Being green
This quantitative consumer study of 18,000 consumers in a total of 18 countries (14 in 2008, 17 in 2009 through 2012) asked about such behavior as energy use and conservation, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products versus conventional products, attitudes toward the environment and sustainability, and knowledge of environmental issues.
Overall, we find that although environmental concerns have widely increased since 2012 and that climate change is presenting an increasingly felt threat to consumers, the pace and scale of uptake of sustainable consumption have remained too little over the past six years.
Top-scoring consumers of the 2014 Greendex study are in the developing economies of India and China, in descending order, followed by consumers in South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina. Indian and Chinese consumers also scored highest in 2012. American consumers’ behavior still ranks as the least sustainable of all countries surveyed since the inception of the Greendex study in 2008.
One particularly bright spot in 2014 is in the food category—something that all consumers can personally relate to. Our composite measure of food habits shows improvements from 2012 in 11 countries as more people embrace local and organic foods.
Indexes mean whatever one wants to show because the numbers depend up on the sources that were used.
But comparing different realities, countries, or cultures, is an interesting way to have a global perspective about the environment in the world.
India and China had the top scores but at the same way, they represent the bulk of the world population.
One important fact must be their food habits that are known for including low level of animal protein food sources.
As they became richer economies, they tend to change to less sustainable consumer behaviours.
At the same time, richer economies should change habits to improve their environmental performance.
Since we have only one planet, it is better that we learn how to share it.
Overall, we find that although environmental concerns have widely increased since 2012 and that climate change is presenting an increasingly felt threat to consumers, the pace and scale of uptake of sustainable consumption have remained too little over the past six years.
Top-scoring consumers of the 2014 Greendex study are in the developing economies of India and China, in descending order, followed by consumers in South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina. Indian and Chinese consumers also scored highest in 2012. American consumers’ behavior still ranks as the least sustainable of all countries surveyed since the inception of the Greendex study in 2008.
One particularly bright spot in 2014 is in the food category—something that all consumers can personally relate to. Our composite measure of food habits shows improvements from 2012 in 11 countries as more people embrace local and organic foods.
Indexes mean whatever one wants to show because the numbers depend up on the sources that were used.
But comparing different realities, countries, or cultures, is an interesting way to have a global perspective about the environment in the world.
India and China had the top scores but at the same way, they represent the bulk of the world population.
One important fact must be their food habits that are known for including low level of animal protein food sources.
As they became richer economies, they tend to change to less sustainable consumer behaviours.
At the same time, richer economies should change habits to improve their environmental performance.
Since we have only one planet, it is better that we learn how to share it.