Japan as ground zero for no-waste lifestyle

Three environmental models: Toyota's Prius factory, an electronics recycler, and a village that recycles 80 percent of its trash.

By Amelia Newcomb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the December 16, 2008 edition

Kamikatsu, Japan - Tucked almost imperceptibly into cedar-blanketed mountains an hour's winding drive from the nearest metropolis, Kamikatsu seems an unlikely spot for a revolution.

But try to throw even a candy wrapper away here, and it's quickly apparent that residents are radically reshaping their relationship to the environment.