Gauging Urban Americans’ Actions Towards a Least Wasteful Lifestyle
As Earth Day Month kicks off, results from the second annual “Nalgene Least Wasteful Cities Study” suggest that, overall, Americans living in the country’s largest cities are making slight improvements to be less wasteful by partaking in least wasteful behaviors more often. However on a whole, when asked how the country was doing to be more environmentally responsible, three out of four urban American’s gave the country a “C.” In addition, urban Americans also give themselves and their city a “C” when it comes to environmental responsibility showing that there is still vast room for improvement.
Findings also show that some cities (mostly West and East coast) are statistically doing better than others, perhaps affecting change more than the average. With the exception of choosing not to drive for short trips (less than a mile from home), this year’s results exhibit a similar conclusion to last year’s, that following the path to a least wasteful lifestyle is done most often when it’s easy and convenient.
The study surveyed 3,750 Americans representative of the US Census drawn from the 25 largest cities in the U.S., using standard DMA rankings.
The study ranked 23 wasteful or non-wasteful habits of urban Americans, from recycling, to using public transportation to shutting off the lights when leaving the room. When the results were tallied, San Francisco holds its number one title as America’s Least Wasteful City, while Houston moved down three slots coming in as America’s worst in wasteful living.
Echoing last year’s findings, overall results showed that the easier and more convenient an action, the more frequently it’s practiced. The good news is that Americans seem to be learning the importance of taking small steps to reduce our impact on the environment with a national average improvement in 15 of the 22 wasteful or non-wasteful habits. Despite this improvement, findings also suggest that the less convenient the behavior such as, taking public transportation, not using a car for short trips and composting, the less often they are being practiced across the country.
Subsequently, these less convenient practices yield higher environmental benefits, such as saving natural resources, reducing greenhouse emissions and excess waste headed for the landfill. Encouraging Americans to engage in these less convenient behaviors will directly contribute to help the world achieve a new standard of living where cleaner air, water and a less toxic environment is commonplace. |
RANKINGS HIGHLIGHTS
Movers and the Shakers
- San Francisco remained number one while best overall city improvements include Dallas moving up ten places from 24th to 14th and Phoenix moving up eight places from 20th to 12th
NLWC Downgrades
- Denver moved down eleven places from 6th to 17th and Cleveland moved down eight places from 16th to 24th
Holding Their Own
- San Francisco, Minneapolis and Orlando were steadfast earning the same title as 2009
LEAST WASTEFUL HABITS’ NATIONAL AVERAGE INCREASES, DECREASES AND NO CHANGES
Data points shown below are based on a one to ten scale with one being least often and ten being most often practiced least wasteful behavior.
Biggest increases in national averages:
- Using energy efficient light bulbs - +.5
- Reusing wrapping paper and ribbons - +.5
- Reusing reclosable bags and tinfoil - +.7
- Never driving the car for trips that are less than one mile from home - +1.1
Biggest decreases in national averages:
- Taking public transportation - -.2
Findings showed Americans are doing better in the following areas:
- Recycling glass/metal/plastics on a regular basis
- Throwing out less than 2 bags of trash per week
- Using reusable containers in place of disposable food storage items
- Avoiding buying bottled water
- Buying locally grown/produced foods
- Using reusable grocery bags
- Saving leftover food/meals to eat again
- Reusing reclosable bags and tinfoil
- Reusing wrapping paper and ribbons
- Participating in their city’s sustainability/environmental programs
- Buying second-hand items, including clothing, electronics, furniture, etc
- Using energy efficient light bulbs
- Borrowing books from the library (or buying used)
- Turning off the water when brushing their teeth
- Never driving their car for trips that are less than one mile from home
Findings showed Americans are doing the same in the following areas:
- Using reusable bottles in place of single-serve beverage bottles
- Buying in bulk to avoid extra packaging
- Shutting the lights off when not in the room
- Using a rain barrel
Findings showed Americans are doing worse in the following areas:
- Taking public transportation
- Composting their fruits and vegetables
- Limiting showers to less than 5 minutes
“GREEN” GRADES REPORT CARD
When urban Americans were asked to grade their city’s, personal, friends’ and company’s commitment to being environmentally responsible - “C’s” were ubiquitous.
Country Highlights
- Urban American’s deem the Country mediocre when it comes to its commitment to environmental responsibility with approximately three out of four (72 percent) gave the country a “C” or below for its commitment to the environment
City Highlights
- Three out of five urban American’s also deem their city’s commitment to environmental responsibility as mediocre with more than three out of five (60 percent) gave their city a “C” or below for their city’s commitment to the environment
- Over half of San Francisco residents give their city an “A” or a “B” for its commitment to environmental responsibility
- Roughly three out of four Houston residents grade their city a “C” or below for its commitment to environmental responsibility
- Residents living in the highest ranking cities (San Francisco, Portland and Seattle) gave their cities “A” or “B” grades for their commitment to environmental responsibility
- More than three out five residents in Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore and St. Louis gave their city a “C” or below
Urban Americans
- Nearly three out of four (73%) urban Americans gave their company a "C" or above for their commitment to environment.
