Exploring Trend of Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Environment: The Time Series Analysis in Sendai, Japan 2000-2015

In Japan, a variety of laws and institutions for environmental protection were enacted around 2000. The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 caused enormous damage, which has realized us the potential of nature and has forced us to change the attitude toward environment. The main purpose of this report is to analyze statistically the temporal change of attitude toward environment and relevant behaviors of the residents in Sendai,which is located close to the epicenter of the earthquake, and very large number of residents have suffered from the earthquake and TSUNAMI.

   The findings on the trends of attitudes and behaviors from 2000 to 2005 are as follows: (1) We have found little change on the percentages of those who think “the environmental problem become worse unless we change our lifestyle,” “the environmental problem will not be solved if I behave environmentally,” and “I don’t contribute to protect the environment if most people in our society behave environmentally.” (2) The percentage of those who think “The environmental issues are serious” increased from 51% to 70%. Respondents who think “serious” are relatively young and highly educated both in 2000 and in 2005. (3) The percentage of behaviors to buy the eco product decreased from37% to 16%, on the other hand, the percentage those who refuse unwanted excess packaging increased from 46% to 61% and who do not buy the disposable items also increased from 23% to 51%. (4) We have found positive relation between the environmental behaviors and the attitude that “we should contribute to protect the environment even if it takes time and effort” in 2000, while the trend disappears in 2005. We are planning to conduct the survey in November 2015. We intend to report the temporal change of environmental attitude and behaviors from 2000 to 2015.