This year's Earth Day has inspired a number of studies aimed at pegging eco-awareness. In a report, DDB, an advertising agency, tackled the question, “Are Millennials Really 'Greener' than Boomers?”
Data collected shows that the answer is a resounding “Nope.”
Ultimately, young-ins today seem more aware of making a positive impact on the environment, but behave along the lines of “all bark and no bite.”
DDB found that while a majority of Americans deem protecting the environment as important, they usually deem cost as more important.
Most young Americans – millennials – would rather save a few bucks than save the planet. Baby boomers, in their late fifties to early- and mid-sixties by now, are actually more environmentally responsible in some ways than their kids and grandkids, DDB's data reveals. Boomers are more likely than millennials to recycle (66 percent vs. 53 percent).
Image via DDB
Sixty-four percent of boomers make a strong effort to separate the recyclable items from the rest of their garbage versus 53 percent of millennials. Fifty-four percent of boomers say they use reusable grocery bags as often as possible, as opposed to 49 percent of millennials.
But millennials aren't all brats when it comes to putting their money where they're environmental yapping mouth is. The study found that millennials are more likely than boomers to use refillable water bottles (54 percent millennials vs. 46 percent boomers) and drive energy-efficient cars like a hybrid (8 percent vs. 4 percent), or electric cars (7 percent vs. 1 percent).
DDB's study suggests that there is a striking trend in how Americans think about the environment versus how they actually treat it. Eighty-four percent of Americans say that protecting the world's ecosystem is important and 85 percent say that recycling is important, yet when the topic of money comes up, these very same Americans aren't so principled. Just 43 percent would pay more for an environmentally safe version of a product (bear in mind, these are usually the kind that are safest for human use and pet exposure as well), and only 37 percent are willing to accept “a lower standard of living” to conserve energy.
Happy Earth Day!
Edited by Rachel Ramsey