Global Warming Measures by Individuals

If each family implemented the following activities, a 2.8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Japan would be realized (compared to the 1990 level).

Measures	Annual CO2 reduction per household	Emission reduction to the total emission per household per year (%)	Annual savings per household	Remarks
1	Raise air conditioner settings by 1℃ and lower heater settings by 1℃	Approx. 31 kg/year	0.5%	Approx. 2,000 yen/year	Use curtains to control the amount of sunlight; adjust the amount of clothing worn; do not depend on the air conditioner and heater; and put off using the air conditioner and heater as long as possible.
2	Reduce driving distances 8 km twice a week	Approx. 185 kg/year	3.1%	Approx. 8,000 yen/year	When commuting or going shopping, use bus, rail, or bicycle. Walking and riding a bicycle are also good for health.
3	Stop the engine during idling for 5 minutes a day	Approx. 39 kg/year	0.7%	Approx. 2,000 yen/year	When parking or stopped for an extended time, turn off the engine. It also contributes to reducing the emission of air pollutants.
4	Reduce standby electricity consumption by 90%	Approx. 87 kg/year	1.5%	Approx. 6,000 yen/year	Turn off main power. When not using for a long period, unplug the electric cord. When buying new products, select one with lower standby power consumption.
5	All family members reduce shower time 1 minute per day	Approx. 65 kg/year	1.1%	Approx. 4,000 yen/year	Turn off shower when washing.
6	Use leftover bath water for the laundry	Approx. 17 kg/year	0.3%	Approx. 5,000 yen/year	Some use the leftover bath water to water the garden or in the toilet in addition for laundry. Commercially available pumps make it easy to use the bath water.
7	Don't use warming feature of electric rice cookers/warmers and electric pots	Approx. 31 kg/year	0.5%	Approx. 2,000 yen/year	The warming feature of electric rice cookers and electric pots is used over long periods of time and consumes a lot of electricity. Warming the rice in the microwave will reduce electricity use.
8	Reduce heating and lighting by 20% by having the entire family in one room	Approx. 240 kg/year	4.1%	Approx. 11,000 yen/year	When family members are in different rooms, excessive lighting and heating are necessary.
9	Carry a shopping bag; choose minimally packaged vegetables	Approx. 58 kg/year	1.0%	When trays and wrapping are carried home, they are soon thrown away. Reduce receiving plastic grocery bags at the register by carrying a shopping bag.
10	Select TV programs and reduce TV viewing 1 hour per day	Approx. 13 kg/year	0.2%	Approx. 1,000 yen/year	Watch only the selected TV programs.
Total	Approx. 766 kg/year	13.0%	Approx. 41,000 yen/year
Total effect in Japan	Approx. 34.7 million tons/year	2.8% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Japan (compared to the 1990 level)

Notes:

1. Annual per household $ CO_{2} $ emissions: approx 5,900 kg; Number of households in Japan: 47.42 million (1999); Number of passenger cars in Japan: 40 million

2. Method of calculating the total effects in Japan: emissions reduction from automobiles (2 and 3 of the above measures) x 40 million (cars) + all other emissions reduction measures x 47.42 million (households) = 34.7 million tons

Source: Personal Measures against Global Warming: 10 Things a Family Can Do, Ministry of the Environment

## Section 3: Great Possibility Arising from Individual Efforts

### 1. Gap between the Awareness on Environmental Problems and Concrete Actions

More and more people are seeing environmental problems as their own concerns and are saying that “citizens” are the important actors in environmental conservation efforts. This shows that people’s awareness on environmental problems has heightened.

In terms of concrete actions, while environmental conservation activities being done as a rule (sorting waste, recycling of newspapers and magazines, etc.) and those that have direct economic benefits (conserving electricity and saving energy when using air conditioner and heater, etc.) are carried out, participation in activities in which the results are not directly observable—such as donations to

Opinions on Environmental Problems

Note: The figures are the totals of people answering “agree” and “somewhat agree.” Source: Survey of Environment-conscious Lifestyle (May 2002), Ministry of the Environment