Four out of five Brits are greener than they were 10 years ago, with three out of five believing they have a responsibility to live a sustainable lifestyle and that being environmentally conscious is a ‘badge of honour’ (58%), according to research revealed today. Trainline surveyed 2000 adults from across the UK and discovered that the UK is 29% greener than it was 10 years ago, with Brits making more sustainable choices than ever before. Indeed, the average Brit now carries out 369 eco-friendly acts per year – more than one per day - compared to 286 a year a decade ago.
The majority believe it is now socially unacceptable to not be environmentally friendly and half admit they would be embarrassed to be seen as living unsustainably, leading to billions more sustainable acts taking place across the UK each year. Three out of five Brits credit these improvements to having a better understanding on how to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle than ever before. A quarter (say that social media has motivated them to make a difference, while 27% claim campaign groups such as Extinction Rebellion have convinced them to change their habits.
55% of Brits are proud to ‘do their bit’ to help the planet and this has led to huge strides being made over the last decade. The majority (52%) of Brits recycle, compared to just 34% 10 years ago, and a third are eating less meat – compared to only 13% 10 years ago. In addition, half take reusable bags shopping, 30% avoid single-use plastics, and a quarter never use takeaway coffee cups.
However, although Brits are making great efforts to implement everyday green habits, the research identified that the UK has a limited understanding of which eco-friendly acts have the biggest impact on the environment, leading comparatively few to reconsider their choice of transport.
Just 17% of Brits believe that swapping one long-distance car or plane journey for train travel would have a significant positive impact on the environment. In part, this is because most (53%) are unaware that cars have a higher carbon footprint than trains and three out of five do not know that travelling by plane emits seven times more CO2 per passenger kilometre than by train.
As a result, only a fifth (19%) of Brits are currently making efforts to travel by train more often in a bid to save the planet from harmful emissions. Indeed, just a quarter (25%) are planning to cut down on non-essential travel in the next 10 years, with only 23% trying to drive less in the future and one in five (19%) preparing to take fewer flights for their holidays.
Mike Hyde, Chief Data Officer at Trainline, said: “It is fantastic to see that the UK is motivated to take responsibility for improving the environment and this has led to a wide range of lifestyle changes to live more sustainably. However, we were shocked so many Brits are unaware of how beneficial swapping just one long-distance car or plane journey to train would be to the planet.
“We know that taking the train instead of driving creates 70% less CO2 on average. At Trainline, we want to raise awareness of the impact your travel choices can have on the environment, and ensure that we make train travel as easy and accessible as possible, with the aim of encouraging more people to travel by rail.”
Two out of five Brits say that providing a better future for the next generation is their biggest motivator for living a more sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that Gen-Z are most likely to be vocal about their desire to protect the environment, leading four out of five (79%) to recall that they had talked to loved ones to try to help them live more sustainably.
A fifth of 18-34-year-olds believe that living sustainably is the most important factor in their lifestyle – equal to how much money they have in the bank – and two out of five claim that they would happily pay more for their clothes and food to be sustainably sourced.
In a separate study, Trainline found that 7 out of 10 Brits would like to continue making changes to their lifestyle to be more sustainable, with half admitting that they feel guilty about the negative impact they might have on the environment.
Gen-Z are particularly motivated to make changes as two-thirds of 18–30-year-olds say they have changed their lifestyle to reduce their impact on climate in the past year alone. Half have switched to travelling by train instead of another mode of transport at least once in the last 12 months, to reduce the carbon footprint of their journey.
10 ‘GREEN ACTS’ THAT BRITS ARE DOING TO LIVE SUSTAINABLY:
- Recycle - 52% (vs 34% 10 years ago)
- Take reusable bags shopping - 47% (vs 22% 10 years ago)
- Put on extra layers instead of turning on the heating - 41% (vs 20% 10 years ago)
- Reusable water bottles - 39% (vs 16% 10 years ago)
- Use colder washing cycles - 35% (vs 12% 10 years ago)
- Eat less meat - 32% (vs 13% 10 years ago)
- Cut down on non-essential travel - 31% (vs 13% 10 years ago)
- Avoid using single-use plastics - 30% (vs 12% 10 years ago)
- Take fewer flights - 24% (vs 11% 10 years ago)
- Travel by train more often - 19% (vs 10% 10 years ago)
