Consumption-based emissions from the city of Riihimäki and households lower than average – consumption still too high

The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) has calculated the emissions caused by the consumption of the city of Riihimäki and households in Riihimäki for the years 2015 and 2019. The Finnish Environment Institute calculated the emissions for all Finnish municipalities in the autumn of 2024.

"Riihimäki's per capita emissions were below the average level of all Finnish municipalities in terms of consumption. Yet, we are still far from sustainable consumption levels in Riihimäki," says the city's environmental expert Jenni Takala.

The majority of emissions from household consumption come from housing, followed by transportation and food.

The city strives to provide easy opportunities for climate friendliness

According to researchers from the Finnish Environment Institute, it would be important for municipalities to offer residents easy opportunities to make climate-friendly choices. In Riihimäki, easy environmentally friendly choices can be made, for example, by choosing public transport. Riihimäki's local buses currently use renewable diesel as fuel. The dense city also provides good opportunities for walking and cycling, as distances are short. 94 percent of Riihimäki residents live within a three-kilometer radius of the railway station.

The city of Riihimäki also offers residents opportunities for a circular economy. The recycling center and the library with its lending library play a key role in increasing the number of times goods are used and extending the lifespan of goods. Borrowing instead of buying and preferring used goods over new are significant climate actions in the area of ​​consumption.

"The people of Riihimäki have taken good steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Awareness has increased and it is also easier than before to make better choices for the environment. The city strives to offer climate-friendly choices to everyone," Takala says.

In municipal procurement, the sources of emissions are almost equally distributed: purchases of materials and goods, customer service purchases and other services. The magnitude of these emissions has remained the same in both calculations, in 2015 and 2019.

Emissions will decrease through cleaner energy production

Scientists can already predict that emissions will decrease significantly in the coming years. This is due to the cleaning up of production, especially energy production. Energy production is moving away from fossil fuels and towards lower-emission ways of producing energy.

Riihimäki aims to reduce greenhouse gases, waste and consumption. Achieving the goals requires continuous work from the city. To achieve this goal, all electricity purchased by the city is certified renewable energy. In addition, circular economy is taught in schools at every grade level and the upper secondary school sells waste food to residents. The library's lending library has expanded year by year. Reducing consumption can also result in cost savings.

“A big change should also happen in the amount of consumption, because we still consume too much. A good quality of life and happiness does not come through a large amount of goods or abundant consumption. The quality of life remains good even with less.”

Municipalities' consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions website (Syke)

Finnish Environment Institute press release 17.12.2024 December XNUMX: Municipal consumption-based emissions far from sustainable levels

Resource wise Riihimäki website

Circular economy in Riihimäki website

Press release 11.7.2024: The library now has a tool lending point