Consumers complain green is 'time-consuming'

One in five people want to be more environmentally friendly, but believe that going green can be too expensive or time-consuming.

12:40 22 May 2005

One in five people want to be more environmentally friendly but believe that going green can be too expensive or time-consuming.

A survey of 1,000 people by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) found that almost half believed green products were too expensive, while almost as many said being green was too time-consuming.

The poll found that many adults were not satisfied with the level of access provided to green services such as recycling facilities, while a third said they would like more information on how they could be more environmentally friendly.

EST chief executive Philip Sellwood said: "Reducing the environmental impact of your home can be as simple as upgrading to energy-saving lightbulbs and insulating cavity walls and roofs."

He called on the government to make it easier and cheaper for people to be more environmentally friendly and added that householders could save 200 on their annual energy bills by adopting simple measures.

The trust wants to see UK consumers' good intentions turned into action to protect the environment and reduce climate change.

The report suggested that Britons were increasingly falling into two categories - "greenies", who walked whenever possible, turned off appliances and recycled waste, and "baddies", who preferred to drive everywhere, seldom recycled waste and seldom used green cleaning products.