Attitudes to Questions of Environmental Protection 1991

Attitude to environmental protection and waste disposal.

Topics: 1. General judgement on environmental protection problems:
behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election; city
size; satisfaction with the achievements of the Federal Government and
the Ministry of the Environment in Bonn (scale); most important
problems in Germany; assessment of current environmental conditions;
perspective for environmental conditions in the eastern part as well as
in the western part of Germany; most important environmental problems;
classification of cars, coal, heating, industry and garbage
incineration as important sources of air pollution; importance of
environmental policy measures in the area of maintaining clean air,
protection of inshore waters, noise protection, waste disposal, soil
protection, the ozone layer, energy sources and education to conduct
suitable for the environment (scale); perceived noise pollution from
automobile traffic, airplane traffic, train traffic, industrial noise,
sport facilities in the neighborhood or ship traffic; assessment of the
effort of the municipalities, government, business, industry, citizen
initiatives and citizens for environmental protection (scale); desire
for more laws to protect the environment; assessment of surveillance of
observance of environmental protection laws; preferred amount of an
environmental tax on gasoline use; attitude to a speed limit on
freeways; preferred maximum speed limit; attitude to centers of town
free of cars; traffic jam experience in the last month; traffic jam on
the way to work; preference for road construction or reduction in the
number of motor vehicles to reduce traffic jams; attitude to expansion
of local public passenger transport (OEPNV), the network of bicycle
paths, increasing the cost of driving a car and to transferring freight
transport to rail transport; attitude to a restriction on passing for
trucks; possession of vehicle in household; use of vehicle on the way
to work; use of a carpool; car use even with a doubling of the gasoline
price; most important reasons for not using the OEPNV.

2. Questions on waste disposal: attitude to a significant increase in
the garbage collection fees; preference for garbage incinerating plants
or disposal sites; attitude to requirement that business take back
packaging; attitude to establishment of a garbage disposal site close
to home; personal political activities against such a garbage disposal
site; participation in recycling of waste paper and used glass;
readiness for separate collection of metal and cans; personal
opportunities to dispose of different kinds of domestic trash
separately; presence of collection points for hazardous waste and use
of these collection points; easy availability of return containers for
used glass; preference for disposable packaging or returnable bottles,
at the same price or with more expensive returnable bottles.

Certainty of one´s own job and jeopardy to job of close persons; union
member in household; religiousness; party inclination; party
preference.

The following question was posed in the west: willingness to sacrifice
some income to improve environmental conditions in Eastern Germany.