handed out flyers. Information was also provided on the seminar homepage.

The Reuse Market was held at Central Plaza, a space located between the Central Library and Hilltop on the Tama Campus. Central Plaza is also the site of the sending-off party for Chuo athletes who were competing in the London Olympics.

The Reuse Market opened on March 25th and continued until April 5th. Although the plaza has a roof, both sides of the rectangular venue were open to the outside. Strong winds caused the furniture to fall over. Rainy weather created puddles and resulted in the event being suspended. The seminar received permission from the Chuo University Coop to use a portion of their storage space. During the event, seminar students were constantly worried about the weather. In the end, 42 of the 61 pieces of furniture were claimed by prospective users.

In addition to being offered for free, the furniture had been cleaned and repaired. Consumption tax in Japan has been raised to 8% and allowances to boarding students have decreased for the 13th consecutive year. In such circumstances, new students were especially grateful for the Reuse Market. Seminar students were devoted enough to use hand trucks to carry furniture to nearby residences. In the case of students who requested delivery, the furniture could be obtained for the cost of delivery fees only.

“The Reuse Market was the first project of its kind, and I was worried whether it would actually be held,” said a smiling Sakika Maezawa (the seminar leader, 3rd-year student at Faculty of Economics) as she watched a happy 1st-year student returning home with recycled furniture. “Seeing the joy on the faces of new students makes me glad that we held the event. The preparation was time-consuming and hard work, but very fulfilling.”

Through their activities, seminar students faced current social conditions. Licensing as a secondhand dealer is required in order to continually sell discarded articles acquired from the general public. On the other hand, if a defect were to be found in the furniture provided to new students, there would be the possibility of responsibility under the Product Liability Act which determine manufacture liability, despite seminar students acting as an intermediary.

“I studied laws which I had never heard about before,” laughs bitterly Maezawa. “There was so much research to be done.”

“We learned about applicable laws under the guidance of officials from Hachioji City,” said seminar student Hiroki Ochiai (3rd-year student at Faculty of Law) when discussing his commitment to the project. “We had to understand laws in order to bring happiness to both graduates and new students. We certainly didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone.”

Activity report attracts much attention.

On May 19th, the Chuo University FLP Sasaki Seminar finalized its activity report. Having reviewed by officials from Hachioji City and the Ministry of the Environment, the presentation of the Reuse Market Environmental Load Measurement stirred great interest.

“The Reuse Market realized a reduction of 328.10 kilograms in waste.”
“The project reduced Hachioji City’s monthly large garbage amount by 0.19%.”
“The rate of cooperation from Chuo University graduates was 0.78%.”

This data is useful in clarifying themes and focus for future activities.

Even if the impact and dissemination rate are small, there is still great meaning in calculating such numbers for the first time. The effort of seminar students is clearly reflected in the data.

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The term mottainai was first endorsed by Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Today, the term has become a global standard. The Sasaki Seminar started Reuse Market based on the concept of mottainai. Seminar students were compelled to conduct an environmental activity which would make people happy and help them save money.

■Members of the Sasaki Seminar

▽Responsible Faculty Member: Associate Professor So Sasaki, Faculty of Economics
▽Seminar Students
Name	Grade	Position	Undergraduate School	High School
Hirohiko Ichinose	4	Seminar Leader	Faculty of Letters	Saitama Prefectural Urawakita High School
Kaori Fujii	4	PR	Faculty of Policy Studies	Kanagawa Prefectural Kibogaoka Senior High School
Issei Suzuki	4	HP・SNS	Faculty of Economics	Kanagawa Prefectural Hiratsuka Konan High School
Yukiko Watanabe	4	PR	Faculty of Law	Tochigi Prefectural Utsunomiya Girls High Schoo
Sakika Maezawa	3	Seminar Leader	Faculty of Economics	Tokyo Prefectural Chofukita High School
Hiroki Ochiai	3	Advertising	Faculty of Law	Chuo University Senior High School
Tomoya Hori	3	Manual Creation	Faculty of Economics	Gifu Prefectural Nagara High School
Yohei Mamiya	3	Secretary	Faculty of Policy Studies	Setagaya Gakuen High School
Airi Sato	3	PR	Faculty of Law	Chuo University Senior High School
Masashi Morita	3	HP・SNS	Faculty of Economics	Chiba Prefectural Kogane High School
Kasumi Watanabe	3	PR	Faculty of Economics	Chuo University High School at Bunkyo
Yu Yoshimura	3	Manual Creation	Faculty of Law	Chuo University Senior High School
Mayu Katsumine	3	Advertising	Faculty of Letters	Kanagawa Prefectural Yamato High School
Keisuke Matsugawa	3	Accounting	Faculty of Law	Chuo University Suginami High School
Moemi Goseki	3	Advertising	Faculty of Commerce	Chuo University High School at Koganei