Tour companies are increasingly hitting on ways to help tourist spots clean up after visitors who do not follow the mantra of taking only photographs and leaving only footprints--sometimes even getting the tourists themselves to clean up their mess, and even making it a highlight of the tour.

The projects include setting up a "bio-toilet" that turns human waste into fertilizer, and organizing tours in which tourists volunteer to collect garbage at tourist spots.

These bio-friendly attempts are attracting attention as they let tourists better understand the importance of protecting the environment.

On Dec. 15, construction of a bio-toilet resembling a small log cabin was completed on Yakushima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, on a hiking trail that leads to the place where Jomon sugi (Jomon cedars), the nation's oldest and largest trees are located. The facility was donated by Hankyu Express International Co., a travel agency based in Kita Ward, Osaka.

That morning, about 20 people from the company and the island's town government gathered in the light rain for a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the facility's construction.

Waste is mixed with sawdust in the toilet, and bacteria does the rest, generating heat and turning the mix into organic fertilizer.

Visitors will be able to use the facility starting early next month.

The number of visitors to the island have greatly increased since the area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, currently getting about 200,000 visitors a year.

The growth in visitors has caused problems over how to deal with the rising amount of human waste. Until recently, authorities simply buried all this waste in holes near outhouses along the hiking route, but this method has reached its limit--many are concerned that digging more holes could poison the water table.

The company learned about the problem from guides and proposed the bio-toilet to the island's local tourism association in February.

An official of the company in charge of the project said: "It's true the growth in tourists has caused problems, so we considered what we could do as a tour company."

Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, organized a one-day bus tour in March to Kujukurihama beach in Chiba Prefecture. On the tour's itinerary was an outing to collect garbage along the famous beach.

About 100 people--many with their children--participated in the tour, spending two hours collecting garbage along the 10-kilometer stretch of beach. They collected about two tons of garbage.

An official of the company in charge of the tour said: "Though it was rainy, we received good responses. Some of the clients said it was fun to collect garbage with their kids."

According to the Chiba prefectural government's tourism division, about 1.2 million tourists visit the beach every summer. But the prefectural government and local governments and residents have been troubled by garbage left by tourists.

Local residents welcomed the cleanup and the company is considering organizing more tours.

JTB Kanto, a Saitama-based regional branch company of JTB Corp., has organized group tours that include events to encourage tourist awareness about environmental issues.

Since June, JTB Kanto organized 22 tours for other companies and schools. "We believe this series of tours can be a hit," a company representative said.

An employee of a printing company in Tokyo participated in one of the tours in September in which tourists worked on creating a habitat on Sado Island that could serve as a feeding ground for the crested ibis.

In September, second-year students at a public high school in Ibaraki Prefecture will go on an eco-tour as a school trip. The students will visit Lake Toya in Hokkaido, the site of July's Group of Eight summit meeting, which is expected to focus on environmental issues. The students will plant tree saplings, such as pine and white birch, near the lake.

The Japan Association of Travel Agents, to which about 2,000 travel companies belong, set up an internal division to study environmental protection a few years ago. This year, member companies have begun their own efforts for the purpose, the association said.

An official of the association said, "It's also important to steadily encourage ordinary tour clients to improve their manners.