Are Women Are Greener Than Men?
By Jenn | December 1, 2009
I’m wondering what ya’ll think about these findings, which basically say that in (what’s the PC term?) developed/first-world countries, women are greener than men. To paraphrase from the Treehugger article:
- Women drive and fly much less than men.
- …are more likely to buy ecologically friendly and organic goods, recycle and be energy efficient.
- …women respond more positively to environmentally friendly advertising.
- …are more likely to take action to address environmental issues and speak our mind to corporations and to governments.
- …are also more likely to get involved in co-operative and social initiatives on a personal level.
- …women tend to eat less and also eat more vegetables… For example in Denmark, the report said that men eat 139 grams of meat daily compared to women who eat 81 grams.
From the perspective of our hardcore web analytics squad here at Team Tiny Choices, we can safely say that most of our commenters are female. Since we haven’t run any deeper analysis on this subject, it’s possible that most of our readers are males who are just too shy to write in… But, I wouldn’t have necessarily made the leap from our mostly-female readership to assuming that women are greener than men.
There are certainly a lot of male green bloggers out there, and from personal experience, one of my brothers is just as passionate about recycling and reusable water bottles as I am. An informal workplace poll of two male+female cohabiting colleagues confirmed nothing: in one couple the male is greener, and in the other couple it’s the female.
So, I’m opening this up to you, Tiny Choosers– what’s your vote? (And, please feel free to elaborate in the comments below!)
[Image by Ky Olsen via Creative Commons]
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Topics: General |
I’m definitely the eco-warrior in our home. My husband certainly follows my lead, but if he forgets the reuseable shopping bags in his car, he’ll take plastic, and he really doesn’t think about the plastic packaging if I send him to the store for something (which is why I do most of the shopping). That said, when he needed a new car a few years ago, he spent months researching the best balance of size (we often travel with our greyhound) and fuel economy, and we ended up with a manual diesel Jetta + a scanguage so he can adjust his driving to get the best mileage, and he averages about 50mpg.
I can’t vote in the poll, as there isn’t a “neither” choice…I am greener, foodwise (he is Mr. Big-Green-Egg-Smoker Carnivore), but he buys nothing he doesn’t need while I am entranced by yarn and tools/products that will make my daughter’s bushy hair look less like it is maintained by an untidy vole.
Martha, you inspired me to add new answer options to the poll– thanks for pointing out my oversight!
i think you may have more female readers just because there are more female bloggers than male. i think women overall are more receptive to making green changes for the sake of the world because we are the nurturers who think about the future of our unborn children and others on the planet. but sometimes men are more green in ways you don’t think about…like they don’t use toilet paper every time they pee! also the average man probably doesn’t buy as much stuff as the average women who “loves” buying clothes and jewelry. although this generalization does not apply to everyone.
I’m the only human being in my house, so I didn’t vote since there is no comparison to be made :-)
I am pretty green as a vegan with no car living in a small apartment.
My sister tries to be green but she lives in a place where a car is more needed and she has to transport dogs regularly. She is vegetarian though, so that helps. She composts and tries to avoid purchasing anything unnecessary.
My mom and dad are both omnivores who drive everywhere. My dad tends to be interested in anything that is green but will also save money. I have gotten them both more interested in green cleaning since they have a well and a septic tank (which means no sewers). They do use everything until it breaks and are not early-adopters with technology. They both have their shopping weaknesses though. The influence of my sister and I have gotten them to at least eat more vegetarian meals though they probably eat meat at least once a day if not more than that.
This is interesting! I agree with Julia about female bloggers and women as nurturers. However, most of the more “militant” green-activists and vegan/vegetarians I know are male.
My spontaneous hypothesis is that women are more likely to be green more frequently but with less loyalty, whereas men are more likely to be steadfast “greeners,” but less likely to blog or talk about their actions. In essence, women TALK more green, men DO more green.
Totally unscientific and most likely complete hooey. :)
My husband and I are pretty even. The one thing that comes to mind is that, while we’re both vegetarian, he’s more reluctant to go vegan. On the other hand, he’s been vegetarian for much longer — I have about ten years of catching up to do in that regard.
My hubby is less green than I am, only in the respect that he drives a truck for a living. He did say something to me the other day that surprised me though, he said he felt guilty walking into a store without carrying a re-usable grocery bag! So my influences are rubbing off on him! :) We are both (mostly) vegetarian, we do eat occasional organic meat. And we walk everywhere we are able to.
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