Telling Little Green Lies

Originally posted Sept. 24, 2007
by Mark Scott at BusinessWeek

Green living—everything from recycling to buying organic food or cloth diapers—is a hot issue in Britain. Some 56% of 1,580 people polled in July and August by insurer Norwich Union said living an ecologically irresponsible life was as much a taboo these days as drunk driving.

That may explain why a staggering 90% of those surveyed said they had lied to friends and neighbors about living in an earth-friendly way.

Women were most likely to feel pressure to cut their carbon footprint. Less than half the men said a green lifestyle was a social requirement in Britain.

What prompts so many to prevaricate rather than go green? One-fifth of survey participants said they didn't know how to make their lives more eco-responsible. And, says James Dalby, a fund development manager at Norwich Union, almost half said that sustaining such a lifestyle was too expensive.