Environmental concern declines among Aussies

1st May 2012

Being kind to the environment is something that we are encouraged to do – but is everyone taking heed of the message?

It would seem not, or so a report from Sydney's University of Technology and the Melbourne Business School would suggest.

Entitled What Matters to Australians, the report aimed to establish just that – what we see as important in our day to day lives.

When listing their major concerns, respondents named crime, health, food, safety and the right to access public services…but there wasn't much sign of the environment.

Back in 2007, environmental sustainability was ranked as being highly important, although it did not feature on the most recent poll.

So are we all just fed up with hearing the environmental message, or is there something else going on?

Well it might be a little premature to write off our eco-friendly actions just yet, especially when we consider just how much progress we've made over recent years.

Just think how many of your neighbours have now installed solar panels, or have changed their light globes to more efficient models.

Whether you've thought about it or not, these are both indications that we are becoming a more environmentally-aware nation – and there are no signs of slowing.

The team behind the report have another theory on why the environment may be lower down our list of concerns.

"It is possible that 2007 was nothing more than an aberration when the debate about environmental sustainability became a matter of ordinary, everyday concern," the report stated.

The responses to the most recent survey could be more representative of a long-term trend, suggesting that 2007 results were more of an anomaly than the norm.

There's no reason why we shouldn't all keep doing our bit for the environment, regardless of what everyone else is doing!

Posted by Mike Peacock

 

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