Jay Dwivedi

When I lived in Japan, simply because the energy costs were so high, I was so careful in using it.  As far as I can recall, in my 3,000 square foot American home, I still spend only a fraction of what I spent in Tokyo for 500 sq ft mansion (yes, that is what apartments in Japan are called).  No surprise then that the Japanese keep coming up with innovative ways to cut their energy consumption, like discouraging Japanese salarymen from dressing too formal during summer.

Now in yet another clever idea to fight global warming, the Ministry of Environment has launched the Morning Challenge campaign (the Japanese people love the English word ‘challenge’ and use it all the time in Japanese too to make it appear that tasks are hard and if everyone takes them as a challenge they can accomplish them).  In summary, it is encouraging Japanese people to go to bed early and start the day early to lower their carbon footprint.  It is estimated that a typical family can lower its carbon footprint by as much as 200 lbs a year.