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.
“Canadians want to be more environmentally friendly, but it’s an ongoing process to change these important behaviours,” said Annette Verschuren, president of The Home Depot Canada and Asia.
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.
Canadians have great intentions to green their living spaces, but 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).
• Using green garbage bags, recycling bags and compost bags (22 per cent).
But the Canadian Green Home Index highlights a few easy fixes Canadians can use in their daily lives to make their homes even greener.
For example:
• Only nine per cent of consumers have purchased green household cleaning products in the last six months.
• Only seven per cent of Canadians turn off lights or appliances when not in use.
• Just six per cent report curbing water usage at home.
• Despite the current trend to encourage reusable shopping bags, only seven per cent of Canadians admit they’ve adopted this practice.
The index will be released bi-annually to track progress across the country.