Green update

With so much recent public interest in climate change and other environmental issues, we asked about a number of ‘environmentally-friendly’ actions you might take. It will be extremely interesting to see how people change their behaviour, or don’t, over time.

Most common of these actions was to switch lights off in rooms which aren’t being used (‘always’ or ‘very often’ done by 82% of you) followed by turning the TV off at night instead of putting it on ‘stand-by’ (69% of you). Over recent years there has been an increased awareness on the re-use of plastic shopping bags by supermarkets and other shops. More than 6 out of 10 of you said that you always, or very often, take your own shopping bag with you when you shop. More than half of you turn the tap off whilst brushing your teeth and put more clothes on when it’s cold rather than turning the heating up. Of course you don’t necessarily just do these things because they are environmentally-friendly but also because doing so might make good financial sense too.

Some actions may more clearly suggest environmental friendliness. Only one in ten of you car share, take fewer flights when possible or decide not to buy something because it has too much packaging.

By combining answers to these questions, we can make a scale that some researchers suggest measures ‘environmental-friendliness’. We find that women tend to be more environmentally-friendly than men, and older people tend to be more environmentally-friendly than younger ages.

One way of being environmentally-friendly, and keep fit, is to walk to the local shops. However, this isn’t always possible. We asked you what was the main form of transport you used to get to the local shops and services. Just under 3 in 10 of you said you walked (29%), although this was higher among 16-34 year-olds (39%) than those aged 65 or over (21%). The most popular answer, though, was either driving or being a passenger in a car (58%). Men were slightly more likely to use a car than women. Around 1 in 10 of you said that you used a bus, although this proportion was lower for those of you aged 45-54 (6%) than those who were aged 65 or over (21%).

Just less than one-third (30%) of you use public transport “a lot” or “quite often”. Women use public transport more than men (33% compared to 25%). Both younger age groups and the older age groups also tend to use public transport more than the others (36% of 16-34 year-olds, 38% of those aged 65 or above and around 22%-24% for those aged 35-64). The people who had the most environmentally-friendly behaviour were much more likely to also use public transport (52%, compared to 16% for the least environmentally-friendly group).

When asked why some people don’t use public transport more often, the most common response was that it was not convenient (43% of people gave this response). The expense of public transport was raised by 15% of people, although this proportion was higher among the younger age group (22% of 16-34 year-olds) and much lower among the older age groups (4% of those aged 65 or above) who are likely to receive free bus passes. By contrast, ill health prevents less than 1% of 16-34 year-olds and 15% of those aged 65 or above.