The MOTTAINAI Campaign is striving for world peace through environmental conservation, effective use of limited resources and efforts to prevent global warming.

Prof. Maathai is the honorary chair of the MOTTAINAI Campaign. The campaign office is located in the Tokyo headquarter of The Mainichi Newspapers.

We are working with local communities, government agencies, partner NGOs, and key businesses to implement environmental conservation and peace.

We support the Green Belt Movement that people try to plant trees in Africa and the world. Prof. Maathai propounds the movement to plant 1billion trees until 2007, as a guardian of “1 billion Trees Planting Campaign” promoted by United Nations Environment Programme　(UNEP).

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30 personal computers presented by MOTTAINAI corporate company in Japan: in the Green Belt Movement office in Nairobi, Kenya

The Mainichi Newspaper Corporation have been broadening “MOTTAINAI Kids Planting Project” with National Land Afforestation Promotion Organization and National Federation of Kodomo-kai, that gets children learn about importance of conserving forests and environment from nurturing trees. We kicked off this project February 2006, and have worked out 17 site in Japan before November 2007.

The MOTTAINAI Project, which involves preventing ocean pollution and, to protect coral reefs, the ceasing of effluent outflows in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific, was initiated by the Japan (Youth) Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), which was dispatched to the area by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The MOTTAINAI song is played over the local airwaves there, and it seems that local children have taken to it and can often be heard humming this tune.

We have sent 30 pre-owned personal computers to Green Belt Movement office in Nairobi, Kenya July 2007. Tokyo Lease Company that in concert with MOTTAINAI spirit we address, made an offer 30 pre-owned computers ended lease period, and Microsoft installed software, Seibu TRANSPORTATION conveyed from Japan to Kenya.

MOTTAINAI Product Licensing

The approaches to make MOTTAINAI spirits useful for people’s life by commercialization are that The Mainichi Newspapers Corporation and ITOCHU CORPORATION promote the business of “MOTTAINAI” as a resources recycling brand. For example:

A square piece of cloth “Furoshiki” as an re-using my bag made of post- consumer material

WHAT IS FUROSHIKI?
Furoshiki is a square piece of cloth, whose name literally means “cloth for the bath”. It came into wide use in Edo period (1603-1868) in public bathhouses where it was spread on the floor while undressing and used to wrap bathing articles.

Today Furoshiki has largely been replaced by modern handbags and has lost its popularity as a practical everyday item, but it is making a comeback as an item which has cultural and aesthetic, ecological value.

You can use it as a part of Asian-themed art works or as a fashion accessory. Some people might use it as a wine holder, table cloth or even scarf. It’s up to your imagination how to use it. Be creative and enjoy Furoshiki!

A pair of chopsticks carrying for personal use called “My-Hashi”

“MOTTAINAI My-Hashi set” released by The Mainichi Newspapers Corporation.

is a lifestyle to save disposable wooden chopsticks, and is now ridden the crest of a boom in Japan. In Japan, We began to use disposable chopsticks in last half of 1800’s. Japanese tea ceremony “CHANOYU”, which have roots in Zen sect early 1200’s (We call “KAMAKURA” epoch), have a rules of behavior to make guests welcome by freshly made chopsticks. As a result of Japanese hospitality like this, we used to go for freshly made disposable chopsticks.

But We Japanese are in the process of change concerning our lifestyle, especially we are awakened that it is unacceptable to waste resources—although we have different opinion in which people insist disposable chopsticks aren’t a wasteful product because they are made of mill ends, great mass of disposable chopsticks are made in China, in which depletion of forest resources becomes social issue.

The Mainichi Newspapers promotes “My-Hashi” Campaign on the web and in the press, and “My-Hashi” is getting more familiar to us day by day,

MOTTAINAI Licensee Companies expand more than 50, and they race their knowledge to develop Campaign goods applied 3Rs ideas, that affable the earth. The right to use a MOTTAINAI trademark is granted to a company entering into a Licensing Agreement with MOTTAINAI Campaign, and the benefit from an association with MOTTAINAI Campaign is partly-raised funds for Green Belt Movement.