Higashi-Matsuyama City Reports Results of Global Warming Campaign

Higashi-Matsuyama City in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, reported the results of its global warming campaign in the city's newsletter, issued on February 15, 2005. The city called upon citizens to take part in the campaign at events such as its Environment Fair and a Citizens Festival commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the city's founding. The campaign called citizens to take an honest look at their lifestyles and act to fulfill a personal commitment to help curb global warming. About 3,000 people attending these events chose at least one out of 10 suggested ways to fulfill their commitments.

The item most often chosen was to "save energy by watching only favorite TV programs rather than keep the TV on constantly" (18 percent) followed by "set more modest temperatures on air conditioners/heating units, higher or lower respectively by one degree Celsius" (14 percent).

Nearly 600 people, about 20 percent of the participants, followed up by reporting the results of their efforts. More than half of the respondents reported they achieved their goals for two items: "use leftover bath water for laundry" (53 percent) and "raise or lower temperature setting of air conditioners/heating units by one degree" (51 percent). This was followed by "switch off rice cooker/warmer at night" (45 percent), "take my own bag to go shopping" (43 percent) and "reduce automobile idling time by five minutes a day" (42 percent).

The remaining four items on the original list were: "use the bus or a bicycle and refrain from driving a car as much as possible," "reduce shower time by one minute to save water," "spend leisure time together at home to save power," and "turn off appliances' main electrical switch to save energy."

By assigning each item an average value, the percent of carbon dioxide emissions reduced per participating person in each household was calculated, and a total of an 8% reduction was reached, taking all 10 items into account. This is greater than the 6% overall reduction commitment called for by the Kyoto Protocol.



Posted: 2005/06/04 05:21:29 PM
Japanese version