世論 What Japan Thinks

With the recent introduction of the Eco Points system of awards for buying environmentally-friendly products (although there’s still no system for spending said points), this recent survey conducted by goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into said Eco Points system found that digital terrestrial-ready televisions were the most popular electronics that fall under the system’s umbrella.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of May 2009 1,088 members of the goo Monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.8% and their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

If you wish to take advantage of the system yourself, you need to keep both the shop receipt and the guarantee that usually comes in a green envelope. In addition, if you wish to take advantage of bonus points for getting your old items recycled, also keep the recycling receipt. You then take them all along to the appropiate desk at your local city hall (I think) to get credited the points, then wait until the rewards are decided. I saw on a program last week that they are thinking of offering regional delicacies and other over-priced tat.
Read the rest of this entry »

Following up on the 12,000 yen cash handout to every resident, the Government of Japan is next having an Eco Point system, where for buying certain energy-efficient home electronics you get a 5% point award in return that you will be able to cash in for some as-yet not-very-well-specified items. To see what people think of this, Macromill Research recently conducted a survey on the Eco Point system.

Demographics

Over the 27th and 28th of April 2009 516 members of the Macromill monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was split exactly 50:50 male and female, and 20.0% of the respondents were in their twentes, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

I’m not really sure of a good reason why people wouldn’t buy energy-efficient items in general. Thinking about it there are good reasons not to buy some items just because they have a stamp on them as often there is a higher price tag and the payback period may be longer than the lifetime of the item itself.

I also can’t help worrying that the stimulus package will encourage people to dispose of items which still have some life left in them, rendering a net negative effect on the environment. My television is a six year old standard tube-type television, but I see no reason why I should bin it now to buy a new set as it is still perfectly serviceable. However, looking at the results of Q4SQ1 almost half of the sample expect to see a positive environmental outcome.
Read the rest of this entry »