Scarlett Chiang – Updated on Mar 03, 2008 – SCMP
Hong Kong people waste electricity, a survey released yesterday shows, with one in five often forgetting to switch off lights and a third of them leaving televisions on and unwatched. The survey, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, canvassed 1,500 people last October.
While 88 per cent of those polled believed energy conservation improved air pollution, 71 per cent thought Hongkongers wasted electricity. Some 302 respondents said they forgot to switch off lights occasionally or frequently and 325 people said they left unwatched televisions switched on, sometimes or all the time.
About one in three interviewees left televisions on standby mode when they went to sleep.
About 74 per cent said they supported government recommendations about keeping air conditioning at 25.5 degrees Celsius, but 41 per cent maintained room temperatures below 25.5 degrees in summer. About 20 per cent of people said they woke up at night feeling cold occasionally or frequently when air conditioning was on. When asked what the biggest obstacle to energy conservation was, 412 people said it was “fondness for comfort” and 183 people said it was “dislike of annoyances”.
Friends of the Earth environmental affairs officer Angus Wong Chun-yin said survey results showed Hong Kong people were only paying lip service to saving energy.