Cars, toilets go green at eco-friendly summit

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - Toilets that take on a life of their own, eco-cars coming sooner than you might think and security on Segways have cast this year's G8 summit in a decidedly green hue.

Japan has made climate change awareness the overarching theme of this year's meeting of rich nations and reminders to be environmentally aware are everywhere, down to the summit logo depicting a sprouting plant.

LET'S CARBON OFFSET!

Environment-related booths dominate the entrance to the international media centre, including a bank of computer screens headlined "Let's carbon offset!"

With a few keystrokes, you can calculate your emissions from attending this week's summit in northern Japan, then choose a project to contribute to in order to stay "carbon neutral".

A reporter coming from Singapore, flying from Tokyo to Hokkaido and staying in a hotel for five nights, for example, needs to offset 2.72 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A little more than $250 of investment in an afforestation project in Hokkaido will pay for three carbon offsets, in this case three trees that will reduce three tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 30 years.

"Not so many" people have stopped by to erase their carbon footprint, admitted Ai Kimura of KPMG AZSA Sustainability, which is running the project on the Japanese government's behalf.