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As the famous singer once said, I believe the children are our future; and while we at GreenBiz.com spend most of our time covering the actions of business and the grown-ups who run them, we are always keeping our eyes out for signs of sustainability from the up-and-comers.
There is plenty of promising news coming out of universities, as we found at the beginning of this year with our State of Green Business report. But a recent survey of young adults in Britain gives us pause.
The study, commissioned by IBM, found that young adults in Generation Y -- the folks currently aged 18-24 -- had both the highest levels of awareness of environmental issues, and were the biggest wasters of energy and water in the country.
"The good news is that Generation Y is showing clear concern for environmental issues," said Jon Z Bentley, a partner in energy and environment at IBM Global Business Services. "The not-so-good news is that far too few are taking even simple, small steps to control their own wasteful use of resources."
Among the findings: 72 percent of Gen-Y members surveyed admitted that they wasted water on a regular basis. Fifty-six percent said they leave the tap water running while brushing their teeth, and 40 percent allow the shower to run for "a few minutes" before getting in.
IBM estimates that leaving water running for two minutes during toothbrushing alone wastes about 12 liters of water, which the company extrapolates to equal over 236 million liters (more than 62 million gallons) wasted per week.
In terms of awareness of energy use, 55 percent of young adults couldn't correctly guess whether a clothes dryer or an incandescent lightbulb used more energy.
Of course, this lack of awareness isn't limited just to young people; sure, 55 percent couldn't tell you which of four appliances used the most electricity, but of the whole population surveyed, 43 percent couldn't answer the same question, and 25 percent overall said an electric kettle used more water than a clothes dryer.
These survey results aren't -- or shouldn't be -- surprising. One of the challenges in working in the field we cover is that it's all too easy to get lost inside the bubble of green business (or green consumer) practices. There is no doubt that there are many dozens of highly innovative green businesses that are far out in front in terms of addressing environmental impacts. That is also true for individuals -- the "no impact" men and women of the world.
However, there is just as little doubt that those businesses (and those individuals) are in the tiniest sliver of the minority, and that there is still plenty of low-hanging fruit to be gathered -- for instance, turning off the tap when you brush your teeth.
Depending on the day, I oscillate between optimism and despair about this lack of action on the part of the most mainstream of businesses and individuals. The despair side is obvious; but when I feel optimistic, I like to believe that the profound upswing in green business practices, in green energy, in green behaviors that we've been covering on GreenBiz.com for the last 10 years is going to snowball, picking up enough pace to help us avoid the worst effects of climate change.
I'd be curious to know your thoughts: are you optimistic or pessimistic, and what will it take to get more businesses and individuals on board with even the smallest environmental actions?
Buildings
"55 percent of young adults
"55 percent of young adults couldn't correctly guess whether a clothes dryer or an incandescent lightbulb used more energy."
Well, is it a natural gas powered dryer or an electric dryer?
"25 percent overall said an electric kettle used more water than a clothes dryer" Clothes dryers use 0 water... what the... ???
Not suprising
My mother who just passed away at the age of 84 would not be surprised. She was born in 1925 and grew up during the great depression. She used to mock the "green generation" and the mantra of Reduce, reuse, recycle. They haven't got a clue about any of it. When she was a teenager, she had ONE dress, and that was always a hand-me-down. When a collar on a shirt wore out, she'd remove the collar, turn it over and sew it back on, or, make a new collar for the old shirt.
Now, we have closets full of clothes that never get worn. The landfills fill up with 2 year old cell phones and ipods that are obsolete, or were so cheaply made that they broke as soon as the warranty expired. Nobody reuses anything of substance. Nobody would dare take a "used" anything.
Green is the new world religion. Let us all bow down and worship mother earth! You can even buy forgiveness for your environmental sins with "carbon credits". And now that "global warming" has proven to be a myth, (didn't you notice that they had to change the term to
"climage change", now that temperatures have been falling for 10 years), and Pope Al Gore has been proven a fraud, why would you expect young people to buy into it all?
Pessimism
I think that while it is comforting to believe that humans are the ones causing the climate change and that therefore we are in complete control over whether it plays out or not it is also a not yet disproven possibility that the climate change we are witnessing is a natural phenomenon. It is the nature of atmospheric physics to be quite unpredictable in the long term and perhaps the scare is for nothing. Or maybe it is not. The point is, we cannot be certain. Therefore, whether you are pessimistic or optimistic might determine your view on the issue at hand, but I would go for the realist approach of simply admiting we know less than it appears.
IBM Survey not that relevant
The more interesting report and data would be to compare the IBM study results for 18-24 to an older age group. I've seen my grandpa run water in the shower for 5 minutes for it to get hot before he got in, and he grew up in rural Arkansas picking cotton during the depression. I've seen my mother drive her car down the long driveway to get her mail when it's raining. I can guarantee neither would admit to their behavior in a IBM survey either. I don't believe waste is that different from generation to generation, statistically or in reality.
Optimistic
I'm extremely optimistic, thank you for asking. The real advance for sustainabilty and rational American behavior already happened, in the November elections, and really has yet even to be felt. The programs that were blessed by a solid majority reflected the culmination of 40 years' advance in awareness and responsibility. They also signaled rejection of "gorge and puke" as a national characteristic. During the last 10 years, great advances in energy and waste management have been made, and very potent new tools have been perfected. Just look at the progress in commercial buildings (thanks mainly to architects) and in auto fuel consumption (thanks mainly to more enlightened foreigners).
The twin values of greening (economy and mindfulness) will inexorably propel the movement, and our sinking global economic status will legitimize the effort to regain global ascendancy in something (anything) besides disastrous "financial engineering".
So stay committed- the surge is only at the starting gate.
Oscillation between optimism and despair
An idealist at heart, I ultimately believe in economics. People will not conserve until its expensive to waste. Few will waste two minutes of shower water when they have to pay for it. The reality of living in America is that everything we waste is still relatively cheap to do so. Living in Texas in a drought that may surpass historical and devastating records, people are finally having those difficult discussions about the luxury of a green species of lawn grass that is adapted to wetter climates...and maybe even more difficult: looking in the mirror as an "environmentalist" and realizing your actions do not quite match your words. Hats off to Generation Y. They have the youth, the intellect and the enthusiasm - if they choose to change their behavior, they could change the world. As a 40 year old, I not only hope they do, but have the time and the energy to join in.