When it comes to sustainable living , many of us think about the impact our actions today will have on the planet in the years to come. This is shown by the results of our survey on sustainable living.
When we asked respondents what motivates them to choose a greener lifestyle, three quarters (73%) said they would like to leave the environment in better condition for future generations. They also agreed that the environmental issues we face are too urgent to no longer ignore (70%) and the majority of respondents, 66%, said they are taken more seriously as we age.
It is clear that the problems of sustainability in 2021 an important place occupy in our minds, and many of us share the same concerns. When we asked about the most pressing environmental issues, plastic pollution and climate change were examined the most on the list (67% each). Respondents also told us they were concerned about threats to wildlife and damage to nature, with 59% and 57% respectively concerned about deforestation and extinction.
How can we lead a sustainable life?
While these are big problems, the overwhelming majority of our survey results show that UK consumers feel empowered to solve them - and a host of other green problems to begin with. In fact, just under four-fifths of respondents (79%) said they can make a difference on environmental issues and that the day-to-day decisions they make have an impact.
A full 79% of respondents said they were willing to compromise on some aspect of their lifestyle for the good of the planet, and 71% said they were willing to pay a little more for products and better services for the environment .
According to Tanya Steele, CEO of WWF Environmental Protection, the environmental changes we make individually can have real collective effects. `` Whether you 're switching from an energy company to one that uses only renewable energy, transferring your money to a bank or pension company that doesn't invest in oil, coal, and gas companies, or eating more plant-based meals, All of the little things we do can make a big difference to our planet, "he says. "Using our voices as consumers to call for change also signals to decision makers that it is time to sit back and listen.
Coronavirus and sustainable lifestyle
The pandemic has forced us all to make short-term lifestyle changes, but what about the long-term habits we adopted last year? Since the coronavirus outbreak, several studies * have shown that the pandemic has made many of us more environmentally conscious , far from keeping sustainability in mind. Whether it is about many of us spending more time outdoors indoors or enjoying quieter roads and skies without planes the first time we close, the same message has shown up in our survey results.
- BEFORE THE PANDEMIC: Many of us have already made certain green choices a habit. Switching to paperless statements and bills was the most popular move by the British, with 70% of respondents saying they had. Meanwhile, around two-thirds of respondents (64%) said they were already trying to buy only what they needed before locks became the norm for many of us. And when it comes to the question, a Peu plus de la Moitié de Ceux who took part in the search (55%) will explain that he is the choice of products, choice of products, choice of products and choices of products as well as love meets.
- DURING THE PANDEMIC: Many of these trends continued. When we had to put on and take off masks, 36% of us opted to use covered facials in reusable instead of disposable ones. The topic of "buy better, buy less" became more and more common. 13% said they had started avoiding fast fashion (cheap clothes to wear a few times, then rubbish) in 2020, and 11% said they had started. Make the durability of other products a priority as well. Many of us have also started to think more about the sustainability of our diet during the pandemic. One tenth of UK consumers began after opportunity to search for fresh seasonal products, while 12% have started to avoid products that palm oil contain , and to buy less meat.
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Clearer claims
When it comes to making decisions about where to spend our money , it's clear that sustainability plays an important role. Just over three quarters of respondents (76%) said they were more likely to buy a product from a brand that values sustainability , while half (52%) would only buy a non-sustainable product if it was not offered would no alternative.
However, we seem to be somewhat skeptical about the green claims of companies about their products. Exactly three quarters of respondents find it difficult to say how environmentally friendly a product really is, and only 58% say they trust environmentally friendly logos on packaging.
The doubts some of us have about green claims are confirmed by recent research by the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), which found 40% of misleading ecological claims in a sample of 500 websites were found. Some claims were not supported by evidence, others were vague or omitted important information about a product's manufacture. Other websites in the study were found to use their own eco logos that are not linked to any recognized accreditation program.
The CMA is currently investigating how to better protect consumers from misleading environmental claims, a practice known as greenwashing. He plans to publish his results this summer.
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Knowledge is power
While only 6% of us feel well informed about environmental issues and 15% say we know enough to make everyday environmentally friendly decisions, 67% of us want to know more.
Some of the topics that the people we interviewed told us they'd like to know more about include:
• Practical ideas to further reduce the interest in waste by 61%
• While 28% said they had changed at home already on natural cleaning methods would, over 58% more , the tips and products to find environmentally friendly cleaning.
• Slightly more than half of the respondents (53%) would like to know more about the "bigger picture" of environmental problems.
• Just over a third (34%) would like more information on banking services and environmentally friendly investments .
Collective effort
Our survey results show how many of us are interested in environmental issues and how motivated we are to learn and do more. However, UK consumers also recognize that businesses have an important role to play in protecting the planet for future generations.
While just under two-thirds (63%) of those who took part in our research believe that consumers play a key role in leading a more sustainable life, 87% said that availability of a limited supply of truly environmentally friendly and sustainable products is a challenge. For this reason, 82% of respondents believe that companies and brands should take the lead when it comes to making greener choices, and 81% say that is the job of supermarkets and retailers.
Emily Cromwell, Deloitte's Chief Sustainability Officer, agrees that companies can do more to make greener choices about where we spend our money. "The better brands and retailers are environmental, the easier it will be for consumers to make more sustainable choices," he says. "It means giving consumers more information about the product so they don't have to do their own research. It's also about making sustainability an integral part of a product's core competencies, rather than viewing them as something specific to a more luxurious item or campaign. ''
Now, three quarters of the people we've spoken to (78%) believe the government should do more on this.
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