On June 12, 2019, FCO・OP Consumer Co-operative received the Regional Environmental Conservation Support Achievement Award of the year.

The Ministry of Environment has designated the month of June every year as the Environment Month in Japan and carries out various activities to raise awareness of environmental conservation.

As part of the activities, the Minister of the Environment Award is given to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding achievements in global environment conservation and global environment beautification. This year 22 individuals and 33 organizations were recognized for the "Regional Environmental Conservation Support Achievement Award".

To be eligible for the award, the candidate organization has to have a record of working on environmental activities for more than 7 years and to be expected to continue in the future. FCO・OP Consumer Co-operative has been working on measuring acid rain and nitrogen dioxide for over 25 years and was recognized for its achievement by becoming a recipient of this year’s award.

Measurement activities are conducted once a year at about 300 locations in Fukuoka Prefecture, the business location of FCO・OP Consumer Co-operative. Recruitment for participation in measurement activities is carried out on the website of FCO・OP and it is opened to both FCO・OP members and non-members. During the designated period, participants collect rainwater and conduct air sampling using a simple measuring device distributed by FCO・OP.

The measurement results are tabulated by FCO・OP for each municipality and introduced in FCO・OP’s PR magazines. As participants carry out their own measurements it gives them the opportunity to become interested in various environmental activities.

FCO・OP is recruiting participants for this year’s measurement.