Press Release 10/02/2016
Basque households improved their environmental habits in 2015
Waste treatment and water and energy saving showed particular improvement
Basque families scored 6.6 points in the Environment Indicator, with an increase of two tenths since 2008 (6.4), according to data prepared by Eustat. This indicator is obtained via a summary of 75 questions within the Environment Survey for Families for 2015, and ranks Basque society as a whole on a scale of between 0 and 10 points, according to their level of awareness and their behavioural habits that have an environmental impact.
With regard to partial indicators of the 7 aspects of the Environment Indicator, the best results were obtained in Treatment of regular waste (8.8) and Treatment of occasional waste (7.8), which scored highly, followed by those of Energy saving (6.8), Water saving (6.4), and Environmental attitude (6.2).
The section on Transport and mobility remained satisfactory (5.5), and finally the section on Consumption patterns received the worst classification and was the only one classed as unsatisfactory (4.3).
There are no significant differences by province, although it should be noted that in Gipuzkoa, after improving by 0.5 points since 2008, has gone from being the province with the lowest score (6.2) to the one with the highest score in the Environment Indicator (6.7).
In the Treatment of regular waste indicator, Gipuzkoa scored the highest (9.2), following a large increase of 1.9 points since 2008. Álava is the province with the highest score in Water saving (6.6). Lastly, Bizkaia is the Basque province with the lowest score in the 7 partial indicators, although it does not differ greatly from the other provinces.
Of the social groups that make up the Basque population, the highest Environment Indicator scores were seen in 4-person households (6.7) and among those with university or secondary level education (6.7). The lowest scorers were single-person households (6.5) and those with no education (6.4).
No group analysed in the survey scored a satisfactory level in the Consumption patterns aspect, where those with university level education obtained the highest score (4.8).
Water-saving habits are widespread
97.4% of Basque families have some kind of habit that reduces their water consumption. The most common are "waiting to fill up the washing machine or dishwasher" (87.3%) before putting it on, which has increased since 2008 (82.6%), and "defrosting food in advance rather than doing it under the tap" (87%).
However, barely 11.9% of families have the habit of recycling water, a figure lower than the 13.1% of 2008. By province, Álava (13.1%) came top, followed by Bizkaia (12.7%) and Gipuzkoa (10.3%). Furthermore, it has been found that this measure is inversely proportional to income level, as families with the highest incomes have the lowest scores (7.5%) and families with the lowest incomes score highest (16.8%).
Various water-saving devices are used in 77.4% of homes, with the lever mixer or thermostatic tap being the most common (77.5%). However, it is worth pointing out that more than half of households (51.2%) have flush limiters in the cistern, a figure that has almost doubled since 2008 (28.6%).
62.3% of homes have a mains gas supply
Mains gas is continuing to expand and 62.3% of homes have it (+2.4 percentage points). By province, the highest percentage of homes with a mains gas supply are in Gipuzkoa (68.8%), followed by Álava (67.8%) and Bizkaia (56,8%). Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants (54.9%) have seen a 5 percentage point increase compared to the results obtained in 2008.
Other, less frequently used energy sources, such as liquefied petroleum gas (10.2%) and liquid fuels (6.7%), are present in fewer homes than in 2008. In last place, wood (4.2%), with a small increase compared to 2008 (3.4%), was still the least used energy source.
95.1% of homes have some kind of heating system
Whereas in 2008, 90% of homes had heating, in 2015 this figure reached 95%. The most common types of heating were gas (63.4%), electric (22.3%) and diesel (9.1%). There were no significant differences between the provinces – Álava (97.9%), Gipuzkoa (93.6%) and Bizkaia (95.2%) – although it is worth noting the large increase seen in Bizkaia: almost 10 percentage points up on 2008 (85.5%).
Individual gas heating, present in 1 in 2 households in the Basque Country, is the most commonly used type of heating, with provincial variations from 57.5% in Álava to 49.1% in Bizkaia.
Almost all homes (99%) have some kind of insulation; the majority of homes have shutters (94.5%) and double glazing (71.6%). The latter has seen a significant increase of almost 7 percentage points since 2008 (64.7%).
With regards to the lighting used in Basque homes, energy-saving lightbulbs have become the most commonly used, with an increase of almost 20 percentage points since 2008 (68.7%), to the detriment of fluorescent lights (69.6%), which have declined with respect to the data obtained in 2008 (75.6%).
The recycling of organic waste has increased by 40% since 2008
Separate collection of organic waste has increased considerably in the three provinces, particularly in Gipuzkoa, which went from last place in 2008 (16.8%) to first in 2015 (79%).
Recycling waste is a common habit among Basque families, particularly of paper and cardboard (93.1%), glass (92.8%) and plastic and metallic packaging (92.3%).
23.2% of Basque families tolerate noise and 15.2% bad smells
The percentage of families who tolerate bad smells in their home remained the same (15.2%), with the greatest proportion in Gipuzkoa (17.5%), followed by Bizkaia (15.4%) and finally Álava (9.3%). The source of the bad smells continues to be pipes and sanitation (7.4%), and industrial activities (2.6%).
Basque families tolerate less noise (23.2%) than in 2008 (26%). The main sources of noise are construction works (10.4%), neighbours (10%) and traffic (8.3%), which fell by 3 points with respect to 2008 (11.9%).
Whether or not the annoyance is serious, it is true that Basque families have taken measures against it: half of families affected by bad smells did (54%), compared to 30% in 2008; and 41% of households affected by noise did, compared to 27.6% in 2008. Complaining was the main form of action taken.
Private transport is the most widely used (35.4%), but with a lower percentage than in 2008 (41.2%)
Journeys on foot or by bicycle, with 35.1%, are more common modes of transport than the car (34.1%) and public transport (28.7%), of which the most common form is the bus (14%). By province, private transport predominates in Gipuzkoa (39,6%), journeys on foot or by bicycle are more common in Álava (50%), and in Bizkaia, public (36%) and private transport (33%) and journeys on foot or by bicycle (30%) are equally common.
Those who travel by bicycle or on foot are mostly aged over 65, are housekeepers, or have no education, and always account for more than 50%. On the other hand, employed people are those who most use private transport (56%).
The Consumption patterns index still has not reached the classification of satisfactory (4.3), but it has improved since 2008
With regards to the use of products with an environmental impact, people who the frequently use recycled paper (21.8%), returnable packaging (19.2%) or rechargeable batteries (28.5%) are a minority among the Basque population, and less than half of households never or rarely use disposable products (43%).
When buying a new product, Basque families now attach more importance to energy efficiency in the case of domestic appliances (82.3%), and to local produce (66.2%). These two aspects have shown a stronger upward trend since 2008 (+6.5 points and +9.3 points, respectively).
Concern for the environment is widespread among the population, at 92.9%
Almost everyone aged 16 and over claim to be concerned about the environment, but the number of people who are concerned to a high degree have fallen considerably until 2015, from 81.2% in 2008 to 71.7%. Furthermore, half of the population claims to have heard of awareness campaigns for saving water and energy, a percentage that has fallen with respect to 2008.
Just less than a quarter of people have taken part in any kind of environment-related activity (23.9%), the most common of which was by signing petitions against damaging situations (18.8%). However, the percentage of people who have detected ecological problems in their surroundings (19.9%) has fallen since 2008 (23.2%).
The population massively supports (93.1%) the adoption of certain environmental measures, such as reducing traffic noise (84.6%), introducing an environmental tax on the most polluting fuels (60.4%) or restricting abusive water consumption (57.5%).
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on the Survey on the environment -Families of the Basque Country
Databank on the Survey on the environment -Families of the Basque Country