By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Turn off your computer when you're not using it and set the thermostat a couple of degrees lower. These measures are the least that individuals can do to fight against climate change.
The advice came along with the information that each Korean worker produces close to 4 tons in carbon emissions per year.
By cutting down on heating, sharing transportation when commuting and wearing thermal underwear, one can save 537 kilograms of this, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research. The institute estimated that the average worker generates 3.8 tons of greenhouse gases.
The researchers tagged along with 1,080 office workers in Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Busan, Daegu and Daejeon at their workplaces or on their way to work last year.
They found that each individual worker is responsible for the emission of 3,857 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year. This means each worker emits 7.18 kilograms a day during the spring and autumn, 18.25 kilograms in the winter and 15.45 kilograms in summer.
About 33.9 percent of the total emissions came from heating, 28.3 percent from commuting, 20.6 percent from cooling and the rest from lighting.
Hong Yu-deok, an official at the institute, said there are many ways to slash emissions. "For example, we can turn off computers or switch them to electricity-saving mode. A worker spends an average of 9 hours and 51 minutes in the office and leaves their computer turned on for 8 hours and 22 minutes, even during lunch and break times," he said.
"If we unplug electronic appliances during those times, we could save 40 grams of emissions a day," he said.
You can cut down on your gas emissions by 14 percent by sharing a vehicle when commuting, turning off lights at the office during lunch and meeting online rather than going on business trips, the institute suggested. "It can also induce savings of 94.6 liters of petrol and 734 kilowatts of electricity, which amounts to 225,000 won a year," Hong said.
"We should all feel responsible for climate change and many other environmental changes stemming from excessive consumption of energy. Everything we eat, drive, wear and use involves greenhouse gas emission," Lee Yoo-jin, spokeswoman for Green Korea United, said.