Israelis saving energy
Photo: Reuters
Poll: Economic crisis good for the environment
Financial situation causes many Israelis to find new ways to save money, starting with saving on electricity. Poll shows 25% of Israelis turn off electrical appliances, 56% switch to energy-saving light bulbs
The economic crisis seems to be doing good for the environment in Israel, as a poll showed many Israelis have begun reducing use of electrical appliances and switching to energy-saving light bulbs out of concern for their monthly electric bill.
The poll examined the primary actions taken by Israelis to cut down on expenses following the recession, and showed that 25% of the population will be minimizing the use of electricity by turning off appliances.
Thirteen percent will be cutting back on the use of communications devices, and 11% plan to cut back on lighting and switch to energy-saving lighting.
Of the respondents, 15% said they would be acting on all planes to minimize. However, only 5.2% of Israelis said they viewed saving water as a priority.
The survey was conducted for Semicom Lexis, a company that markets energy-saving light bulbs, which use only 20% of the energy used by a regular light bulb and last 10 times as long.
Over 80% of the public is aware of the advantages of energy-saving light bulbs, with 14% having changed all the light bulbs in their house and 42% saying they replaced part of the light bulbs in their house.
According to the poll, high income households save more, with 47% of high income households installing energy-saving light bulbs, compared to 37% of low income homes.
Forty-six percent of the ultra-Orthodox use energy-saving light bulbs compared to 39% of secular Jews. Only 1.3% of immigrants said saving electricity in lighting was important, however, 12% of immigrants said saving water was a top priority, compared to the 5.2% of the general average.
The poll was conducted by the Geocartography Institute among 500 men and woman that constitute a representative sample of the Jewish adult population in Israel.
