QUESTIONS //I decided to take a primary research to gain a better understanding of people’s behaviour on consumption. A questionnaire was designed to gather information required to develop the project.
Nine questions were used to gather information about the interviewee’s general consumption behaviour. One of the questions was an open question, which was used to gather the interviewee’s personal opinion on what they think would be the most helpful approach to tackle the global warming issue.
I have gathered 100 questionnaires in total for this project and the outcome was satisfactory.
This questionnaire can be found: -1/5 better life on-line questionnaire
I have used a lot of secondary research to support my project; most of them were obtained from originations that share similar interest as mine – to raise people’s awareness on environmental issues.
In order to gather the statistics which would be applied to the -1/5 website, I have looked into the consumption of food, papers, toilet paper, water and electricity. The average rate of user consumption is extremely important for building this project.1. Consumption: Food
Per Capita Consumption of Principal Foods Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
During my research, I found data which showed the consumption of food per capita from 1990 to 2005. I have taken this average statistic from year 2005 and apply them to my project. With this information, I could set the target consumption for my project participants to be 1/5 less than the average rate published. In the participant’s self evaluation, if they have managed to cut down 1/5 less than their normal consumption, it is assumed they have consumed 1/5 less than the published average rate. For example, if the average annual consumption rate of red meats is 110 pounds per capita, the target consumption rate of red meats for my project participants would be 88 pounds annually per capita.
2. Consumption: Paper
From my primary research, it suggests that 86% of my interviewees have chosen to recycle paper and cardboard box. This shows recycling paper is one of the subject I could tackle on because when doing the information design, it is important for me to find a subject which makes my participants feel they could relate to. Only when my participants feel a sense of familiarity to the subject, they are encouraged to carry out the self evaluation exercise (the check list on -1/5 website).
Once I decided to work on the consumption of paper, I started researching for the average data of paper consumption to support my project.
In 2006, the recycling rates for different recovered paper grades were as follows:
The second graphic shows three primary sources of papermaking materials. Also, I have looked into how much paper people consume daily. The research result showed the average office worker in the US uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. That’s four million tons of copy paper used annually. Office workers in the US generate approximately two pounds of paper and paperboard products every day.
Once I decided to work on the consumption of paper, I started researching for the average data of paper consumption to support my project.
In 2006, the recycling rates for different recovered paper grades were as follows:
The second graphic shows three primary sources of papermaking materials. Also, I have looked into how much paper people consume daily. The research result showed the average office worker in the US uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. That’s four million tons of copy paper used annually. Office workers in the US generate approximately two pounds of paper and paperboard products every day.
3. Consumption: Toilet paper
Source: TAPPI
In New Scientist Magazine issue 2757, it is revealed that 60 million rolls of toilet paper are flushed away in Europe every day. And the average American gets through 57 sheets a day, six times the global average. This figure is shockingly high and I wonder if I could find a way to share this information with others and presents to them how many tree they could save by cutting down a little bit of their usual consumption.
To present this information, I have to figure out how many toilet rolls does one tree make. There are various ways of measuring this, depending on the size and the type of tree is used to make the toilet paper. It also depends heavily on what type of toilet roll or toilet paper is being made since toilet roll or toilet paper comes in different size and can be one, two three, even more –ply.
According to RISI, an independent market analysis firm in Bedford, it is suggests that the pulp from one eucalyptus tree, a commonly used tree, produces as many as 1,000 rolls of toilet tissue. There are many other online sources such as Toilet Paper Factor or Toilet Paper Encyclopedia quoting the same figures. I decided to take this information and use it as a standard formula to work out the amount of tree my project participants could save.
4. Consumption: Water
The figures are based on an average cost per litre of 0.19 pence for water supplied and taken away in 2006-07. The average cost per litre of water may vary from company to company. Prices based on prices in 2006-07.
It is suggested by uSwitch people use approximately 153 litres of water a day in Britain. In many developing countries, water consumption is as low as 20 litres a day for the average person. The table provided by uSwitch was very helpful on identifying our water habits as well as the amount of water being consumed in each activity.
Moreover, Waterwise has proposed the average British spends 7.2 minutes in showers. One-fifth of this average shower time is 5.7 minutes. Therefore, I thought I could set the target shower time for my -1/5 project to be 6 minutes assuming most people take 7.2 minutes showers to work out how much water we could save collectively if we all cut down the shower time by one-fifth.
5. Consumption: Electricity
Source: Sainbury’s Energy
In the electricity part, it is found the average electricity consumption is 4,800 kWh per household.
A smaller than average household is taken arbitrarily to be 3,000 kWh, and a larger than average household to be 7,000 kWh. Mark Linas makes the following suggestions: small house: 1,650 kWh; medium house: 3,300 kWh; and mansion: 5,000kWh.
With the average household consumption rate and the consumption units of each household application, I was able to work out how many units of energy we could save if every one of us cut down 1/5 of the average electricity consumption rate. The table below indicates the number of electricity units consumed by various household appliances.
6. Calculation of Carbon dioxide
Source: Nathan Fiala, University of California-Irvine
It is also important to find a way to convert the natural resources, food and energy to carbon dioxide. The key and solution to global warming is to cut down the amount of carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere. To make my case stronger, I looked for statistics used for converting our daily activities to carbon dioxide being generated in the process.
The graphic on the right hand side shows the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the production of a pound of these foods. All our daily activities generate certain amount of carbon dioxide. For example, it is often argued that simply by turning the thermostat down by 1 degree centigrade, we are preventing 300 kg of CO² entering the atmosphere every year. (Green thing wiki: 2008)
The carbon dioxide emission convertor is not 100% accurate as there are too many variables required in order to give a reliable emissions total. However, the conversion gives indication on how much carbon dioxide the participants of my project could save and allows me to collect and compare certain data.
The graphic on the right hand side shows the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the production of a pound of these foods. All our daily activities generate certain amount of carbon dioxide. For example, it is often argued that simply by turning the thermostat down by 1 degree centigrade, we are preventing 300 kg of CO² entering the atmosphere every year. (Green thing wiki: 2008)
The carbon dioxide emission convertor is not 100% accurate as there are too many variables required in order to give a reliable emissions total. However, the conversion gives indication on how much carbon dioxide the participants of my project could save and allows me to collect and compare certain data.
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