Littering was seen as being more embarrassing than cheating on your taxes, according to a new poll of 1,105 Americans. What does this mean?
Being eco-friendly is no longer considered a fringe activity limited to a small group of hard-core activists or early adopters,” said Suzanne Shelton, CEO of Shelton Group. “Thanks to years of green growth, messaging and new products, the idea of sustainability has finally permeated the American conscience,” she said.
Other questions’ results might surprise you. According to the Shelton Group, which commissioned the study, littering wasn’t the only eco unfriendly activity that was looked down upon. Smoking cigarettes and driving a gas guzzler was considered “very embarrassing” to 36 and 26 percent of respondents, respectively. And almost 20% of poll respondents would show the same level of shame if they got caught not recycling their plastic bottles, using disposable paper plates, and letting the water run while they are brushing their teeth.
This 20% number is important, because previous research has found that “….once 20 percent of the population adopts a behavior, it has reached the tipping point and should grow steadily,” according to Shelton. While change takes time, it does -- and is -- happening right now. Environmental awareness can be compared to smoking -- in 1970, almost 40% of American smoked -- today the number is below 20%, which is a significant behavior change in a relatively short amount of time.
The next question is how to increase those numbers even further. According to a release by the study’s organizers, “The survey examined what would encourage Americans to adopt eco-friendly behaviors even more quickly. Here are the percentages of respondents who said the following would be a “major influence” in changing their behavior to help the environment:
-- A penalty/fee/fine – 48 percent
-- A monetary reward/incentive – 45 percent
-- Learning about the dangers/risks – 44 percent
-- Learning about the benefits/greater good – 38 percent
-- Encouragement from your children, grandchildren, etc. – 30 percent
-- Seeing others you admire making the change – 27 percent
-- Encouragement from friends – 26 percent
What do you think is the best way to get people to change their bad behaviors?