CO2 Savings, Japanese Style

The Japanese government is being creative in finding ways for its citizens to reduce their carbon footprint. Earlier they urged workers to wear short-sleeved shirts and offices not to turn the A/C lower than 28 degrees during the summer (the Cool Biz campaign) and now they recommend people to adjust their sleeping routine to cut household CO2 emissions. The Morning Challenge campaign is based on the premise that by getting up one hour earlier in the morning and taking advantage of the morning sunlight, and instead going to bed earlier and thus not using as much electricity in the evenings, the average Japanese could reduce its footprint by 85 kg a year. This is equivalent to 20% of emissions from household lights.

The Japanese initiative is interesting as it focuses on lifestyle and behavioural change. This being Japan, the government is of course also recommending that people use their extra morning hour to go running, do yoga and eat a healthy breakfast :)

In Sweden the conditions are slightly different. Now in the summer with the sun going down at at 11pm and rising again at 3am we're obviously saving quite a lot of electricity (from lighting; the TV is constantly on due to the World Cup...), while the winter months, especially November to January, are worst CO2-wise. Luckily we Swedes have taken a strong liking to tea lights.