Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey 2008

Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey 2008

Watch a video on going GreenerThe Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey 2008 questioned over 3,000 people about their awareness of environmental issues and their greener behaviours.

Watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPy8ZVSg2TA

Topics covered included knowledge and attitudes towards climate change, travel behaviour, reusing and recycling, energy efficiency in the home, eco-friendly purchasing, greenspace and wellbeing.

Some of the key findings as well as sources of help and advice are below.

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Attitudes to the Environment

  • 35 per cent of people think the environment is one of the most important issues facing the world, on a par with the economy
  • Nearly a third (27 per cent) identified climate change as the single most significant environmental issue. The next ranking issues were changing weather patterns (19 per cent) and household waste (18 per cent)
  • Levels of awareness of climate change were mixed. However, only one per cent said they had never heard of it

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Energy Efficiency in the Home

    • 63 per cent of people use energy saving light bulbs
    • 79 per cent hang up washing to dry at least 'most of the time'
    • 67 per cent of people rarely or never leave lights on in rooms
    • Fewer respondents (around half) said they turn off heating before going out or turn off the tap when brushing their teeth
Advice on saving energy


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Travel Behaviour

  • Around two thirds (66 per cent) of households have access to at least one car
  • Driving is still the most common mode of transport for commuting to work (56 per cent). Sixteen per cent walk to work, 12 per cent travel by bus, six per cent get a lift and five per cent travel by train
  • More than half (54 per cent) use their car to do their main food and grocery shopping
Tips on greener travel

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Recycling and Reusing

  • 76 per cent of people make use of kerbside paper recycling, where available, every time
  • Over eight in ten (84 per cent) said that they reused shopping bags or boxes, with almost half (48 per cent) saying they did this every time
  • 74 per cent said that they reuse plastic food containers

Reducing and recycling waste

What you can recycle and where

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Eco-purchasing
  • Supermarkets were the most popular places to buy groceries, with almost all resondents (97 per cent) saying they visit supermarkets at least once a month
  • Awareness of different sustainably produced goods varied. Although most (90 per cent) were familiar with Scotch Beef and Fair Trade (83 per cent), only around one in five had heard of sustainably produced timber (23 per cent), fish from sustainable sources (20 per cent) and Freedom Food (19 per cent)
  • Free range eggs were the most widely bought eco-friendly product with three in five saying they choose these 'every' or 'most' times.
Greener Shopping advice

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Wellbeing and greenspace
  • When asked how often they visited greenspaces, 55 per cent of people said they did so at least once a week. 10 per cent said they never visited greenspaces

  • Those who said they visited greenspace every day, at least once a week or at least sometimes, were more likely than those who never did so to say they were satisfied with life (82 per cent, 77 per cent and 78 per cent respectively versus 68 per cent)

  • However, when asked which two or three things would most improve their wellbeing, people were more likely to say having more money (27 per cent), being healthier (23 per cent) and spending more time with family (20 per cent) than spending more time outdoors (11 per cent)

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Barriers to Green Behaviour

  • Main reasons cited for why people did not always choose to adapt their behaviour in ways that may be helpful to the environment are: convenience; cost; a lack of alternative options; and practical considerations
  • Convenience was given as the main reason why people: drive to work (50 per cent); drive to do grocery shopping (54 per cent) and use air travel within the UK for leisure (74 per cent) and business (67 per cent)

For practical advice on simple steps that can be taken to lead a greener lifestyle and save money visit the Go Greener website

Page updated: Tuesday, October 13, 2009