Living in Harmony with Nature
Contributing Through Casio’s Business to Social Issues Related to Biodiversity
│Lateco Label Writer Reduces Plastic Waste
The issue of plastic waste in the oceans has become increasingly important as a global environmental problem. Ocean waste includes discarded petroleum-derived fishery materials, as well as waste such as disposable plastic containers and packaging originating on land that flow into the ocean via rivers. It is becoming clear that such waste has an impact on marine ecosystems, and there are concerns about its impact on the marine products used as food. For its new Lateco label writer, Casio redesigned the conventional model to minimize wasteful margins on the edge of the tape, while creating a tape cartridge that can be reused. As a result, the amount of plastic waste generated by using Lateco has been significantly reduced compared to previous Casio models.
This initiative was recognized in 2021 when Lateco tape won Eco Mark Award 2021 Best Product. The product is also registered with the Plastics Smart Campaign of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.
Lateco product information (in Japanese)
Eco Mark Award 2021 Best Product (in Japanese)
Plastics Smart Campaign at Japan’s Ministry of the Environment
EC-K10
EC-P10
Plastic waste is significantly reduced when changing the tape
Cartridge is reused
Conventional model waste versus Lateco
Conventional model waste versus Lateco
* Nameland 18-mm tape cartridge waste compared to Lateco 18-mm tape spool waste
As a partner in the Plastics Smart Campaign by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, in March 2022 Casio also concluded an agreement on collaboration to reduce plastic waste with Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture. This followed an earlier agreement we concluded with the town of Hayama in Miura District, Kanagawa Prefecture in March 2021. Hayama is implementing the Hayama Green Program as an environmentally mindful initiative. This initiative has much in common with our recognition of the issue of plastic waste and the initiatives we are taking to reduce it. By concluding this agreement, Casio will work on mutual cooperation and further promotion. Yamagata Casio, a Casio group company, is also taking part in the agreement with Higashine City and has plans to participate in a variety of activities in Higashine City in the future.
Agreement on Collaboration to Reduce Plastic Waste concluded with Hayama (in Japanese)
Employee Volunteers Participate in Litter Cleanup Event
For three consecutive years since 2019 employee volunteers primarily from Lateco-related departments participated in the Furusato Cleanup in Arakawa. The even sought to foster greater understanding of the social issue of ocean plastic waste through hands-on activity.
This event usually draws several hundred participants, but the organizing office has held a smaller event for the past two years as a measure to control the spread of COVID-19. Under these circumstances, the energetic collection of waste that had drifted ashore or been illegally dumped in Arakawa in cooperation with many other people while taking infection control measures earned a certain degree of recognition.
Collecting a large volume of plastic bottles that had drifted ashore
Sorted and bagged bulky garbage
A group photo of all participants including Casio employee volunteers
The site where waste was collected in November 2021 had more waste drifted ashore than ever before, and we were given responsibility for the difficult sections in recognition of our good efforts on the two previous occasions. Despite the cold wind, the employee volunteers worked without flinching alongside participants from other citizen groups to collect as much waste as time allowed. This year, too, quite a lot of waste was collected, and everyone was able to share a sense of accomplishment particularly because it was a group effort. In addition, they were able to reaffirm the meaning of continuing these kinds of onsite activities and the importance of reducing plastic waste through business activities by redesigning Casio products like Lateco.
│Preserving Biodiversity through Collaboration with Environmental Protection Groups
Casio has developed many brands of watch products such as G-SHOCK, BABY-G, and PROTREK.
These Casio brands deliver functions, performance, and designs suited to the many diverse activities and situations in which people use their watches. Many of those envisioned situations are beautiful and sometimes harsh natural landscapes, including a wide range of land and ocean environments. As the manufacturer of these brands, Casio believes in its responsibility to protect natural environments. Casio leverages its main business activities to achieve this and has been developing collaboration watch models with a number of environmental protection groups each year. The name recognition and product appeal of the Casio brand helps energize each collaborating group’s environmental protection activities and public awareness of them.
