At an older age, people are more likely to complete environmental practices or make purchases motivated by eco-friendly factors. This is demonstrated by the results of the survey “Environmental Commitment of the Costa Rican population“, developed by the Technological Institute (TEC). This survey was applied in the second semester of 2022 and was published in the last week.
The study found that, in general, older people with less education are those who have better environmental practices and less consumerism. “The main data we found is an indicator that we call Environmental Commitment, which amounted to 73 points. This indicator is made up of various elements such as saving electricity, saving water, separating waste and responsible consumption. It was also very striking that we found that as age increases, environmental commitment increases”, explained José Martínez Villavicencio, coordinator of the study.
The form asked respondents how often they complete good environmental practices. These are divided into 4 axes:
1. Electricity saving
2. Water saving
3. Separation of waste
4. Responsible consumption
From this, an indication of “Environmental Commitment” was also generated. This puts a rating from 0 to 100 according to environmental behaviors. There, the general note was 73. This is much broader than 10 years ago, when the level was 54. Another striking fact is that while electricity savings were the most followed measure, the issue of responsible purchases is the less implemented.
The older they are the better eco-friendly practices they have
When measuring the results, significant differences appeared between the results according to the age of the people. “The score increases as age also increases, and that in each sub-indicator the range of 55 years of age or older is the one with the highest score”, says the report.
In terms of occupation, the people who claimed to be housewives are the group with the highest score in the global indicator of Environmental Commitment (86 points out of 100), above public (74) and private (73) employees. “Another interesting fact is that regarding the education variable, the people who said they only had primary school were the ones who reported a higher global index of Environmental Commitment, with 82 points, while the people who have secondary education have an indicator of 73, the same as those who have university studies”, adds the report.
In terms of occupation, the people who claimed to be housewives are the group with the highest score in the global indicator of Environmental Commitment (86 points out of 100), above public (74) and private (73) employees. Another interesting fact is that, regarding the education variable, the people who said they only had primary school were the ones who reported a higher global index of Environmental Commitment, with 82 points, while the people who have secondary education have an indicator of 73, as well as those who have university studies.
Shopping makes a change
A breaking point in the survey appears in the area of responsible purchasing. Unlike other recommendations such as energy and water savings, here there is not as much penetration of care messages.
In addition, experts emphasize that this is also influenced by social aspects such as consumerism or materialism. “Cultural factors come into this issue that has weighed more than environmental perception. This represents a greater challenge, because it is linked to issues of perception of social status, the vision of the world and society that are linked to the acquisition of goods or services”, explained Diana Zambrano, coordinator of the Environmental Engineering degree.
For her, a key point will be to raise awareness about the life cycle of products and their impact. Here again, age played a central role in the results.
