Refusing an energy-intensive lifestyle

You are surely familiar with the old 3 Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle. More modern takes on how to achieve a circular economy stretch as far as 10 Rs and include the concept of “refuse.” While it may be easy enough to refuse by deciding to not buy a product, what if that product is energy, the very lifeblood of our modern lifestyle? Here, we consider some ways to manage our difficult relationship with energy.

What is refusing and why is it important?

In its simplest form, refusing is just deciding to not buy something. An example would be taking your own shopping bag so that you can refuse a single-use plastic one. On a bigger scale, as a consumer, we create demand for products. But we can also decrease demand, or erase it, by refusing to purchase a certain product. Ultimately, there is no production and supply when there is no demand. So, refusing is the first step in creating a sustainable, circular economy in the sense of “refusing a wasteful lifestyle.”

For electricity, one way to refuse is to switch to a renewable energy provider. You can find some Japanese ones here. Another way is to reduce how much electricity you use. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Managing our difficult relationship with electricity

The vast majority of Japan’s electricity is made using fossil fuels. And while we’re used to just flicking a switch to turn on the lights or the TV, if you stop to think about it – and about the greenhouse gases that the burning of fossil fuels produces and the direct environmental damage caused by mining them – our relationship with electricity is a difficult one that is ultimately not in our best interests.

It’s like struggling to resist the temptation to hang out with a toxic friend. Despite all the problems they have caused you, and will continue to cause you, you find it hard to say goodbye because they have been always there, and perhaps also because you have benefited from the relationship in some way. So, you stick with them until absolutely everything goes wrong. This worst-case scenario is, of course, where humankind’s relationship with climate change is right now. And since we can’t ditch the Earth, we have to learn to refuse the toxic relationship when it goes too far.

Energy’s role in the Japanese lifestyle of convenience

Energy is a key part of modern life everywhere. Every train you take, every convenience store you enter, every digital device you use – they all consume energy. Can you imagine having no energy to charge your smartphone? Can you imagine having no local convenience store open in the middle of the night? For most people living in Tokyo, that is a particularly hard “no.”

But what is also unimaginable is that this way-too-convenient lifestyle that requires such excessive energy use can ever be sustainable. Japan’s energy self-sufficiency rate is only around 11%, which is lower than other OECD countries, and it is highly reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), other types of natural gas, coal and petroleum.

How did Japan become a massive energy consumer?

Energy consumption in Japan quadrupled from 1960 to 2019 along with growth in the Japanese economy. During the period of Japan’s first economic boom after WWII, many new buildings were built, and home appliances like the television, washing machines and refrigerators became common in households. It was during this time that 24/7 convenience stores emerged as well. This drastic economic and social development brought comfort and convenience and formed the modern lifestyle that we take for granted today. However, it also brought some negative consequences.

Light pollution from excessive nighttime lighting

Have you heard of the term “light pollution”? It is the excessive use of artificial outdoor light that results in disruption of natural wildlife patterns or human sleep, and contributes to greater carbon dioxide emissions, etc. It is one measure of how much energy we consume for lighting, and Japan has some of the highest artificial night sky brightness. There are various factors causing it, but some of the main contributors are shops and other commercial buildings or public spaces that are open either 24/7, or until well into the night. By the way, there are approximately 50,000 convenience stores in Japan and one store consumes 179,000 kWh of electricity a year, regardless if there are customers in it or not. That’s 30 times more than the annual electricity consumption of an average household of four.

Every little bit of little digital device use counts

It is easy to forget that even a small digital device requires energy and that its power consumption and CO2 emissions accumulate. For example, I use a laptop computer that consumes 50 to 100 W/hour 8 hours a day. That amounts to annual energy use for my laptop alone of between 150 and 300 kWh and the emission of between 44 and 88 kg of CO2. That emission is equal to driving a diesel car for about 90 km. If you have a desktop computer, the energy consumption is even higher. But, as a Gen Z, I know how hard it is to turn away from digital devices and the temptation to use all the attractive applications that keep our eyes stuck to their screens.

How can we refuse the energy-heavy lifestyle?

So, how can we refuse this convenient energy lifestyle we have become used to? One recommendation is to be mindful of the impact you make through your daily energy use – not just the energy you consume at home, but on a bigger scale too. For example, the fewer the number of people who use convenience stores, the fewer of them that will be needed. Fewer people working late at night would also reduce the electricity needed for lighting.

Changing our energy-heavy lifestyles requires a change of lifestyle. I recommend taking a break from things such as the obligation to work till late, Wi-Fi connections that allow you to use your digital devices limitlessly, and convenience stores that welcome you 24/7. That will give you the time and space to rethink what is necessary and what is not. There are many ways to learn to refuse, and I am still working to find the best way to combat the energy-intensive lifestyle that I was brought up in, but stepping back and questioning our daily habits is surely the key.