G-SHOCK and BABY-G Collaboration Models for the “Love the Sea and the Earth” Project
Based on a theme of “Love the Sea and the Earth,” Casio has developed G-SHOCK and BABY-G brand products with environmental protection groups such as the International Cetacean Education Research Centre (ICERC Japan), Aqua Planet, and Earthwatch Japan, and Casio also supports these groups by providing these products and sharing information.
Casio’s support of ICERC Japan, through the ongoing creation of dolphin and whale watch models that began in 1994, reached its 28th year in 2022.
ICERC Japan: Collaboration models in 2022
Aqua Planet collaboration model in 2022
Earthwatch Japan collaboration model in 2021
Casio Coral Field
In 2018, Casio began providing support for Aqua Planet, an NPO that preserves and restores coral, which is chaired by actress Ritsuko Tanaka. In January 2018, the Casio coral field was established in the seas of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, and 200 coral “seedlings” were planted with the objective for them to reproduce in three years’ time.
The Casio coral field lies to the south of Ishigakijima island, Okinawa Prefecture in shallow seas about 4 meters deep at high tide. The coral coexists with a phytoplankton called zooxanthella, and coral seedlings from more than seven resilient varieties, including Acropora Copiosa Nemenzo in the genus Acropora of the family Acroporidae, were planted.
These coral seedlings were ones that had been newly collected with permission and divided seedlings cultivated in other coral fields. More than three years after planting, the mature coral is now home to small fish.
Casio Coral Field (May 2020)
Casio Coral Field (January 2018)
Contributing to Coral Reef Conservation Activities with Logosease
The Kikaijima Reef Check was held on October 18, 2020 to ascertain the health of the coral reef on the island of Kikaijima in Kagoshima Prefecture. Yamagata Casio assisted by providing Logosease diver communication devices.
Underwater transceiver, Logosease
Reef Check is a coral reef monitoring program conducted on a volunteer basis using an internationally uniform technique to investigate the soundness of coral reefs worldwide. The purpose is to reduce the human impact on coral reefs by recording the condition of fish and other creatures living on coral reefs as well as the condition of the seafloor to assess the health of coral reefs and raise awareness about their protection.
Since the recruiting of volunteer divers from outside the island was curbed because of COVID-19, the Reef Check was conducted only by divers from WWF JAPAN, the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, Amami Marine Life Research Association, Yonemori Diving Service, and divers from the island.
The Reef Check was conducted in good weather with visibility around 40m. The health of the coral reef, which was everyone’s concern, was found to be unchanged from 2019. It was still in good condition with little bleaching.
Yonemori Diving Service provided photos of the Reef Check. It commented that, “Logosease underwater transceivers are essential to communication underwater, and they were extremely valuable during the Reef Check. Basically, the Reef Check is conducted in pairs or groups of three, so we appreciate being able to precisely communicate by voice when confirming, collaborating, and giving signals.”
Source: KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences
│PRO TREK Collaboration Model with The Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J)
In 2018, Casio began providing support for The Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J) through its outdoor watch brand PRO TREK. By releasing watch models in collaboration with the NACS-J, Casio has been supporting the conservation of specific species.
For the first such effort, in 2018, Casio released a collaboration model with the motif of a golden eagle (listed as an endangered species (IB) in the Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s Red Data Book 2019). In the second year, Casio debuted a collaboration model featuring the Shijimiaeoides divina (a butterfly listed as an endangered species (IA) in the same book). In 2020, a collaboration model was launched showcasing loggerhead turtles (listed as an endangered species (IB) in the 2020 book). In 2021, a collaboration model was released with the motif of Oze, which is the birthplace of the predecessor to the NACS-J. In 2022, Casio released a collaboration model with the motif of a grey-faced buzzard (listed as an endangered species (II) in the 2020 book).
