SUSTAINABILITY HABITS

THROUGH THE GENERATIONS

MONICA CIRUELOS
APRIL 2014

INTRODUCTION
Looking around at societies sudden fascination at going-green I wondered if it
was merely a passing fad, or if we had really been influenced by the fairly recent
teachings and marketing to be environmentally conscious. Are people truly concerned for
the way we treat our environment enough to actually change our way of life to be more
sustainable? Could this really be the turning point for society, as we know it? I was
curious to find out how people of different generations are addressing sustainability and
to what extent are their actions influenced by green movement media. Whether or not
these changes are coming about is important, but I also tried to pry into the origins of
these habits. Trying to pin point whether this sudden thoughtfulness came about because
it was popular to be environmentally friendly, or because people truly beleived it was the
right thing to do. This was a quantitative report as I am looking at statistics from a
random group of volunteers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Researching trends helps us predict what could happen and investigate how and
why certain trends occur throughout the years. The media has a large influence on our
lives, and especially in recent years the marketing industry has skyrocketed. They
emphasize current trends and ideals that people are attached to. One the media seems to
have a firm grasp on is, people being environmentally friendly. Eco-friendly and green
are terms used by the media in repetition to ingrain ideals into our products and in return,
to us. This tactic is a common one in advertisement, but are people truly changing from
all the right reasons? To see how these media companies worked their magic I took a

look at the article, Cause Marketing, where Green-washing is explored in depth and the
advertisers that are supposedly environmentally-friendly are brought to light. In an
abstract the Chief Operating Officer of the National Wildlife Federation, Jaime Matyas
says, Consumers are more savvy and expecting moreCompanies are now stepping up
in these green-washing developments and realizing that it takes more then just slapping a
leaf on it and calling it eco-friendly. Without substantial evidence that they are really
helping societies they are considered fake and then the rest of their integrity is question.
Our mentality that green is good has shifted the way companies try to market a good
product, which also shifts the way a company targets certain audiences, advertises their
product and even packages it. Walmart and Ford are thoroughly looked at in the article.
Each of these large companies once known for their lack of environmental awareness
have now shifted their marketing campaign to hone in on what consumers want. All
around, everyone benefits. A problem that could arise, is the exploitation of green efforts.
Companies place minimal efforts in their environmental efforts and expect to gain lifelong customers, but most people I like to think that like myself, people will take the time
to be informed.
Culture is a difficult concept to measure in numerical data. There are trends
in society but habits and changes in those habits can be complex. In the article,
Culture and Environmentally Friendly Behavior, they attempt to measure the culture
changes as the sustainability moves forward. We have made many advances in the
current green movement, and people are curious as to how it is affecting our
decision-making. The researchers use energy saving intentions, motivations, and
barriers to calculate the change. The article makes a good note of reminding us that

although this issue is clumped together into environmentally friendly decisions

truly there are a lot of different factors going into this movement. You cannot
compare the effort it takes to recycle your bottles with installing solar panels up on
your roof. Because this shift in our culture is so new, most of the articles have
clumped this idea of going green into one big group of good doing for our planet.
This specific article has made the stance to categorize each separately. Such as the
Hofstede indexes, this article categorizes people into two groups. One is the NEP and
one the DSP. The NEP, New Environmental Pardigim, requires a balance between
human kind and nature. The DSP, supports the idea that humans are dominant over
nature. These researchers took a little over 1,200 participants from Washington and
asked them a series of questions. Their results were as follows.
Overall, culture was a significant predictor of worldview and environmentally
friendly behaviors. In particular, the pro-NEP worldview mediated the relationship
between the independent self-construal and recycling and environmentally friendly
transportation behaviors. This will apply to my research because I am searching for
similarities and differences in the ways our societies trends to attempt to be more
sustainable have come about.
Our media and its influence has always been powerful but now in this new
era of technology the marketing reach has become ever-more powerful. Just as the
popular press of the nineteenth century was responsible for the creation of the mass
reading public, and hence the public, so TV became the place where and the means
by which, a century later, most people got to know about most other people and
about publicly important events or issues. As stated in the article, Re-Visualizing

