More than 50% of Japanese People Willing to Sacrifice Standard of Living for Zero-Waste Society, Research Says

The results of a recent survey on environmental issues, which was released by the Cabinet Office of Japan on August 3, 2009, indicated that 52.9 percent of respondents would choose to transition to a zero-waste society, even if it lowered their standard of living. The survey was conducted in June 2009, and involved interviews with 3,000 adults nationwide, measuring public awareness and interest related to two subject areas: zero-waste society and coexistence between humans and nature. There were 1,919 valid responses (64.0% response rate).

When asked about their daily efforts in reducing trash (allowing multiple answers), 62.0 percent of respondents said that they try not to use plastic shopping bags and/or ask for simpler packaging at stores. With an increase of 30.1 percentage points, this figure was almost twice that when compared with a previous survey conducted in 2005. Other responses indicated increased efforts: "choose refillable products more often (63.3%, +8.3 points)" and "refrain from purchasing unnecessary items (43.6%, +6.7 points)."

On the other hand, it became apparent that the term "biodiversity" is not yet well recognized. Despite the goal to increase awareness of the concept of biodiversity to 50 percent by the end of 2011, as outlined in Japanese government's Third National Biodiversity Strategy of Japan in 2007, 61.5 percent of respondents stated that they had never heard of the term.

A Sustainable Society without Lowering Living Standards? 2005 Public Opinion Poll on Environment (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026291.html

Posted: 2009/12/27 06:00:15 AM