Breaking bad habits

The Kording family in Cologne has started putting a jug of tap water on their dining table, instead of the traditional mineral water in a plastic bottle that had to be transported hundreds of miles.

The sons drink it and their father Kai has no problems with it either. Only mum has her reservations.

Gabi says she's heard stories about bacteria and toxins in tap water. On the other hand, she's always had a bad conscience about taking the empty bottles back and hearing them get squashed by the machine in the supermarket.

Sonja Pannenbecker, from North Rhine-Westphalia's consumer advice center, suggests a water test, so Gabi will finally know how good her drinking water really is.

It's Pannenbecker second visit to the Kording household. On her first visit she inspected lamps, electric devices and the heating system, with a sheaf of questionnaires and check-lists under her arm.

Every little bit helps

The Kording home has been dubbed a "climate household," one of around 90 in Cologne, part of a research project called "KlimaAlltag," or every-day climate.

These homes have volunteered to spend six months re-assessing their lifestyles to look for ways to have less impact on the environment.

Ecological issues are traditionally the domain of the middle classes. But the project's climate households cover a spectrum of income levels, educational backgrounds, age groups, locations and family sizes.

A quarter of the participants are immigrants. Some were already interested in ecological issues, others were indifferent.

The consumer center offers the advice. It's not so far removed from its usual job of looking out for the public interest by helping people spot bad deals and problematic products.

The brainchild behind the project is the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (ISOE) in Frankfurt, in partnership with the Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria.

The aim is to analyze the bad habits of average consumers, and look for ways to change them. The project's organizers say that Germany can only meet its long-term CO2 targets if as many people as possible live a reduced-carbon lifestyle.

Every little bit helps – if every single German household saved just one ton of CO2 a year, it would save some 40 million tons of carbon pumped into the atmosphere. But the project's backers see plenty of scope for saving emissions and aims to reduce household's impacts by a quarter.

Habits, not technology

Germany produces roughly 11 tons of CO2 per person every year – more than half of this comes from private households.

You don't necessarily need insulation and electric cars to lower energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the long-term. Small things stack up: Putting a lid on the pan when cooking, riding a bike as often as possible or eating less meat.

"This isn't so much about technology," says project director Frank Waskow.

"If I replace the heating system, then that's a one-off decision. But a new heating system doesn't make much sense if you carry on heating the house wrongly. There needs to be a change in habits – and we want to find out what the incentives and disincentives for change are. We want to see why people won't do certain things."

For the Kordings, for instance, mobility is an issue.

The family lives in a converted farmhouse. Fields stretch out beyond the garden. The children take the bus or the bike when they go to school or to sports. Gabi Kording drives to work, but often does the shopping with her bike.

Kai Kording takes the car to get to his company in the city, or else he would have to get up much earlier in the morning. But he's willing to try. "I have to work Saturdays, but I don't have to be there as early," he says.

"I could take the bike and see how that goes. If it works, then maybe I'll try it during the week."

Abstention has its limits

The Kordings have two cars. They can't afford a new one, even if their old Mercedes consumes 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of gasoline in city traffic.

They're prepared to leave this car behind wherever possible, but not when it comes to their hobbies. The family is involved in team sports and frequently drive to take part in tournaments.

When they go on holiday, they like to go sailing or camping, which also makes them dependent on the car. But their large VW bus won't be driving around empty. "We do car-pooling, and usually take several kids with us to the tournaments."

Saving in the city

The young assistant doctor Özlem Mani, like half of the climate households, doesn't own a car.

Waskow says that's pretty normal for people who live in cities. Parking spaces are expensive, some routes are often quicker by bike, and Cologne's public transport provides a solid network.

Mani rides the subway to the hospital where she works, and says she likes the bright light of the energy-efficient light-bulbs that puts many people off.

So far, so green. But when it comes time to go through her checklist, her adviser does pick up one bad habit - she likes to leave her computer running at home.

It's difficult for Mani to accept this imposition on her creature comforts.

"Personally, I want to change things that are simple and easy to incorporate into everyday life," she says. "I don't want to change all the things I'm used to from one day to the next."

The project has identified three areas where it aims to reduce CO2 emissions by a quarter: Energy consumption, nutrition and mobility. The participants aren't given any unified rules – their lifestyles and motives are too diverse, says project director Frank Waskow.

If you switch to an ecological electricity provider, then you can save 50 percent of your CO2 output at one stroke.

Halving the amount of meat you eat can save a few percent, but is often more difficult for many people to accept.

"Our climate advisors have established that many people already think about saving energy and protecting the climate, but they lack that final impulse to change an old habit," says Waskow.

With a bit more practical experience, it's something he's hoping to change.

Author: Matilda Jordanova-Duda / bk
Editor: Nathan Witkop