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July 15, 2009
Canadian habits less green than we think, study finds
TORONTO – Canadians who look in the mirror and see green may be environmentally colour blind, according to a new study.
Researchers compared how we perceive our commitment to the environment and what we actually do about it in a Green Gap study commissioned by marketing firm Cossette Communication and Summerhill, an environmental consultancy.
Nick Cowling of Cossette says they wanted to get into the consumer psyche and find out whether Canadians' environmental behaviour matched their green intentions.
They discovered differences between the way we view ourselves and the actions we take to improve the environment. On average, people believed they were 20 per cent greener than their reported behaviour showed.
For example, close to 80 per cent of respondents said they use reusable drinking containers regularly, Cowling says. "Yet if you are standing in the lineup at Starbucks or Tim Hortons or Second Cup and you look around, of course 80 per cent of people in the lineup are not doing that. "They're going to use the paper cup they're given."
A thousand Canadians responded to an email asking them to complete an online survey by Nucleus Strategic Planning and Research in May 2009.
Participants first assigned themselves a grade for green living. They then answered a handful of questions to describe their actual behaviours in six categories: energy, food, recycling, reusing, fuel efficiency and preference for green products.
The fuel efficiency category showed the highest gap, a 40 per cent difference between perceptions and habits. Canadians have been slow to take public transport or buy hybrid vehicles. They also haven't widely adopted carbon offsets – plans to invest in positive environmental action to make up for emissions.
Homeowners are inclined to take baby steps toward conserving energy, by turning down thermostats, switching light bulbs and choosing efficient appliances. Few go so far as to install wind or solar-powered energy sources.
And women are more likely than men to consider the environment when they shop. However, unless they live in Quebec, they don't necessarily take into account environmental certification.
Cowling notes that women, who have significant purchasing power, base their decisions on actual environmental benefits such as less packaging or lower energy requirements, rather than certification logos or badges.
"Every store seems to have different ones. The problem is they're becoming redundant because people don't know which one to trust."
Canadians with more education and a higher income had the highest scores for meaningful environmental action. That's good news for corporate Canada, since this group has more disposable income.
But government, non-profits and corporations need to make environmental action straightforward for consumers, Cowling says. They should also make the benefits or returns on investments clear.
"It's about making it easy and simple."
Cowling cites Toronto Hydro's Keep Cool program, a partnership with the Clean Air Foundation. Residents who deliver an old energy-hogging room air conditioner to a drop-off location for recycling can collect a $25 Home Depot gift card.
"They got like 8,000 people to go into their basement or pull the thing out of their window and lug it down to the store for $25."
Young adults showed the most realism in their self-assessments, giving themselves a low rating out of five for green behaviour.
