'How green are you?' poll results/discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

How green are you?

Poll between 07-14 September 2009:

While being green & MoneySaving can go hand in hand in some areas, like saving energy, often they diverge, as with cheap flights & products transported from the other side of the world.

Where do you sit on the green vs. price spectrum?

1 - Price is everything. Green concerns are nonsense. - 14% (852 votes)
2 - Price is crucial. Though if I can be green with little effort I will. - 43% (2534 votes)
3 - Mid-way. Cheap goods but not if they’re terribly un-environmental. - 33% (1980 votes)
4 - Cheapest ethical. I only use ethical producs, but search for the cheapest. - 8% (499 votes)
5 - The environment is everything. I always go green regardless of cost. - 1% (81 votes)

This vote has now closed, but you can still click 'post reply' to discuss below. Thanks

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DKLS

Not green at all, the green factor doesnt enter into my buying criteria, My criteria is Price, availability, brand, user reviews, industry reviews etc

ceridwen

I try to be as "green" as I can and buy a large proportion of my food as organic and try to be fairtrade if possible.

I think the question needs to be reworded though - I took it exactly as it was phrased - and then found that the poll only concerns itself with the goods one buys. That is actually only a very small part of being "green" - what about:
- whether one drives a car at times when its unnecessary to do so
- whether one's home is built on a greenfield site or someone else's garden (hopefully not)
- how many children one has (ie not more than 2 - I know, I know - some "environmentalists" dont seem to realise even that that is THE basic criteria as to how green one is....)
- not consuming just for the sake of it
- not flying unless absolutely necessary

ThinkingOfLinking

I don't drive (any vehicle) and have only ever flown three times (one return journey and one single) in my entire life, so already feel I do a fair bit for the environment. I also turn off electrical appliances when they're not being used.

I recycle and donate things to charity too, so when I go shopping for food and groceries, nothing matters to me other than price (and of course whether or not I like said product). When fruit and veg are in season, I do buy British; I'm loving the British plums in abundance at the moment for example, but if there's something foreign at a cheaper price, then I'll go for it. Beggars can't be choosers.

DgMT

I believe alot of people don't tend to try as hard when it comes down to enviroment, to alot of people the effort to preserve the enviroment is missing as they don't feel directly effected by negative side effects of poor conservation. Atleast where I live this applies.
If "saving the enviroment" becomes easy or realistic, I don't think many people are going to care or even take notice.

bumpoowee

Unless something is really detrimental to the environment, I no longer care about whether it is green or not and work entirely on price.

I did use to buy into the whole green thing, but it's turned into a pathetic joke to raise taxes and make things even more expensive. The day the real problem - overpopulation - begins to be addressed, I will start taking the green agenda seriously again. Until then I couldn't care less.

fernliebee

I voted 3. I mainly use ethical produce, however some things I simply cannot afford, so I will look for the most ethical version I can get for the price I can afford.

There are a few companies I will not buy from, and many I will avoid if poss. I save money by buying as few products as possible and looking for a sustainable (non disposable) way if at all possible ie nappies and wipes, I do buy eco baby wipes for when we are out or sticky fingers but get these in sainsbury's 1/2 price baby event so only 72p for 72 wipes.

I think it is all a balancing act though as eco/ ethical is not always the best overall (all aspects considered) option IMO. I am very careful with food, skincare for all the family, cleaning/washing products and not so tough on clothing/ shoes for DD as the eco option is too expensive, that said however I get most of mine and DD clothes second hand so re-use is eco friendly.

I re-cycle, re-duce, re-use and compost I am vegan and try to buy organic where poss, but at the end of the day it is virtually impossible to be 100% on top of it all the time. I am selfish in that I worry more about things that directly effect my family eg petrochemicals in skincare or anti-biotics and chemicals in food etc rather than global issues such as fair trade or air miles (though these do factor in to my decision.)

Personally I feel that if everyone does as little or as much as they feel they can then that is a step in the right direction.

ceridwen

bumpoowee wrote: »

Unless something is really detrimental to the environment, I no longer care about whether it is green or not and work entirely on price.

I did use to buy into the whole green thing, but it's turned into a pathetic joke to raise taxes and make things even more expensive. The day the real problem - overpopulation - begins to be addressed, I will start taking the green agenda seriously again. Until then I couldn't care less.

I understand your frustration - I feel it myself.

THE single most important thing is overpopulation and its a huge "elephant in the room" that most people are still steadfastly ignoring - I guess because they dont want to upset the "religious lobby" (ie those from a particular set of beliefs that considers it okay/maybe even commendable to "go forth and multiply") or they ARE that "religious lobby".

I would rather not upset the "religious lobby" - but its now come to the time where its by far the lesser of two evils to take that risk - as the Earth and those of us already on it simply cant take the population growing any more.

I dont think the fact that that population "elephant" is still being so steadfastly ignored though is any reason to avoid the other "green" things one can do. I keep doing what I can in other "green" respects and hope that little things like that will gradually (hopefully not too gradually!!!!) be enough to get everyone to realise that its time to restrict the size of their families to two before we all "get dragged under" by the sheer numbers of people on the Planet.

I guess one has to have faith/hope that people wont keep "shutting their eyes and ears" to the fact that they personally are involved and do need to restrict the number of children they have.

minerva_windsong

I went for option four, but that is largely because a lot of the non-ethical stuff contains alcohol and various other things that my sensitive skin doesn't like very much, so it's less by choice and more by necessity. That said though there are exceptions (Simple, for instance, is skin and animal friendly but not massively pricey).

On other notes, I recycle everything I can (to the extent that I have picked toilet roll middles and shower gel bottles out of the bathroom bin to put them in the recycling), I turn lights off when I'm leaving a room, unplug gadges and wear jumpers rather than put the heating on, and whilst I don't generally buy organic food I do try not to waste food and on the rare occasions I do buy meat I make sure it comes from an ethical source.

jud!th

I'm really sad that so many people voted that green concerns were of no concern to them at all.

Here's my poll. Are those in the first category on the poll:

a) selfish
b) stupid
c) ignorant
d) fooled by the propaganda that comes from American right-wing pressure groups, funded by oil companies, that say that global warming is not real
e) all of the above

moggylover

jud!th wrote: »

I'm really sad that so many people voted that green concerns were of no concern to them at all.

Here's my poll. Are those in the first category on the poll:

a) selfish
b) stupid
c) ignorant
d) fooled by the propaganda that comes from American right-wing pressure groups, funded by oil companies, that say that global warming is not real
e) all of the above

:T:T:T:T



another category to add: f) too busy showing off to be the least bit concerned that they might be destroying our planet!!!

I personally believe that the single biggest thing wrong with our society is the "show-off" gene which appears to have taken over from both common sense and common decency since the birth of the original "Yuppies" in the 80's.

How we get rid of the "Gecko" ethos I don't know: but until we do we have absolutely no hope of addressing global warming or, indeed, any of the other problems this World has.

Personally I try to only use ethical products and local food MOST of the time, and when finances allow. I do not buy into the Fairtrade idea as this appears to have been financed solely by charging the end user more for the product whilst the manufacturer takes the "glory" for treating the growers very marginally better than they used to do, and still making every bit as exhorbitant a profit as they always did! They will get my applause, and my support, when they fund these sort of campaigns from their own pockets and not mine:D