People "get" recycling but not energy saving

A new survey, conducted on INCPEN’s behalf by Ipsos in July 2011, shows that half of GB adults have heard and understood the messages about recycling their waste. However the wider and arguably more important changes in behaviour which would impact the environment positively – especially lower energy use – remain less well understood. When asked to choose up to 3 options from a list of things that people can do to help protect and improve the environment, over half (52%) chose ‘recycle bottles, cans, paper and other materials’, the highest number of responses. By contrast, just 15% chose ‘turn down the home heating’ and only 22% chose ‘make fewer car journeys’ and ‘use public transport’. For some reason, men were significantly more likely (18%) than women (13%) to choose ‘turn down home heating’. Critically, central heating/hot water is the second highest factor (24%) in a household’s total impact on the environment (source: J M Kooijman, Environmental impact of packaging: performance in the household) yet turning down the heating was ranked at only 11th place on the list of options. In reality, measures to save energy offer the biggest environmental benefits, far greater than sorting out bottles and cans for recycling – although we need to do that too, of course. Director of INCPEN, Jane Bickerstaffe said, “It’s good to see that people now realise there are lots of other things, as well as recycling, that they can do to live more sustainably. However they are still not sure which actions make the most difference. Policy makers need to tell them where the biggest benefits are.” Download the poll computer tables (PDF) Notes for editors: INCPEN – the Industry Council for Packaging & the Environment is a research organisation set up in 1974 to study the environmental and social impact of packaging. It draws together an influential *group of companies that operate throughout the supply chain and share a common interest in packaging, the environment and sustainable development. *Amcor Flexibles, ASDA, Ball Packaging Europe, Boots, Britvic Soft Drinks, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Colgate- Palmolive, Consol Glass, CROWN Europe, DS Smith, Diageo, Dow, Duracell, Elizabeth Arden, Gillette, Green & Black’s, Kellogg’s, L’Oréal, LINPAC Group, Marks and Spencer, Molson Coors, Nestlé UK, Procter & Gamble, Red Bull, Rexam, RPC, Sainsburys, TATA, Tesco, Trebor Bassett, UFLEX, Unilever, Warburtons INCPEN commissioned Ipsos to include this question on their face to face CAPI (computer assisted personal interviewing) omnibus survey. Interviews were conducted with respondents in their homes. The omnibus survey interviews a representative sample of c.2,000 GB adults aged 15+ each wave. The Packaging and Environmental issues study was conducted with a sample of 1014 Adults 15+ between 22nd-28th July 2011. Monitoring quotas were set to ensure the sample was nationally representative. The resultant data was weighted to ensure a representative sample.