Commentary
How Green Is My Attitude
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 24, 2011
A comparison between the 2010 and 2009 surveys reveals that fewer Americans are now "going green." Specifically, compared to 2009, adults in America are now less likely to engage in various green behaviors in their daily life, including:
- Making an effort to use less water
- Purchasing locally grown produce
- Purchasing locally manufactured products
- Purchasing organic products
- Composting food and organic waste
Frequency Of Various Green Behaviors in Daily Life (All Adults; % Sayings "Always or Often Do") | ||
Activity | 2009 Total | 2010 Total |
Keep unneeded lights off or turn lights off when leaving a room | 83% | 81% |
Recycle | 68 | 68 |
Reuse things that I have instead of throwing them away or buying new items | 65 | 63 |
Make an effort to use less water | 60 | 57 |
Unplug electrical appliances when I am not using them | 40 | 39 |
Purchase locally grown produce | 39 | 33 |
Buy food in bulk | 33 | 32 |
Purchase locally manufactured products | 26 | 23 |
Purchase used items rather than new | 25 | 24 |
Purchase all-natural products | 18 | 16 |
Purchase organic products | 17 | 15 |
Compost food and organic waste | 17 | 15 |
Carpool or take public transportation | 16 | 16 |
Walk or ride a bike instead of driving or using public transportation | 15 | 15 |
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011 | ||
And, U.S. adults are also less likely to have adopted certain environmental activities in the past year, including:
- Purchased Energy Star appliances
- Donated or recycled electronics
- Switched from bottled to tap water
- Installed a low-flow showerhead or toilet
- Purchased a hybrid or more fuel-efficient car
Environmental Activities In Last Year (All Adults; % of Respondents) | ||
Environmental Activity | 2009 | 2010 |
Energy-Efficient Lighting/Appliances (NET) | 69% | 66% |
Replaced regular light bulbs with more energy-efficient lighting (e.g., CFLs, LEDs) | 63 | 61 |
Purchased energy-efficient (e.g., Energy Star) appliances | 36 | 30 |
Paperless Statements/Online Bill Pay (NET) | 53 | 54 |
Started paying bills online for my personal financial accounts | 46 | 44 |
Switched to paperless statements for my personal financial accounts | 40 | 41 |
Donated or recycled a computer, cell phone or other electronic device or its parts | 41 | 32 |
Switched from bottled water to filtered tap water | 29 | 23 |
Low-Flow Showerhead/Toilet (NET) | 25 | 20 |
Installed a low-flow showerhead | 17 | 13 |
Installed a low-flow toilet | 16 | 13 |
Patronized/Avoided a Business (NET) | 15 | 15 |
Patronized a business because of their environmental activities | 11 | 10 |
Avoided patronizing a business because of their environmental activities (or lack thereof) | 9 | 10 |
Made home improvements that enabled me to take advantage of a "green" government tax credit (e.g., installed dual-pane windows, solar panels, insulation) | 14 | 13 |
Hybrid/Fuel-Efficient Car (NET) | 13 | 8 |
Purchased a more fuel-efficient car that is not a hybrid | 11 | 7 |
Purchased a hybrid car | 2 | 1 |
None | 13 | 16 |
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011 | ||
Not only are fewer Americans behaving in environmentally-friendly ways, says the report, but many are now also less likely to embrace, or be influenced by, "green" attitudes. 36% say they are concerned about the planet they are leaving behind for future generations, compared to 43% who said so in 2009. And, only 28% of adults say environmental issues are very or extremely important to them when deciding how to vote for political candidates, compared to 36% who said this was important to them in 2009.
Environmental Label Description (% All Adults; Saying "Very" or "Completely Descriptive") | ||
Description | 2009 | 2010 |
I am concerned about the planet we are leaving behind for future generations | 43% | 36% |
I personally care a great deal about the current state, and future, of the environment | 36 | 34 |
I am environmentally-conscious | 30 | 29 |
I feel a personal responsibility for taking care of the environment | 29 | 29 |
I encourage others to be more environmentally-friendly | 26 | 25 |
I am a conservationist | 17 | 20 |
I am "green" | 13 | 18 |
I am an environmentalist. | 13 | 16 |
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011 | ||
Importance of Environmental Decisions (All Adults; Extremely or Very Important) | ||
Issue | 2009 | 2010 |
How you vote for political candidates | 36% | 28% |
Which products or services you purchase | 26 | 27 |
What company or business you work for, or apply for a job at | 17 | 18 |
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011 | ||
Despite these declines in Americans' attitudes and actions concerning environmental issues, U.S. adults are now more likely to describe themselves as conservationist (20% 2010 vs. 17% 2009), "green" (18% 2010 vs. 13% 2009), and environmentalist (16% 2010 vs. 13% 2009) than they were previously.
The report writers conclude by saying that "... It is difficult to draw conclusions from these paradoxical results: on the one hand, only minorities of U.S. adults... think or act green. On the other hand, though still only a minority, more adults than before now label themselves in environmental terms. Only time will tell if Americans are just paying lip service to trendy buzz words like ‘green' and ‘environmentalist,' or if these are signs of a gradually expanding small but vocal ‘green movement.' "
For more information from Harris Interactive, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
The gap between green attitudes (as expressed by folks on surveys) and green behavior is well documented in the literature. Theories abound as to why, but cause is difficult to prove. Perhaps people are anxious to appear politically correct.
According to the Pew Research Center (http://people-press.org/report/669/), the percentage of Americans who believe that science has produced solid evidence for global warming went from 79% in 2006 to 59% in 2010. This happens to correspond to a specific Republican strategy of targeting the certainty of global warming data, since they had no actual opposing data of their own. Their key message: "all the data isn't yet in."
You know how it works: Tell enough lies loud enough, enough times and people believe it, at least 20% more. And that's just for starters as history repeats itself.
Back to the study, what it doesn't show is when people have the opportunty to buy green whether affordable or not, available or not, needed to buy an appliance or not, etc. Here's organic produce and regular at the same price, which would you choose? Here's organic produce with limited choices at 3-4 times the price of regular, which would you choose?
Not good, not good. But at least someone has the measuring stick out, so those of us working to increase sustainability awareness can use the numbers to motivate the socially conscious investor community and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) folks to invest in using marketing and the media to "sell" their side of the story because what is being done NOW isn't working. Or am I just kidding myself?