From mobility to consumption, Italian households are increasingly concerned about issues related to the environment: nearly eight out of ten respondents consider environmental sustainability to be the criterion of choice for their daily actions, and consider issues related to climate change and the circular economy to be truly urgent, while Italian institutions have not paid enough attention to this issue in the past 10 years.
According to the latest research report on circular economy and sustainable consumption released by the Eures Institute of Economics and Society, 78.9% of respondents believe that environmental sustainability issues (climate change, pollution, reduction of natural resources) are the most serious emergency for the planet, according to the Italian news agency Ansa News. 88.3% of respondents are convinced that human behavior is the main or all cause of the Earth's climate change.
Regarding the most frequently discussed issues among respondents, climate change (56.9%) topped the list, followed by waste recycling (49.4%) and food waste (48.8%), and about one-third of households also regularly discussed environmental pollution (33.6%), sustainable transport (33.3%) and livability of urban life (31.5%).
52.1% of Italian households said they were "very" (9.9%) or "somewhat" (42.2%) concerned about sustainable transport. Overall, 38.1% of respondents would choose sustainable travel, while 61.9% of travel was determined by other "priorities". In addition, 63.5% of households said that the main solution for sustainable transport should be to improve the efficiency of local public transport, and 59.7% want to increase financing for the purchase of low-impact vehicles.
It should be noted that food waste is also a major concern for respondents: 83% of households are highly concerned about issues related to food waste reduction and sustainable development, including storing food carefully and correctly (88.9%), buying seasonal food (81.3%), or cooking other dishes with leftovers (79.3%). According to the report, 72.5 percent of people regularly buy regular quantities of food products needed for daily consumption, and 54.9 percent buy local products.
The results of the survey show that the value of sustainability and the circular economy is well recognized, especially among young people and families with children, and that caring about the future of the planet has become a personal responsibility. However, the implementation of this awareness still seems to be hampered by a number of obstacles in daily work, such as the lack of adequate services and infrastructure, the lack of availability and transparency of information, and the costs that consumers have to bear to adjust their behavior.
Waste sorting, walking, no food waste, and prioritizing sustainable packaging...... Italian consumers are increasingly adopting or looking to adopt this sustainable lifestyle. To meet this growing demand, governments must make a strong commitment to accelerate change and facilitate the transition to more sustainable consumption patterns.
(The content is from the European Times, compilation: Li Shuo, picture source: Pixabay, please indicate)