In a recent survey of nearly 2,000 climate-motivated Americans, Inspire, a clean energy startup, found that more than 75% of respondents were willing to change their behavior to combat the negative effects of climate change. Yet surprisingly, 49% of respondents didn’t know what impact their behaviors had on reducing greenhouse gas emissions like CO2.
When identifying the most impactful green behaviors, 74% of respondents believed that recycling was the number one action that would help reduce their impact on the environment. However, recycling pales in comparison to other green behaviors — like simply powering your home with 100% renewable energy.
Inspire quantified the most common green behaviors — like biking to work, eating less meat, recycling, switching to cold water laundry, or powering a home using renewable energy — based on the amount of CO2 emissions each activity avoids annually. These behaviors were measured against coal emissions, as coal remains one of the dirtiest forms of energy. Coal contributes to roughly 21% of all CO2 emissions in the U.S. each year.
The following infographic details the most common green behaviors, from recycling to powering a home with clean energy, and the impact those behaviors have on reducing your carbon footprint.