Environmental Activism in the Post-Network Era. The evidence is clear. When the
masses are wanted to be influenced by the higher-ups a trend is begun and the
nation begins to fuel the media to display what it is they want us to see. This article
states that when reading was at a low, and the nation realized that more people had
to read, there was a spike in marketing efforts and then a spike reciprocated in the
amount of readers. The same theory can be applied to our sustainability efforts. The
nation realized the need, efforts were put forth in the marketing industry, and in
return consumers followed suit with environmentally friendly behaviors. The
researchers are clear to state that while the television has come a long way and
influences us greatly it could do so in a way where we are blinded from certain
truths. Two common themes of critique are: (1) televisions reduction of the
environment to a commodity that is important only in terms of its use-value; and (2)
televisions portrayal of the environment as something that is separate from people
and the places where people live.
A valid point when it comes to our idea of saving the planet. The media
sways our perceptions. Our attentions are focused towards saving sea turtles in the
Galapagos but truly should we not be looking to see what we could have recycled
that is currently in our trash? The problem or world-wide sustainability is that
people are taught to go big, when really the picture is quite small. As consumers we
need to weed out what is truly unimportant and focus on what is key to living
sustainably.
Next, I took a look at the article, The Greening of the Globe? Crossnational
Levels of Environmental Group Membership. The researchers measured

environmental efforts by, membership of environmentalists over the course of a few

years, both world-wide and in Europe. The research focused on environmentalists,
so it is not a good factor in determining the global stance of the environment as a
trend. However, both developing nations and developed nations showed increase in
awareness of the environmental issue and increase in environmentalist
membership. The idea being, that if there are environmentalists in your country
their efforts are then projected forward to the people in their community and as
environmentalists their job is to inform about the environment and what we should
do to be more sustainable. The article states, Despite some claims that the green
movement is a passing phenomenon or that group membership has waned in recent
yearsthese survey-based membership statistics generally demonstrate that the
movement has grown since the early 1980s. The long-term growth would likely be
even more dramatic if earlier data were available for the 1970s. Environmental
group membership now represents one of the largest areas of civil society and
political membership on a global scale. This is solid evidence that there is an
increase in environmentalism as a truly changing view of how to live your life and
not just a passing fad. Environmentalists dedicate a lot of time and effort to teaching
others and doing their own part to help the planet. The assumption that their
influence is spreading is now backed up with this research. This assumption will
help me determine the sincerity of this change I am researching.
The term green-washing has been defined as "the act of misleading
consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the
environmental benefits of a product or service" In the article, "It's Not Easy Being

Green": The Greenwashing of Environmental Discourses in Advertising, the

researchers analyzed three advertisements shown on TV that sell green products
and see how true to their nature they really stay. The article state that, although we
are now suddenly concerned with buying a product that is the lesser of the two
evils we are still a part of the mass consumerism that is currently the downfall of
our environment. Capitalism and environmental efforts dont mix. Green-washing
has taken on more then just TV ads in the past few years, we see green efforts on
nearly every product now a days. A question that arises is; is this big green push
through the media really helpful to us? Has it hurt what our idea of green
consumerism really is? "The sins of green-washing" to include hidden trade-offs, no
proof, vagueness, irrelevance, fibbing, the lesser of two evils, and most recently
added to the list, the worshipping of false labels, the researchers state. These ads
run, we show interest in the product because of their green efforts, we purchase
the product, and all of this, without truly being informed the product has some
synthetic materials in it. Many of these supposedly eco-friendly companies are now
being investigated thoroughly to see what their green efforts really are, and if it
more of a marketing scheme to hone in on their target audience of concerned
families who do what they can as a way to be more sustainable. People need to be
better informed about these products and in an accurate way, but also we need to
tone down consumerism and realize that although you may have purchased an
environmentally-friendly dish soap, the container it comes in will still sit in a landfill
for decades to come.
Sustainability as a fad is examined in the article, Sustainable Marketing and

