世論 What Japan Thinks

That was the question posed by iShare in this survey into being tired of eco life. Note that eco here refers to both ecology and economising.

Demographics

Over the 10th and 11th of November 2010 1,509 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.9% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their twenties, 32.7% in their thirties, 37.6% in their forties, and 13.5% in their fifties. Furthermore, all of them lived within one of the cities of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Osaka, Kyoto or Kobe.

I’m definitely fed up hearing about eco, and I’m dreading the day that they tell us that we should unplug out phone rechargers at work before we go home at night. I worked out that at an average hourly rate it actually costs more money to bend under the desk and spend 10 seconds plugging and unplugging versus the bleed from an average charger.

Research results

Q1: Do you feel you’re tired of hearing about “eco” every day? (Sample size=1,509)

	All	Male N=814	Female N=695
Often feel so	20.5%	26.3%	13.8%
Sometimes feel so	41.6%	36.9%	47.2%
Never feel so	37.8%	36.9%	39.0%

Q2: Do you respect the environment in your daily life? eg, fixing old clothes, using an eco bag for shopping, not using too much wrapping for goods. (Sample size=1,509)

	All	Male N=814	Female N=695
Usually (to SQs)	13.8%	11.3%	16.7%
Sometimes (to SQs)	65.2%	61.5%	69.5%
Never	21.0%	27.1%	13.8%

Q2SQ1: What sorts of things do you do to respect the environment in your daily life? (Sample size=1,192, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=593	Female N=599
Recycle PET bottles, etc	74.7%	71.0%	78.5%
Thoroughly separate rubbish for disposal	64.6%	65.1%	64.1%
Don’t waste electricity	63.8%	63.1%	64.6%
Use an eco bag when shopping	62.7%	47.2%	78.0%
Don’t waste water	61.6%	62.1%	61.1%
Don’t waste gas	52.6%	51.1%	54.1%
Only get simple wrapping when buying foodstuffs	36.6%	27.2%	45.9%
Choose eco-friendly white goods	28.8%	29.7%	23.3%
Remake clothes I no longer wear	7.4%	3.2%	11.5%
Talk with children about eco issues	4.4%	4.0%	4.8%
Bring own chopsticks when eating out	3.8%	2.7%	4.8%
Get house refurbished to be eco-friendly (double glazing, etc)	2.7%	3.4%	2.0%
Other	5.6%	4.2%	7.0%

Q2SQ2: Do you have a car? (Sample size=1,192)

	All	Male N=593	Female N=599
Yes (to SQ3 onwards)	45.6%	51.3%	39.9%
No (to SQ5 onwards)	54.4%	48.7%	60.1%

Q2SQ3: Regarding your car, do you respect the environment? eg, drive an eco car, investigate buying one, don’t idle the car, accelerate gently, set air conditioning low, etc. (Sample size=543)

	All	Male N=304	Female N=239
Yes (to SQ4 onwards)	65.4%	68.4%	61.5%
No (to SQ5 onwards)	34.6%	31.6%	38.5%

Q2SQ4: Regarding your car, what sorts of things do you do to respect the environment? (Sample size=355, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=208	Female N=147
Try to accelerate gently	74.4%	76.0%	72.1%
Don’t use the car when only going a short distance	50.4%	49.5%	51.7%
Set air conditioning low	47.0%	40.4%	56.5%
Don’t idle when stopped or parked	30.4%	30.3%	30.6%
Drive an eco car	24.2%	25.5%	22.4%
Investigating purchasing an eco car	8.2%	6.7%	10.2%
Other	5.9%	8.2%	2.7%

Q2SQ5: Do you feel yourself getting tired of your everyday eco activities? (Sample size=1,192)

	All	Male N=593	Female N=599
Often (to SQ6 onwards)	10.2%	12.8%	7.7%
Sometimes (to SQ6 onwards)	45.4%	40.6%	50.1%
Never (to SQ7)	44.4%	46.5%	42.2%

