Which areas of life have the greatest impact on the environment?? Our representative survey shows that experts and the general public rarely agree.
- Overview
survey on sustainability in 14 countries
Air travel or bicycle tour? Car, bus or subway? How we get around in everyday life and when we travel has a big impact on the environment. People in germany, however, regard this as rather unimportant. This was the result of a representative survey conducted by stiftung warentest together with international testing organizations.
Around 1,000 people in 14 countries were asked, among other things, how sustainable they consider their behavior to be and what importance they attach to the environment in the five areas of travel and mobility, purchasing behavior, water and energy in the household, food and waste disposal. Some of the results differ greatly from the assessments of the 39 international sustainability experts who helped develop the survey.
Mobility has a major impact
45 percent of respondents in germany consider the environmental impact of travel and mobility to be moderately to very unimportant. The experts involved have a different opinion. They consider travel and mobility behavior to be one of the most important influences on the environment. According to the German Federal Environment Agency, mobility behavior is responsible for an average of 19 percent of the country’s carbon footprint. Road construction and fine dust, for example from tire wear, also pollute the environment.
before the corona pandemic, tourism accounted for 8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study by the university of sydney (free abstract).
Tip: for journeys of less than 800 kilometers, solo travelers are best off taking the train or bus. stiftung warentest has analyzed the environmental impact of various travel scenarios and provides tips for more sustainable tourism.
Avoiding waste rather than separating it
The assessment of waste disposal is even more divergent. It is the most important factor for people in Germany when it comes to sustainability, and the least important for experts. Nevertheless, survey participants rate their knowledge in this field as the greatest.
71 percent of respondents in germany consider waste disposal to be a rather important environmental factor. The experts disagree: exemplary waste separation in germany doesn’t have such a big impact on the environment. It is better to avoid waste than to separate it properly. They recommend consuming less and focusing on actual needs.
Tip: use reusable packaging when shopping and prefer loose goods and large packages. This is a simple way to save waste.
Repairing instead of throwing away
The experts also believe it is important to use products for longer and to repair broken products instead of throwing them away. This is in line with our findings: repairing defective household appliances often pays off for the environment.
Tip: many repair instructions on how to get a striking dishwasher, refrigerator, computer or music system up and running again can be found in our book reparaturen zu hause (24.90 euros, as epub 19.99 euros).
The survey in figures
Independent. Objective. Incorruptible.
Nutrition as the most important factor
Food has the strongest environmental impact in the experts’ ranking. In this country, food accounts for an average of 15 percent of each person’s carbon footprint. In addition, factory farming involves, among other things, an immense consumption of water and land, for example to produce feedstuffs.
From the experts’ point of view, consumers can achieve the most by avoiding meat and animal products. Here, not only the respondents from Germany, but from all countries were off the mark. they unanimously considered a plant-based diet to be the least important aspect of a more sustainable diet.
Reducing and avoiding food waste was considered to be the most important behavior by all survey participants. This aspect was ranked second by the experts. According to experts, the consumption of animal products is the most harmful to the environment.
Tip: stiftung warentest has compared the carbon footprints of different foods and gives simple tips for a more sustainable diet. For example, the carbon footprint of butter is more than three times that of full-fat margarine. Seasonal and regional food shortens transport routes and saves resources. The seasonal calendar of the consumer centers offers a practical shopping guide.
High costs as a hurdle
The respondents in all countries considered their finances to be the biggest barrier to more sustainable behavior. For example, 46 percent of survey participants in germany find sustainable nutrition too expensive.
Tip: Sustainable purchasing does not have to be expensive. the federal center for nutrition offers guidance for cost-effective sustainable purchasing. In regions with solid transportation infrastructure, switching from cars to buses and trains can be a cheaper and more sustainable alternative. Riding a bike is not particularly expensive fun either.
Countries differ little
The survey was conducted in the fall of 2021 in 11 EU countries as well as in Russia, Great Britain and Canada. The results were used to calculate the specially developed consumer sustainable behavior index (CSBI). It should reflect how sustainably people behave in the respective country.
The CSBI of the countries differs only slightly. Austria achieved the best result with 57 out of 100 points, Russia the worst with 45 points. Germany ranks in the top third with 54 points. The aim is to repeat the survey regularly and to monitor the development of the CSBI. However, the index is not an objective measure of sustainability, but reflects people’s perceptions, as it is based on the self-assessment of the respondents.
Sustainable in everyday life. How to reduce your environmental footprint in everyday life is summarized in our book gruner leben nebenbei (16.90 euros, epub: 13.99 euros). There we clarify, for example, what quality seals are good for sustainable products and which regional superfoods can replace acai, goji, matcha and co.