Social Media. Advertisers are not blind to the idea that making people feel good
about the products they buy, will help sell their products. That also means that more
then likely the ads target emotional aspects of our lives instead of environmental
issues. Green advertising has the potential to evoke various responses in
consumers; however, previous research suggests that consumers are reluctant to
participate in sustainable behaviors. Instead, consumers adopt sustainable
viewpoints to be socially acceptable but may not follow through with sustainable
behaviors An important aspect of the researching sustainability is realizing that
there are generational differences. In researching the trend of change in our society
you need to look at generational change. Adults habits have changed over the years,
growing up in a society where being environmentally conscious meant something
completely different. Their childrens awareness of the issue might change that
generations idea of what sustainability is. Research suggests that age is an
important variable to consider in green advertising research because young and old
consumers may have different definitions for what green and sustainability
represent.
Following I took a look at where sustainability fell on peoples priorities. In
the article, Ten Trends of Tomorrow, they have taken our current worlds view of
what is changing on our society. Sustainability is placed at number six. The article
explores the overall take on these efforts; which is to grow sustainably towards a
projected future. This article did not cover my topic in depth but it did show us that
along with the many other issues we are trying to make sustainability a priority.
This shows improvement from past years where being environmentally conscious

was not a priority. Our efforts are still not enough for the hole we have dug
ourselves into, but still a little goes a long way and if there is already there is a push
for sustainability then soon who know what technological break through we will
have to amplify the word sustainable. both leaders and key functional players
must understand sustainability's growing importance to broader goals
All in all, the articles were extremely helpful in understanding how to
measure a trend or a change. Some of the articles pinpointed my topic exactly in
their changes of societies habits over time. Others overlapped more into
advertisements and the mechanics of the TV ads, but it also helped me get an all
around feeling for what companies focus on when it comes to advertising green
efforts.

POPULATION SAMPLE
The population sample I used was a group of volunteers that live in the Salem
Massachusetts area. Since the survey was online it did spread a little further to
access a greater number of people, but in total there were 29 participants. Each of
them signed a consent form and took the online survey through Google Docs. The
survey was created on Googles Survey maker and distributed through a public
website called Facebook. This was a place where I felt people could easily be
motivated to take five minutes out of their day to take this survey. Since it was a
rather lengthy survey, standing outside and having people do it on the street would
have been inconvenient for them and I would have gotten less participants. The only
risks with this survey were anonymity issues for the participants, but that was not

an issue as Google does document their answers anonymously. It was a simple

random sample, one representing a very small area of the Northshore. I think if
would have received more participants from this area, it would have been a more
accurate showing of the sustainability efforts in the Northshore area. It is difficult to
fairly generalize these thirty people and call it a sample of the population, but it is.
The benefits of doing small clusters, is that if I were to continue this survey I could
pinpoint all the major cities and take a hundred volunteers from each and see the
trends regarding each city.

METHODS
For my research I took a sample population of volunteers who were willing
to take my survey. The survey was a simple set of progressive questions that touch
upon media influence on peoples sustainability habits, if these habits have been
ingrained into them from childhood, and if their parents have always been
sustainable or if it is a recent change in their habits. I believe all the questions were
worded simply and did not ask more then one question. My fear with this survey
however is, that although both I and the participants know it is anonymous survey
some people might feel obliged too not be as honest with their answers. Maybe if I
had more filler questions and didnt have a biased title, such as Sustainability Habits
I could have received more genuine answers. Everyone knows recycling is
important, but how important is it to you and what your intentions are in doing it
are hard themes to measure. Overall, this survey was valid and did answer my
questions. Although, my full range of questions could have been answered more
clearly with a census-type survey. Studying a trend with only thirty people is a

difficult task. The next time I attempt this again I would extend my reach and get
higher numbers of participants over a longer period of time. This survey is not a
good predictor of outcomes. It only studies current changes in habits not future
ones.

