Green consumers hit the mainstream

The scale of the green consumer revolution was again highlighted today with the publication of a major government report into the public's attitude towards the environment.

The Defra survey of 3,600 people found that being "green" is now widely regarded as a "socially acceptable norm" rather than an alternative lifestyle as it was previously perceived. Consequently, it also revealed that the vast majority of people are concerned about climate change and are taking steps to limit their carbon footprint.

The results were welcomed by environment minister Joan Ruddock who argued that it provided evidence that people are willing to make lifestyle changes to help tackle climate change.

"The most encouraging finding in this survey is the majority of people believing that it's up to individuals to accept responsibility by making lifestyle changes," she said. "This is vitally important as 40 per cent of climate change emissions come from our actions as individuals."

The survey also underlined the extent to which customers are judging businesses based on their environmental credentials, with half of those interviewed claiming they tried not to buy products from companies whose ethics they disagreed with. Meanwhile, 44 per cent said they would be willing to pay a premium for "green" products, compared with 29 per cent who said they would not.

Environmental accreditation schemes, such as fair trade and sustainable timber labels, were shown to be gaining traction with four in five people claiming they had heard of Fair Trade products, around a third had heard of timber products from sustainable sources, and a fifth had heard of fish from sustainable sources.

The report also confirmed that high earners are likely to prove the most rewarding target market for green products with the report concluding that " people in higher social grades or higher income groups, and those living in the rural areas were more likely both to be aware of and to purchase certain product types with environmental, animal welfare or other benefits".

There was less encouraging news for the carbon offsetting industry where a glut of negative publicity appears to have knocked consumers' confidence in the controversial model of investing in emission reduction projects as a means of countering polluting activities such as flying.

The survey found that while over half the people asked had an idea about what carbon offsetting was, those who claimed to know a fair amount about the topic held largely negative views on the industry. Over half of these respondents agreed that "carbon offsetting encourages people to carry on doing things that harm the environment", while there was also "considerable cynicism" about the credibility of offset projects.