The road to environmental consciousness is paved with green intentions, but a first-of-its kind index gives Canadians a moderate rating when it comes to ‘greening’ their homes.
The Canadian Green Home Index, developed by Environics Research for The Home Depot Canada, assigns Canadians a 60 out of 100 rating in its inaugural release. Based on a basket of five questions, the Canadian Green Home Index tracks Canadian attitudes and behaviours – as a means to measure progress toward greening their homes. The index will be released bi-annually to track progress across the country.
“Canadians want to be more environmentally friendly, but it’s an ongoing
process to change these important behaviours,” said Annette Verschuren,
President, The Home Depot Canada and Asia. “We believe this index provides a real opportunity to add to the green discussion, so we can support further change and provide consumers with the tools they need to do more.”
The green gap at home
So how do Canadians feel they measure up when it comes to greening their
homes? A majority of Canadians (68 per cent) rate their home as “somewhat
green.” A further 13 per cent believe their homes are “very green” already.
But, an even stronger majority of Canadians (83 per cent) acknowledge they
have room to improve – and are keen to make their homes even greener than they are today. Only two per cent of the population claims their home is already as green as it can be.
A gap between perception and reality
Canadians have great intentions to green their living spaces, but a
majority (54 per cent) admit they are only “somewhat confident” they have the tools to make it happen. A further 22 per cent say they are “not confident” in their ability to access eco-appropriate knowledge and resources.
By contrast, just 23 per cent of Canadians report feeling “very
confident” they have the knowledge and resources to make their homes more environmentally friendly.
The top three steps Canadian consumers have taken in the past six months
to make their homes greener include:
- purchasing recyclable or biodegradable and organic products (25 per cent);
- purchasing energy efficient light bulbs (24 per cent); and
- using green garbage/recycling/compost bags (22 per cent).
But the Canadian Green Home Index highlights a few easy fixes Canadians
can incorporate into their daily lives, to make their homes even greener.
- Only nine per cent of consumers have purchased green household
cleaning products in the last six months;
- Only seven per cent turn off lights or appliances when
not being used
- Just six per cent report curbing water usage at home; and
- Despite the current trend to encourage reusable shopping bags,
only seven per cent of Canadians admit they’ve adopted this
practice.
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“By measuring consumers’ attitudes and actions toward greening their
homes, we can assess areas where our customers need the most help,” said
Verschuren. “As Canada’s home improvement leader, serving millions of
customers across the country, The Home Depot is well positioned to help
educate Canadians and transform the market for environmentally friendly
household products.”
The Home Depot Canada offers customers more than 1,600 Eco Options
products, including compact fluorescent light bulbs, Energy Star appliances,
natural lawn and garden products, solar garden lights and energy efficient
fixtures – to name just a few.
Education is a key factor in enabling consumers to make the change to
green and Homedepot.ca/greenindex is the destination for home improvement
education. From a “Green Checklist” of seasonal to-do’s and environmentally
responsible small projects to information on how to take advantage of the Home
Renovation Tax Credit and Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY efficiency
assessment and rebate program, homedepot.ca helps Canadians improve their
homes by making better choices for the environment and their wallets.
The Canadian Green Home Index was conducted for The Home Depot Canada by Environics Research group between March 19 and March 24, 2009, with a representative sample of 2,004 Canadians aged 18 and over. The results are considered accurate within +/- 2.2% (95% confidence level).
