A new study from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has revealed that people with degrees are less likely to adopt practical energy-saving measures at home.
Individuals who have gone on to higher education are 25% more likely, on average, than people with no education qualifications to pay more for environmentally-friendly products. However, they are less likely to turn off the TV overnight or to use public transport.
Professor Peter Lynn at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), said: “These findings offer an interesting suggestion that more highly-educated people may be more willing to take environmentally-motivated principled actions such as buying recycled paper products or avoiding the purchase of over-packaged products and yet are less willing than others to take relatively small actions that may be more of a personal inconvenience.”
The survey, which will follow 40,000 UK households over many years, also found that women are more likely than men to pay more for eco-friendly products, and that people in employment are more likely to add an extra jumper or cut down on flights than the unemployed.
Although 60% of people believe that a major environmental disaster is on its way unless we make changes, just 53% say they ‘do quite a few things that are environmentally friendly’ or are ‘environmentally friendly in most things or everything’ they do.
Nonetheless, people’s willingness to behave in an environmentally-friendly way comes with conditions as 59% of those surveyed agreed that ‘any changes I make to help the environment need to fit in with my lifestyle’ and just half (50%) would be prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly products.
Understanding Society also reveals that a significant minority have a defeatist attitude towards combating climate change. One in five (21%) think that it is too late to do anything about climate change and nearly a third (29%) believe it is not worth Britain trying to combat climate change, because other countries will just cancel out what we do.
Professor Lynn added: “These initial findings suggest that people’s behaviour is motivated by considerations other than environmental concern such as income and personal resources. These motivations need to be better understood if policy makers and civil society organisations looking to change people’s behaviours are to make any genuine headway. There clearly remains across all sections of society a considerable reluctance to take part in environmentally-friendly behaviour that has a personal cost, even though the importance of doing so is recognised by the majority of people.”
What motivates you to make environmentally-friendly changes to your lifestyle? Do you value saving money above saving the planet? Do you think your education or background influences your decisions?