DATA
When looking at trend in a rapid way, I thought the best way would be to ask
people if they knew if their parents and grandparents recycle. This would tell me
that in each family of the participants, whether or not it was a family habit that they
live sustainably and passed it down the generational line.
In the chart below are the answers for my survey. The question being, Do your
parents recycle? The fact that 65% of my participants parents recycle is interesting
because 85% of the participants said that they recycle. So already we are seeing a
generational difference and that is among parents and children. There is a 20%
decrease in sustainability efforts from parent to child alone. Now lets take it one
step further and see if grandparents of these same families have kept their
sustainability habits.

PARTICIPANTS:

PARENTS:

GRANDPARENTS:

As you can see, there is another drop in sustainability efforts in the generational
gap. Only 15% of peoples grandparents recycled. Now we run into the problem of
the five participants who were not sure. This then creates a discrepancy in accuracy
of answers because if we knew whether or not those grandparents recycled then we
would have a more accurate reading. Also my question was worded as, Do they
currently recycle? Some parents or grandparents are not currently living, but they
did recycle when they were alive so maybe I should re-word the question so that it
applies to everybody.
Next I took at look at the media influences on people and whether or not they were
affected by advertisements pushing the green movement. Only 7% of the
participants never see eco-friendly advertisements even while the question was
broadened to billboards, product labels, magazines, etc. Regardless, 64% of
participants felt encouraged by these advertisements to buy the more earth-friendly
products. Interestingly enough when asked which they felt was to be a priority

alongside conserving freshwater resources and saving the wilderness, buying earthfriendly products was considered an important aspect to living sustainably. This
brings me back to the article that reminded me that the big picture of living
sustainably has not truly been grasped by most. Granted earth-friendly products are
important, considering how many products are used and then in landfills each
second, yet we should remember that consumerism does not co-exist with
environmentalism.
Saving the wilderness

22%

Recycling paper and plastic

11%

Conserving freshwater resources

22%

Using energy-efficient items

11%

Buying earth-friendly products

19%

Funding wind farms

11%

Installing solar panels

0%

Other

4%

In my survey, I asked what people find to be the most important and I was amazed

to see that earth-friendly products was a priority.

DISCUSSION
In conclusion, I found that my survey was an accurate account of the
sustainability habits and efforts, but since it was such a small sample, I think it
would have been a better representation if there were a greater sample size.
Especially when looking at a trend it is probably best to ask the person directly, not
have one person answer for three generations of people. I thought it was a clever
way to work with the time constraint that we had, yet I think it lead to weaker
answers. If I had interviewed each family and asked them about their habits
growing up and their current habits, I may have had more reliable answers. I was
fascinated to find exactly what I was expecting. There was a clear increase from the
three steps in the generational line of the thirty participants. It is shown clearly in
the data that people have indeed shifted from a lack of environmental consciousness
in the time of our grandparents, where there was no television advertisements and
no earth-friendly marketing, and in turn no sustainable efforts. Also there was no
technology to even know what we were doing to the environment at the moment.
Since the boom of technology, there has also been a boom in awareness of our
surroundings. Peoples parents were slowly becoming aware and passing that
knowledge to their children, and now our generation has almost this societal
requirement to be environmentally conscious. The one discrepancy that is difficult
to weed through in this research is that when asking age, and then asking if their
parents and grandparents put effort forth on being environmentally friendly, then I

dont know if the data is coming from a 60 year old participant, whose grandparents
lived in a completely different era then the parents of a 20 year old. This is why
interviews may have been more accurate in pinpointing exactly when the shift in
societies mentality occurred.

REFRENCES
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