Most Canadians Underestimate How Much Energy They Can Save By Washing Clothes In Cold Water

Toronto, On - Nearly all Canadians (96%) say they would likely try to save energy if it "just involved simple changes in their day-to-day household activities", according to a new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Tide Coldwater Detergent. But many Canadians don't realise the significant household energy savings they can gain by washing their clothes in cold water rather than warm water: most (68%) estimate that they could save less than 75% of household energy used per load by using cold water over warm.

One-quarter of Canadians (23%) usually wash their clothes in warm water, and a further 29% say they use warm water depending on what they're washing -this, despite the fact that most recognize cleaning their clothes in cold water "saves energy" (68%). Most often, people use warm water because they think it is "better for cleaning heavily soiled clothes" (50%), or that it's "better for whites" (30%).

But, if they were able to "use a laundry detergent that is specially designed for excellent cleaning results in cold water, meaning it would allow you to clean heavily soiled clothes, for example grease chocolate and grass stains", eight in ten (80%) indicate they would be more likely to wash their clothes in cold water. With this in mind, a full 84% indicate they would be more likely to wash their clothes in cold water if they could save 75% more energy per load and still clean heavily soiled clothes.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Tide Cold Water and fielded from January 9-11, 2007. For the survey, a representative sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. The sample used in this study has been weighted according to Census data to accurately reflect the population of Canadians. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had this entire population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within each sub-grouping of the survey population.