Tokyo residents still "yellow"?



Sorry for the poor joke in the title, hope noone takes offence, but the "green" trend here in Japan obviously needs to be backed up with action - and education.

What Hakuhodo has found is that more than 40% of Tokyo residents "don't want to sacrifice a convenient lifestyle to prevent global warming." Hakuhodo calls this the "Eco Dilemma" 1)

Hakuhodo is a large advertising agency that also looks at lifestyles. The report is in Japanese, called Research News 「世界8都市・環境生活調査」 2) and I do hope they will translate it to other languages soon.

AFP/Yahoo has more details:

In a list of 27 daily activities considered to counter global warming, from taking only short showers to participating in tree-planting activities, Tokyo residents only scored above average for five of them. In particular, Tokyo dwellers came last when it comes to studying about global warming or preserving the environment.

They also ranked lowest when it comes to buying eco-friendly products and scored below average for using clean energy, biomass, solar or wind energy.

However, the poll showed that nearly 90 percent of Tokyo residents feel threatened by global warming. They also came tops in responding that "environmental protection is more important than economic growth."

Tokyo residents "have the dilemma of not wanting to give up a convenient lifestyle that they've had for years," Hakuhodo said.

Or maybe Tokyo residents are just more honest?

(Hat tip to Kat for alerting me to this article, map from this website with lots of cool facts about real estate in Tokyo, and for those of you looking for eco village projects in Tokyo, Treehugger wrote about the 2007 Tokyo EcoVillage Conference here - and the 2 photos I found after searching for the key word エコビレッジ 3) on google picture: Seems a company called Home Plaza. Inc is now making it possible for you, dear reader, to find that environmentally friendly mansion you have always dreamed of, complete with butterflies and big trees...)

Notes:

1) Eco Dilemma (エコジレンマ) is a new term, as lifestyle changes indeed are never easy, but I'm also surprised how fast this Hakuhodo-created katakana term has entered the vocabulary of Yomiuri Shinbun (May 19), and then lots of blogs pick it up...

2) Kankyou Seikatsu ( 環境生活) means "environmental living" or "green lifestyle"

3) Eco Village (エコビレッジ) has a more down-to-earth nuance in English, inspired by vegetarianism and biodynamic philosophy, or shall I say a more Edo Era style of living?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Like smokers won't give up cigarettes even as they lay dying of emphysema or cancer, or the alcoholic who gets a liver transplant only to go back to drinking.

Is the "convenient lifestyle" also an addiction? It would seem so if people are willing to cause such widespread destruction to maintain it.

Perhaps if people got to try a more relaxed, natural life for a while, they would find out it isn't really "convenient" after all and a happier, healthier life is available to them.

Recovery centers for modern civilization addicts?
6:04 pm, May 22, 2008
Pandabonium said…
The way things are going with resource depletion - especially oil these days - they will be living a more "down to earth" lifestyle soon anyway. Whether they want to or not. It will be a rude awakening.
6:09 pm, May 22, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
Thanks for the comments.

I liked how they used the butterfly to sell their concrete building to prospective "Eco village" consumers. Actually, all you need is a few pots with herbs, and the butterflies will come - and this is the amazing part - ALL BY THEMSELVES!

Nature is magic.
10:29 am, May 23, 2008
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu...
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe ...
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting...
Read more