Abstract
The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol started in 2008. Japan is required to cut down on greenhouse gases (GHGs), which have been the cause of global warming, by 6% on average, starting from 2009 and continuing until 2012. However, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Japan have been showing a tendency to increase every year. According to the annual report of the Ministry of the Environment in Japan (2007), the industrial sector accounts for 35% of the total CO2 emissions in Japan; however, the amount of emissions has been decreasing for the past few years largely owing to the active introduction of environmentally friendly techniques. On the other hand, the CO2 emissions caused by the residential sector, such as consumers, which make up more than 10%, have increased by 37% compared to the emissions in 1990. Now the urgent problem is to reduce energy consumption not only in the industrial sector but also in ordinary households. To achieve that it is essential to shift the consumers’ existing sense of values and lifestyles, which involve mass consumption and mass disposal, in the direction that leads to global environmental protection and resource cutting.
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- 1.
The consumption efficiency for television and VTR is based on the data between 1997 and 2003.
- 2.
The measures of behavior intentions towards four energy saving behaviors are the following: “I will choose energy saving lighting products”; “I will choose food that is produced and/or transported by energy saving technologies”; “I will act considering heat-insulation performance of housing”; “I will purchase and use solar powered electricity systems.”
- 3.
Ecological involvement was measured in the following four items: “When choosing products, I think about their effects on and/or suitability to the environment”; “I try to make various efforts in order to live an ecologically-friendly life”; “I try to behave in an environmentally friendly way in my day-to-day living”; “I feel good when I do something good for the environment.” The credibility factor of these four categories is α=0.871, which means these scales show high internal consistency.
- 4.
The attributes of the respondents are: age; 21–29 9%, 31–39 24%, 41–49 21%, 51–59 23%, 61–69 23%. Number in household was 3.9 per household on average, this is bigger compared to the average of Japan as a whole (2.7 per household) including single occupancy households. This survey targeted households who live in detached houses and comparatively in suburban areas, which probably made the household occupancy figure slightly bigger. As to household income, though the biggest number was 4–6 million yen per year, it is close to the distribution shown in the result of the national census. In terms of occupation, housewife 35%, part-time34%, office worker/public servant 20%, self-employed in the area of commerce and industry 5% and unemployed 4%.
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Nishio, C. (2010). Environmental Communication Aimed at Household Energy Conservation. In: Sumi, A., Fukushi, K., Hiramatsu, A. (eds) Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-99798-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-99798-6_14
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