Although each household wishes to adopt green consumption patterns, there exist obstacles such as financial burden and lack of family response to the implementation of green consumption at home.

※ Green consumption means the implementation of green value in consumption life and is presented through activities of green purchase, energy saving, and green disposal (recycling and reuse included). 

The Korea Consumer Agency (President: Kim Young-seen, www.kca.go.kr) recently asked the Federation of Housewives to conduct a survey on green consumption and desire for green consumption life targeting 1,000 households in six Metropolitan cities and the Seoul Metropolis and found that the self-diagnosis score for green consumption implementation stood at mere 51, much lower compared to the average for the nations in the Europe and Japan. Those households attributed the poor implementation of green consumption at home to financial burden, lack of time, and low response from family members.

 The survey also found that Korean households are doing quite well in their green consumption implementation through installation of building insulation material or double window system or separate garbage collection. However, the level of the implementation was low in the areas of purchasing eco-friendly automobiles or eco-friendly clothing, funeral culture, and using second-hand shops and flea market. Many households answered that they would further increase their green consumption implementation by purchasing water-saving devices, eco-friendly furniture & wall paper, and eco-friendly agricultural products and eco-friendly household items, participating in urban agriculture and urban horticulture, buying less and throwing away less, using a cup when brushing teeth, and unplugging appliances when not in use.

Meanwhile, the Korea Consumer Agency proposed three Green Home Models to help facilitate green consumption and establish green consumption plans at home such as 1) Basic Model (Model targeting CO2 reduction by 10%), 2) Extension Model (targeting CO2 reduction by 20%), and 3) Ideal Model (targeting CO2 reduction by 30%).

Also, the KCA called on consumers to use the website of green home models (www.kca.go.kr/greenfamily) recently established with a full description of green consumption life at home.