Global warming countermeasures by individual actions

The following measures taken at home can reduce greenhouse gas emission by 2.8% in Japan (1990)

(CO₂ conversion)

Example of measures	Annual CO2 reduction per household	Reduction ratio to annual emission per household (%)	Annual conservation effect per household	Remarks
1	Set a cooler temperature 10C higher and a heater temperature 10C lower.	About 31kg/year	0.5%	About 2,000 yen/year	By adjusting sunlight using curtains and clothes, the use of a cooler and a heater can be reduced in day-to-day living. Delay the starting time of a cooler and a heater.
2	Refrain from driving a car for a return trip of a distance of 8km twice a week.	About 185kg/year	3.1%	About 8,000 yen/year	Use buses, railways, and bicycles for commuting and shopping. Walking and bicycling are also good for the health.
3	Idling Stop for 5 minutes a day.	About 39kg/year	0.7%	About 2,000 yen/year	Turn off the engine while parking or stopping a vehicle for a long time. This also contributes to a reduction of air pollutants.
4	Reduce standby power by 90%.	About 87kg/year	1.5%	About 6,000 yen/year	Turn off the main power supply. When not using power for a long time, pull out the cable from the outlet. When replacing electrical appliances, choose products of low standby power.
5	The showering period is reduced by one minute per day by each member of the family.	About 65kg/year	1.1%	About 4,000 yen/year	Be careful not to leave hot water running while washing your body.
6	Utilize bath water for washing clothes.	About 17kg/year	0.3%	About 5,000 yen/year	Some utilize used bath water for washing clothes, watering plants, and flushing toilets. Commercially available pumps are useful for recycling used hot water.
7	Turn off the simmering function of cooking pots.	About 31kg/year	0.5%	About 2,000 yen/year	Simmering of the contents in a pot or a jar consumes a lot of electricity for extended use. Re-heat rice with a microwave oven to reduce power consumption.
8	All the family members stay in one room to reduce the heating and lighting energy by 20%.	About 240kg/year	4.1%	About 11,000 yen/year	Each member of the family requires extra heating and lighting energy if they are in different rooms.
9	Carry a shopping bag and choose items with less packaging (vegetables, and so on).	About 58kg/year	1.0%	Trays and wrapping materials become waste products at home. By carrying a shopping bag, consumption of plastic bags can be reduced.
10	Reduce the TV watching period by one hour.	About 13kg/year	0.2%	About 1,000 yen/year	Choose only the TV programs that you wish to watch.
Total	About 766kg/year	13.0%	About 41,000 yen/year
Total effects in Japan	About 34.7 million tons/year	Reducing greenhouse gas emission of Japan by 2.8% (1990)

Notes:

1. Annual CO₂ emission per household in Japan: About 5,900kg, Number of households in Japan: 47,420,000 (1999), Number of passenger vehicles in Japan: 40 million

2. Method of calculating the total effects in Japan: reduction by the measures in vehicles (2, 3) × 40 million units + other measures × 47,420,000 (households) = 34.7 million tons

3. Greenhouse gas emission of Japan in the Kyoto Protocol standard year: 1,223.8 million tons

Source: "Familiar global warming countermeasures - 10 measures that can be made at home" by the Ministry of the Environment

### 2. Change of Activities by Enterprises

## 1 ) Change of enterprises and the background

Recently, the concept of measures towards environmental conservation by enterprises has been changing to a more positive direction, from one of just social contribution to one of the most important business strategies.

As the background of such a concept for enterprises, there are the expansion of ISO14001 certification acquisition, progress of green purchase, and the spread of environmental reporting and environmental accounting. ISO14001, which is an international standard of the environmental management system, provides managers of enterprises with opportunities for examining measures on environmental conservation and for progressing with the

Transition of ISO14001 examination and registration items

End of December 1996 End of December 1998 End of December 2000

Presentation: Prepared by the Ministry of the Environment based on the data of Japanese Standers Association and ISOWORLD.