Residents that gave their companies the highest grades for their commitment to the environment:
- 40% of Indianapolis residents gave their companies an "A" or a "B" when it came to grading their company's commitment to the environment
- 40% of Portland residents gave their companies an "A" or a "B" when it came to grading their company's commitment to the environment
- 41% of Minneapolis residents gave their companies an "A" or a "B" when it came to grading their company's commitment to the environment
Residents that gave their companies the highest grades for their commitment to the environment:
- Three out of four (75%) residents in Philadelphia gave their companies a "C" grade or below for their commitment to the environment
- 71% of Orlando residents gave their companies a "C" grade or below for their commitment to the environment
- 70% of Miami residents gave their companies a "C" grade or below for their commitment to the environment
Urban Americans reflect inward on their commitment to environmental responsibility
- The majority of urban American’s gave themselves a “C” or above when grading their personal commitment to environmental responsibility
- More than half of those living in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Boston, and Seatlle, gave themselves an “A” or “B” for their personal commitment to environmental responsibility while 65 percent of those living in Houston and Cleveland graded their commitment to environmental responsibility as a “C” or below
SHOPPING HABITS
- Buying bulk at the local market and carrying out with a reusable grocery bag is the perfect least wasteful combo: Of those surveyed, 50 percent frequently use reusable grocery bags, 28 percent frequently shop at local markets and 32 percent plan to buy in bulk
- Why buy books when you can go to the library? Only 44 percent of urban Americans frequently borrow books from the library rather than buy new ones
- Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure: 50 percent of urban American’s are buying second- hand items while 34 percent plan on doing this more in the next year
- The thirst for sipping bottled water still remains high with over three of five urban Americans drinking at least one bottle a day (68 percent). 52 percent of Americans are still purchasing bottled water, 35 percent are doing so out of convenience and 34 percent are doing so because it tastes better than their tap water
- Lowering the lights and using energy efficient bulbs prove to be a popular behavior. Nearly 80 percent or urban Americans are shutting the lights off when leaving the room, 62 percent use energy efficient light bulbs and 38 percent are planning to use energy efficient light bulbs more often in the next year
TRANSPORTATION
- 51 percent of urban Americans do not take public transportation with 65 percent indicating they will not change when it comes to taking public transportation more often
- Today, 28 percent of urban Americans choose not to use their car for trips less than a mile from home while some Americans did indicate (28 percent) that over the next year, they would try more to use their cars less for shorter trips from home. Findings suggest a change is a foot, with this behavior showing a 1.1 increase over last year’s national average
REDUCING & REUSING
- Those urban Americans that choose to use a reusable water bottle (64 percent) do so because they are trying to be more environmentally friendly
- With nearly 90 percent of urban Americans saving leftovers, other findings suggest that many of those leftovers may be stored in reused plastic bags and foils and with 50 percent of urban Americans reusing these items on a frequent basis
- Office supplies are popular items reused by urban Americans with 83 percent of urban Americans reusing boxes, 77 percent reusing rubber bands and 64 percent reusing bubble wrap and packaging material
- From recycling and energy efficient light bulbs to shopping locally and second-hand, urban Americans are engaging in these environmentally friendly behaviors most often
- Tea for two? Only on rare occasions, with just 16 percent of urban Americans reusing tea bags
ADDITIONAL AREAS OF INTEREST
- Overall, only eight cities (West and East Coast with one mid-western) managed to come in above the national average, compared to last year’s 12 cities coming in above the national average
- Three West coast cities remained #1 in a category; San Francisco is still #1 in recycling and never driving their car for trips less than one mile from home, Seattle is still #1 at throwing out less than two bags of trash each week, and Sacramento still leads the way at using energy efficient light bulbs
- The Northeast’s least wasteful ways are catching up to the Western half of the country with New York City ranking 3rd and Boston ranking 5th highest in the nation for overall least wastefulness. Still, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland saved top rank by securing their slot in the top five least wasteful cities list
- Two Pennsylvania cities landed spots in the top 10, Philadelphia ranked 6th and Pittsburgh ranked 10th. The Northeast collectively had the most cities in the top 10 followed by the West Coast with four cities and finally only one mid-Western city held rank in the top 10, Minneapolis. Denver, Philadelphia and Chicago fell out of the top 10 in 2010
- The Mid-west and South Central areas of the country had the lowest rankings with Houston (25) and Cleveland (24) in the bottom two and Atlanta (23) Tampa (22), Indianapolis (21) in the bottom five. Florida’s Tampa and Miami find themselves once again in the bottom ten
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The Nalgene ALWC Study
Overall City Rankings
Methodology
Q&A
Executive Summary
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