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Public Attitudes to the Environment in Scotland

3.2 PERSONAL ACTIONS RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT

There are a number of actions people might personally take when making lifestyle choices, which will have environmental impacts. This section considers respondents' involvement with organisations working to protect the environment, their stated energy and water saving behaviours, and environmentally-conscious shopping decisions.

3.2.1 Involvement with organisations working to protect the environment

Respondents were asked whether in the past 12 months they had:

• Belonged to or been a member of a 'green organisation'

• Made a one-off payment to an environmental group - e.g. in a street collection

• Signed a petition or taken part in a protest or demonstration about an environmental issue

• Undertaken paid or voluntary work to protect or enhance the environment.

Two thirds said they had not done any of these things. The most common action was to have made a one-off payment to an environmental group which almost a quarter of respondents said they had done (23%). Fourteen per cent had signed a petition or protested about environmental issues. Six per cent had undertaken paid or voluntary work to protect the environment and 5% had belonged to a green organisation.

There were notable variations among groups within the population in terms of their involvement in activities related to environmental issues. For example, over half of those with a degree or professional qualification reported having undertaken at least one of the activities listed (53%). Those in this group were particularly likely to have paid money to an environmental group (36%), undertaken work in an environmental field (12%) and to have belonged to some kind of 'green' organisation (11%). Those least likely to have undertaken the various activities in the past 12 months were people aged 65 and over, social renters, and those with no qualifications.

[Table 3.8]

3.2.2 Energy and water saving

The Scottish Executive promotes practical ways of reducing the environmental impacts of activities in the home through its 'Do a Little, Change a Lot' campaign ^37.

Respondents were presented with lists of things they might do to try to limit the amount of energy they used and to try to save water ³⁸. Over nine in ten people reported doing some of the things suggested in relation to limiting energy use and three quarters reported trying to save water in at least one of the ways suggested (Tables 3.9 and 3.10).

By far the most commonly cited way to limit energy use was turning off lights when not in use (86%). Other actions undertaken by around half the respondents were turning the heating down in unused rooms (57%), using less water when boiling the kettle (54%) and turning electrical items off 'stand-by' when not in use (48%). Around a third of respondents reported investing in insulation for their home, buying energy efficient products and only heating enough hot water for a bath when needed. The item selected by fewest people was cutting down on their use of the car (22%).

The most popular ways to save water were taking showers instead of baths (56%) and waiting until the washing machine is full before running the wash cycle (49%). Fewer than one in five respondents said they tried to save water in any of the other ways suggested.

Respondents were also asked about difficulties they experienced in reducing the amount of energy used and saving water. 'Habit' was reported to be the greatest obstacle to reducing the amount of energy used (29% said this). Similarly 8% said it was difficult to remember to switch things off when not in use. One in five respondents (19%) said that they used only a small amount of energy already and 15% did not think they needed to reduce the amount of energy used. One in ten (9%) said their household needed a lot of energy and 12% said that all their car journeys were necessary. Eight per cent of people said that it was too expensive to buy new energy efficient appliances.

With regard to saving water, the main difficulty was again habit (24%), and similar proportions reported that they used only a small amount of water already (23%) or that the household needed a lot of water (20%).

One in three people said there was no real difficulty in reducing the amount of energy (28%) or water used (30%).

[Tables 3.11 and 3.12]

It is interesting to look at attitudes towards energy and water saving in relation to respondent's views about the need for people to change their way of life for the sake of future generations and the environment (Table 3.13). The 'status quos' were least likely to try to save energy and water, and most likely to think there was no need to do this. In some regards, the 'responsibility takers' were already more active than the 'responsibility elsewheres'. For example, 28% of the former group had cut down on use of the car compared with just 21% of the latter. For other measures, these two groups were more similar. For example, six in ten of those in each of these groups said they turned down heating in unused rooms compared with four in ten of the 'status quos'.

Considering difficulties people had in reducing energy and water use, the 'responsibility elsewheres', were more likely to say they only use a small amount of energy already. This may be related to the fact that a high proportion of those aged 65+ were in this group (as shown in Table 3.5) and they might have fewer energy consuming items as well as living in smaller households. The 'responsibility elsewheres', were also less likely to cite 'habit' as a problem than the 'responsibility takers'.

* Totals in this table may differ slightly from those in Tables 3.10-3.12 because these figures are based on the half of respondents for which the information on people needing to change their way of life is available. The other tables are based on responses from the entire survey sample.

