Hiroshi Takatsuki

(Professor of Kyoto University)

Abstract

To document "Living Lightly for the Environment" , a cost evaluation study was carried out. In this study, expenses in terms of environmental impact and resource consumption were calculated to assess differences in lifestyle. For example, cleaning up spilt coffee in the home was studied to assess which is "lighter for the environment" using reusable cloth or disposable tissues. Comparative calculations involving merchandise cost, disposal cost and environmental load were carried out in six cases. As a result, it became clear that using disposable goods is very convenient, but their cost is higher than that for reusable ones in merchandise price, disposal cost and environmental load. This study incorporates a new evaluation method whereby each waste disposal cost is calculated by volume base.

Key words: lifestyle, cost evaluation, environmental load, volume base