Recycling materials such as glass, paper, and plastic has topped the list of personal actions that urban Indians would like to adopt to contribute towards the environment and Earth’s health, and reduce the rate of climate change. According to Ipsos Global Earth Day 2022 Survey released on World Earth Day 2022 on April 22, two in three urban Indians plan to avoid products with excess packaging.
The survey included interviews with a representative sample of 23,577 adults aged 16-74 in 30 different countries globally and 16-99 in Norway. Interviews were conducted using the Ipsos online panel system between February 18 – March 4, 2022. According to the survey results, while 67 per cent each pledged to avoid products with a lot of products, and recycle materials such as glass, paper and plastic, walking, cycling or using public transport instead of driving a car or a mobike found favour with 65 per cent Indians. The survey also highlighted that 65 per cent would avoid buying new goods, mending and buying used products instead, 64 per cent would prefer saving water at home by taking shorter showers and avoiding watering garden and yard.
“Consumers are actually consciously making informed choices of brands that use sustainable packaging. Further, single use plastics is more or less being rejected and recycling is the new mantra of the responsible urban Indian citizen,” said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India, in a press statement.
Reduce plastic use, recycle as much as possible (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
The representative sample survey also included interviews of people from countries like Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, mainland China, Chile, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia,Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States of America.
The survey noted that global citizens “too resolved to avoid products with excess packaging (58 per cent), avoid buying new products (54 per cent) and preserving water by taking shorter showers (52 per cent)”.
Further, the survey mentioned that urban Indians said that in the next one year, they plan to adopt these significant changes in their lifestyle – first, recycling; second, fuel efficient driving practices (using the right gear and driving slowly) and third, more energy efficient cooling equipment using cleaner fuel or renewable energy.
However, views split for urban Indians on how much the Earth has warned up. While 17 per cent felt that since 1850, it warmed by three-four celsius, another 17 per cent said by 1-1.75 Celsius, whereas 12 per cent felt by 2-2.75 Celsius.
Notably, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC report released in August 2021, said that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for approximately 1.1°C of warming since 1850-1900, and finds that averaged over the next 20 years, global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C of warming.
📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!
