I came across the Laforet Harajuku Clean Busters on the streets of Omotesando in Tokyo the other day. Matching tops, short tartan skirts, black tights, Ugg boots and pretty green dust carts were the fashion order of the day.



Laforet in Harajuku is, of course, a mecca of teen and twenty-something's shopping. So what were these young people doing picking up cigarette butts and discarded plastic bottles?



The idea for young people to get involved with cleaning up the urban environment was started by the Shibuya-based NPO Greenbird in 2003. "A clean town also makes people's hearts and minds cleaned," is the group's watchword.

The idea grew from the clean-ups organized by Japanese university students who have periodic mass cleansing of their campuses and local areas, after everyone has littered the area for a few months.

Greenbird now organizes events in 30 different districts in Japan including Kabukicho, Kichijoji, Kamakura, Omiya, Nagoya and Sapporo. Paris and Sri Lanka also now have local chapters.



Greenbird
206 Co-op Olympia, 6-35-3 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, 150-0001
Tel: 03 5469 5318

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