The Wa to Wa (meaning ‘harmony’ and ‘social circles’) group is a volunteer organization, part of the larger Tamondai Community Planning Association, which has over 500 members, of a community population of 4,500. It was established under the ‘eco-town’ promotion by the Global Environment Division of Kobe City Government’s Environment Bureau, in the Tamondai residential area, in the west of the city. 

A member of the Wa to Wa community group shows Workshop participants how to make soap from used oil

Aiming to educate and motivate their community to lead more ecological lifestyles, the group’s seven members work with local residents and students from Tamondai elementary schools, to conduct environmental events and activities in their community. The group members explained some of these activities. 

Rapeseed cultivation is carried out in Tamondai central park, and the group members harvest and collect seeds to extract oil, and make soap to distribute to the community, with the resources of the local welfare center and school classrooms. If mixed with ethanol, the oil can produce a bio-energy source, which is a future project for the group. 

As disposal of cooking oil is harmful to the environment and costly for sewage processing plants if disposed of in sinks, or hardened with chemicals and burned as domestic waste, the Wa to Wa group decided to collect used tempura oil before it is disposed of and to use it to make soap. 

As a third activity, the group collects fallen leaves for use in composting. The town has a large number of deciduous trees which overflow the streets and plazas with up to 4-5 tons of fallen leaves during autumn. Previously, the leaves were collected and disposed of as garbage, but burning them at incineration sites was not environmentally sound, so the group decided to collect and bury them in holes dug in the central park. Usually to make compost, mixing fermentation bacteria or cow dung with leaves is effective, but they used the simpler method of burying the leaves in holes. Despite not producing large quantities of compost, the process imparts to children the importance of environmental waste reduction. 

Aside from practical activities, the members of the group also carry out traditional eco-oriented picture-card story telling with groups of children, to impart the importance of protecting the global environment, and teach solar energy generation using a solar powered model windmill. 

The activities are all promoted and documented in the "Wa to Wa" public relations magazine, so that the whole community can take part. The Kobe City Environmental Bureau Global Environment Division and Tarumi Ward Office Community Planning Division provide the group with slightly more than 160,000 yen per year of financial assistance, and their next project is the installation of a solar power generation system to the roof of the Tamondai Welfare Center.