[Golf] Rising Star Shin Joins CO2 Reduction Campaign

For Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan, November is “golf month.”

The Dunlop Phoenix Tournament was held last week, and Japan’s Ricoh Cup, a major women’s’ tournament, will open today. So much so that Miyazaki Airport is filled with golf events. Sales of golf gear, books and souvenirs and putting competitions also dot the prefecture’s landscape.

The airport is plastered with posters advertising the Ricoh Cup Championship and Korean sensation Shin Ji-yai. Under the posters are a pile of leaflets urging a cut in CO2 emissions.

Japan has been pushing for a nationwide drive to protect the ozone layer since it joined the Kyoto Protocol in 2005. The "Team Minus 6%" project is part of the effort. The Japanese government is urging the Japanese people and organizations to unite in reducing carbon dioxide emissions six percent below the 1990 level by 2012.

The sponsor of the championship asked players to sign up for the project and make a list of things to cut carbon dioxide emissions. The reduction level for each item was set. For example, lowering room temperatures two notches from 28 to 26 degrees Celsius reduces 83 grams of carbon dioxide.

Shin selected 25 items and wrote, “Let’s treasure the earth.” She is set to reduce 1.902 kilograms of carbon dioxide, the largest among players participating in the Ricoh Cup. One minute fewer spent in the shower decreases 74 grams; a one-hour reduction in computer use 13 grams: and replacing electrical appliances with more energy efficient ones 607 grams. Koga Miho, the winner of last year’s Ricoh Cup, followed Shin with a reduction target of 1.897 kilograms. Most players pledged a cut of one kilogram.

Ron Sirak, executive editor of Golf World magazine, said that with 26 career victories at age 20, Shin is a serious contender to replace Annika Sorenstam as golf’s empress.

why@donga.com