Arbejdsrapport fra Miljøstyrelsen, 2/2006 – Miljømæssige konsekvenser af borgernes adfærd og daglige valg

Miljømæssige konsekvenser af borgernes adfærd og daglige valg

Summary and conclusions

In November 2005, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency initiated a campaign that focuses on the citizens' behaviour and daily choices and the consequences for the environment. The purpose was to get the citizens to take responsibility for the environment.

The campaign is called “Grønt ansvar” (Green responsibility) and a website (www.grontansvar.dk) has been established in connection to the campaign.

The purpose of this project has been to calculate the environmental consequences of the citizens' choices in different everyday situations. The calculations of the environmental consequences have been carried out by FORCE Technology and are based on rough assumptions. The calculations are documented in this report, and the most relevant results are communicated on the website www.grontansvar.dk.

It has not been a purpose of this project to produce new knowledge. Nearly all calculations are based on existing knowledge. The new aspect in this project is that the existing knowledge has been rearranged in a way, so that the citizens better can understand and relate to the environmental consequences of their actions.

In all, this project has communicated 26 examples of environmental consequences of a number of typical everyday situations. In order to catch the attention of the readers, each example has been communicated by use of short statements, that are meant to give the reader an aha experience. The short aha statements are on the website supplemented with more background text and some good advice on how to change to a more environmentally friendly behaviour.

In the following table the short aha statements are summarised. Please notice that the statements are developed with the purpose to be followed with more clarifying text (e.g. the conditions behind the calculations), for which reason some of the statements cannot stand alone.

Table 0-1: The short ”aha” statements

Compared to use of an ordinary light bulb, an energy-saving bulb saves the environment for 13 kilos of CO₂ for every hour the bulb is lit every day all the year round…	… and you save 29 kr. per light bulb on your electricity bill for each hour the bulb is lit every day all the year round.
If everybody, who washes his car at home, instead washes his car in a good car washing plant…	… then we save the environment 146 kilos of lead, about 2 kilos of cadmium and about 6,000 litres of oil.
If you use a string bag (made of fabric) four times a week instead of buying a plastic shopping bag…	… then you save the environment an emission of 16 kilos of CO₂ a year.
In weekend cottage areas two decilitres of paint brush cleanser in the drain have to be diluted with 3,300 cubic metres of water in order to avoid an effect on the aquatic environment…	… This corresponds to 63 persons' yearly water consumption.
If everybody avoids the use of fabric softeners…	…then every year we save the aquatic environment of 3,000 tonnes xenobiotic substances.
If every Dane shortens his daily shower with just one minute every day for a year…	…then we will save the amount of water that corresponds to 280,000 persons' yearly water consumption.
If every household uses 25% less washing-up liquid every time they wash their dishes for a year…	… then we save an amount that corresponds to about 650,000 households yearly consumption of wasing-up liquid.
Thorough reinsulation of a house of 120 m² …	… can save the environment 4,900 kilos of CO₂ a year.
If all Danes deliver their “life-expired” mobile phone at the recycling plant…	…then we yearly can reuse 2.5 tonnes of lead, 35 tonnes of copper and 32 kilos of gold.
If you every day boil water in the electric boiler instead of the kitchen stove, then you save about 60 kWh annually .…	… and if every household does the same, we can save what corresponds to the yearly electricity consumption of 30,000 households.
When you chose the station car, that drives furthest on a litre of petrol compared to the corresponding car that drives shortest on a litre of petrol…	… then you annually save the environment about 1 tonne of CO₂.
When you chose an A++ combined refrigerator-freezer instead of a B-labelled, then you annually save the environment 175 kilos of CO₂.…	… and you annually save 340 kr. on the electricity bill.
If we limit our annual use of mineral water, then we can reduce the emission of the 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ as the use results in …	… That corresponds to the same amount of CO₂ as 3.200 households' consumption of electricity annually result in.
When you chose a flat screen instead of an ordinary PC monitor, then you yearly save 88 kWh..…	… that corresponds to an annual save of 145 kr. on the electricity bill.
If you use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries…	… then you contribute to a reduction of an annual use of 470,000 kilos of zinc, 375,000 kilos of iron, 375,000 kilos of manganese and 6,700 kilos of copper.
Avoid a running toilet and you prevent unnecessary waste of water of at least 100 cubic metres a year…	…and you save between 3,000 and 16,000 kr. in annual water expenses.
If you wrap your packed lunch in sandwich paper instead of tin foil every work day in a year, then you save six times as much energy…	… that corresponds to you save the environment an emission of 10 kilos of CO₂.
When you lower your room temperature by just one degree…	…you can save the environment an annual emission of about 230 kilos of CO₂.
If all households avoid a stand-by consumption on their TV, DVD and stereo, then we annually can save at least 125 millions kWh …	…that corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 25,000 households.
If all households avoid a stand-by consumption on their IT equipment, then we annually can save at least 190 millions kWh …	…that corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 38,000 households.
When you ride your bike or walk to the baker every Sunday instead of taking the car, then you annually save the environment 15 litres of petrol…	…that corresponds to you save the environment an annual emission of about 46 kilos of CO₂.
When you chose to go by train or bus instead of your car to work for a year, then you save the environment for what corresponds to about 300 litres of petrol…	…that corresponds to you save the environment an annual emission of about 800 kilos of CO₂.
If you avoid tumble drying and instead hang dry your clothes…	…then you save the atmosphere for about 3 kilos of CO₂ per wash.
If all Danes use water saving measures, then we all together annually could save 27 million cubic metres of water…	…that corresponds to so much fluid that all Danes drink for 7 years!
If you turn of the water while you brush your teethes, then you annually can save up to 11 cubic metres of water…	…that corresponds to you save 370 kr. on your annual water bill – per person in the household.
If all households just once wash their clothes at 60 degrees instead of 90 degrees…	… then we save the environment an emission of 730 tons CO₂ each time.