3.2.3 Shopping and the environment

Respondents were also asked about their attitudes towards purchasing 'environmentally friendly' products rather than alternatives which are not 'environmentally friendly'. Four in ten respondents reported buying environmentally friendly household products such as recycled toilet roll and kitchen paper (43%), and recycled paper or envelopes (38%). Three in ten said they bought washing powders/ liquids and household cleaners that are kinder to the environment (27%) and one in ten (12%) said they bought paints that are kinder to the environment. Over a third (36%) did not buy any of these items ³⁹.

Three important reasons why people might not buy environmentally friendly products include quality, cost and availability. Asked to compare environmentally friendly products with alternatives in terms of these factors, over a third of respondents thought most environmentally friendly products were as good as the alternatives (37%) and just under a third thought they were as easy to find (31%). However fewer than two in ten (17%) thought most environmentally friendly products were as cheap as the alternatives. For each measure around one in five people said they did not know.

Sample size for each column = 4,119

Notable differences were found when these views were looked at in relation to whether people reported buying any of the four types of environmentally friendly products considered above (Table 3.15 and Figure 3.4). Half of those who bought any of the environmentally friendly products believed most such products to be as good as the alternatives, compared with 16% of those who did not buy them. A quarter of those who bought these products thought most are as cheap as the alternatives compared with 8% of those who did not buy them. Four in ten of those who bought the products thought most were as easy to find as the alternatives compared with 15% of those who did not buy them. It is worth noting that between four and five in ten of those who said they did not buy environmentally friendly products said they did not know whether they were as good, as cheap or as easy to find as the alternatives.

Within the population, those most likely to buy environmentally friendly products were those with professional qualifications or degrees (77%), small adult households (67%), people aged 25-64 (63%-65%) and women (64%). Those least likely to purchase environmentally friendly products were those in the youngest and oldest age groups, people with no qualifications, and people in social rented housing (Table 3.16). All of the variables shown in Table 3.16 were found to retain a significant relationship with the purchase of environmentally friendly products when the relationships between them were taken into account through logistic regression. Given views on the additional expense of these products, it might appear that income is a factor related to their purchase, with those on more restricted incomes less likely to buy these types of items.

Table 3.17 relates purchasing of environmentally friendly products to belief in the need for people in Scotland to change their way of life. This shows that over half of those in the 'status quo' group bought none of the environmentally friendly products considered (56%). A quarter of the 'responsibility takers' were in the same position, having bought none of these products (27%).

'Environment friendly' wood products are also available; the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Pan-European Forest Certification (PEFC) are global and European schemes which certify wood and wood products originating from woodland which is sustainably managed. Each scheme has a logo, which is displayed on all certified products. Sustainable forestry recognises the same wide objectives as sustainable development and the importance of linking the economic, environmental and social values of forests. At its simplest, it means making sure that today's forests are still here for our children and grandchildren. Ideas of woodland quality are also important.

The 40% of respondents who said they had been shopping for wood products in the last five years were shown the FSC and PEFC logos (shown in Appendix C). Of this group, 25% reported having seen the FSC logo and 14% reported having seen the PEFC logo (this includes 7% who had seen both logos).

Those who had seen the logos were asked what they thought they meant ⁴⁰. The most commonly selected responses (over four in ten of those who had seen the logos) were that wood comes from a well-managed forest and that wood comes from a forest where more trees are planted than cut down. Just over one in ten thought that the symbols meant wood comes from forests where animals and plants are taken care of. These answers are all associated with the objectives of sustainable forestry. Small proportions of respondents (6% or less of those who had seen the logos) incorrectly thought that they meant either that the wood product was of high quality or long lasting, or that the product had been inspected for quality. Almost one in five of those who had seen the logos did not know what they meant.

[Table 3.18]

* Respondents could select more than one meaning.

** Those who reported having seen at least one logo in the last 5 years.

3.2.4 How 'environmentally active' are respondents?

Respondents can be classified on a scale from 'least environmentally active' to 'most environmentally active' by combining all the elements considered in the section on personal actions for the environment - involvement with organisations, saving energy and water, and shopping for environmentally friendly products ⁴¹. The most environmentally active respondents reported undertaking 10 or more activities from the possible range of 0-23 activities. At the other end of the scale, those who were 'least environmentally active' did no more than three of these things

Table 3.19 shows the relationship between undertaking environmental actions and highest educational qualification. It can be seen that over half of those with degrees or professional qualifications were in the most environmentally active category compared with 14% of those with no qualifications. This is likely to reflect both greater awareness of the issues and greater ability to pay for environmental protection - since some of the actions such as insulating homes and buying environmentally friendly products might be difficult for those with lower incomes to undertake. Table 3.20 shows the proportion of people in different socio-demographic groups who were classified in the most environmentally active group. This shows that characteristics associated with being particularly environmentally active were being aged 25-64, having qualifications of higher grade or above, being an owner occupier and believing in taking personal responsibility for making lifestyle changes.

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