Shoppers need straightforward sustainability actions, not pricey sacrifices

Which feels simpler: taking an empty milk jug to the recycling bin or forking over tax {dollars} within the title of sustainability?

In case you selected the previous, you’re not alone. Based on new insights from Trellis knowledge associate GlobeScan about how societies are responding to the sustainability transition, comfort is king. When requested how keen they’re to make particular adjustments, persons are most keen to make adjustments after they’re low-cost, acquainted or comparatively straightforward to do. Extra transformative adjustments that require monetary sacrifice or way of life overhaul face better resistance. Persons are most keen to take on a regular basis, tangible actions that really feel manageable equivalent to:

• Recycling (89 p.c)
• Avoiding plastic packaging (88 p.c)
• Lowering vitality use (85 p.c)

Assist drops considerably for extra pricey or disruptive actions equivalent to minimizing residing house (54 p.c) or paying greater taxes (33 p.c).

What this implies

GlobeScan’s analysis reveals that whereas folks broadly assist the inexperienced transition, their willingness to make arduous private sacrifices, particularly monetary ones, is restricted. As an alternative, folks want actions that really feel acquainted and comparatively easy. This indicators a transparent crucial: make sustainability frictionless. To speed up the transition, governments and companies should embed low-effort, high-impact actions into on a regular basis life and design programs that reward sustainable selections with out demanding sacrifice. 

Based mostly on a survey of 31,960 folks throughout greater than 30 international locations performed July-August 2025.