National Geographic finds increase in environmentally sustainable consumer behavior

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National Geographic and GlobeScan have released the "Greendex 2010: Consumer Choice and the Environment" survey, their third-annual study on how consumers interact with environmentally sustainable products worldwide. Considering 17,000 consumers in a total of 17 countries, the study surveyed participants on topics such as attitudes toward the environment and sustainability, as well as behavior regarding energy use and conservation, transportation, food sources and choosing green products against traditional products.

The survey found that among consumers in 10 of 17 countries, environmentally conscious behavior has increased. Additionally, of the 14 countries polled in both 2008 and 2009, all but one demonstrated an increase in environmentally friendly consumer behavior.

The top-scoring consumers in the survey were once again in developing nations, with India, Brazil and China rounding out the top three. American consumer behavior continues to rank as the least sustainable of surveyed countries, despite marked improvement – along with Russian and India, it posted the largest improvement between 2008 and 2010.

However, consumer behavior is far from perfect. When consumers were asked to what extent 10 factors prevented them from pursuing more environmentally friendly behavior, the largest proportion across all 17 countries answered companies that make false claims about the "greenness" of their products.

The partnership seeks to develop an international research approach to measure and monitor consumer consumption of environmentally sustainable products and practices worldwide.`They hope to present consumers with data on how citizens of different countries behave towards green consumer initiatives.

Governments and companies have begun to exert greater efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy efficiency. However, these efforts will depend upon their ability to convince consumers that technologies such as smart grids will not only benefit the environment, but also save them money.

Congress recently designated $4.5 billion for smart grid deployment, yet even companies are wary – the Maryland Public Service Commission rejected a $200-million plan by Baltimore Gas and Electric because it put too much risk on consumers, BusinessWeek reports.

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