Higashiomi has already drawn attention from all over Japan because of its eco-friendly "Nanohana" project (rapeseed flower project) -- involving a wide range of initiatives to create the infrastructure for a regional society based on resource recycling -- which includes the cultivation of rapeseed, use of rapeseed oil for home cooking, collection of the used cooking oil, and then refining it into fuel.

　　东近江市发起收集废弃食用油行动　　由于发起“菜花”环保工程，东近江市已受到日本全国的关注。该工程提出一系列关于创建资源循环利用型社会的倡议，其中包含在油菜的种植，油菜籽油的日常食用，废弃食用油的回收，以及最终废油提炼燃料等方面的内容。

　　To carry out the project, the city began cooperating with the local residents' association, gas stations, community councils, and companies. So far, it has collected 32,000 liters of used cooking oil, which represents 32 percent of all household-derived waste cooking oil in the city.

　　为大力推行该项目，东近江市携手当地民间组织、加油站、社区委员会以及一些公司。目前，该市已收集了3.2万升的废弃食用油，相当于全市所有家庭日常厨房废油的32%。