Q2SQ6: What everyday eco activities do you feel yourself getting tired of? (Sample size=663, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=317	Female N=346
Thoroughly separating rubbish for disposal	52.3%	53.0%	51.7%
Recycling PET bottles, etc	29.4%	31.5%	27.5%
Not wasting electricity	28.8%	30.3%	27.5%
Using an eco bag when shopping	23.1%	20.8%	25.1%
Not wasting water	21.6%	21.1%	22.0%
Not wasting gas	17.3%	16.7%	17.9%
Bringing own chopsticks when eating out	11.5%	12.6%	10.4%
Choosing eco-friendly white goods	11.3%	13.6%	9.2%
Only getting simple wrapping when buying foodstuffs	10.1%	9.1%	11.0%
Remaking clothes I no longer wear	7.5%	6.0%	9.0%
Getting house refurbished to be eco-friendly (double glazing, etc)	5.9%	5.4%	6.4%
Talking with children about eco issues	3.2%	3.5%	2.9%
Other	11.3%	8.5%	13.9%

Q2SQ7: Do you think that you want to forget respecting the environment and just enjoy yourself? (Sample size=1,192)

	All	Male N=593	Female N=599
Often think so	10.0%	12.1%	7.8%
Sometimes think so	44.9%	41.1%	48.6%
Never think so	45.1%	46.7%	43.6%

Q3: Are you aware of trying to economise in your daily life? (Sample size=1,509)

	All	Male N=814	Female N=695
Usually aware (to SQ)	32.3%	31.6%	33.2%
Sometimes aware (to SQ)	54.1%	52.2%	56.4%
Never aware	13.5%	16.2%	10.4%

Q3SQ: Do you feel yourself getting tired of your everyday economising activities? (Sample size=1,305)

	All	Male N=682	Female N=623
Often	11.5%	11.0%	12.0%
Sometimes	52.7%	48.2%	57.6%
Never	35.8%	40.8%	30.3%

Q4: When shopping, eating out, or otherwise consuming, what is the most important issue? (Sample size=1,509)

	All	Male N=814	Female N=695
Product, service features	44.5%	46.8%	41.7%
Price	36.3%	35.9%	36.8%
Design	7.9%	6.8%	9.2%
Novelty	2.3%	2.6%	1.9%
Popular in Japan	1.1%	1.2%	1.0%
Big seller	0.8%	0.5%	1.2%
Kind to the environment	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%
Popular overseas	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%
Other	6.1%	5.2%	7.2%

Q5: Do you feel you want some stimulation in your daily life? (Sample size=1,509)

	All	Male N=814	Female N=695
Often feel so (to SQ)	17.4%	19.0%	15.5%
Sometimes feel so (to SQ)	56.1%	55.2%	57.3%
Never feel so	26.4%	25.8%	27.2%

Those who were fed up with their eco life felt they often needed some stimulation more than others.

Q5SQ: What kinds of stimulation in your daily life might be needed? (Sample size=1,110, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=604	Female N=506
Going on a trip	40.1%	38.4%	42.1%
Going shopping	32/2%	26.7%	38.7%
Meeting friends from outside of work	29.8%	27.5%	32.6%
Eating out	23.7%	22.4%	25.3%
Going to the cinema	23.5%	20.2%	27.5%
Going to a concert, theatre	22.5%	14.7%	31.8%
Going clubbing	20.8%	22.8%	18.4%
Going for a drive	17.7%	23.8%	10.5%
Reading a book	17.0%	14.6%	20.0%
Watching a film at home	13.3%	14.2%	12.3%
Going for a walk	13.1%	13.4%	12.6%
Going to the gym, playing sports	11.8%	15.1%	7.9%
Watching sports	10.0%	11.8%	7.9%
Going for a massage, beauty treatment	8.2%	6.5%	10.3%
Cooking	6.3%	4.6%	8.3%
Spending time with the family	5.5%	5.1%	5.9%
Meeting work-related contacts	2.8%	2.0%	3.8%
Other	8.4%	8.4%	8.3%