Most of Russians try to save on water and gas bills and use energy-saving lamps but they are reluctant to participate in green activities and donate to nature foundations.
MOSCOW, January 10, 2019. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a study devoted to Russians’ environmental activities.
According to the survey, a majority of Russians (79%) always use energy-saving lamps; a further 10% use them rarely or occasionally. Three-quarters (74%) of respondents save on water, electricity and gas bills; 14% do it occasionally.
Forty percent of Russians opt for public transport, abandoning their cars; a further 22% do it less frequently. However 22% of respondents say that they never give up their cars and would not like to do that. Every third (32%) participates in landscaping and gardening activities; 27% do it rarely.
Every fourth (27%) sorts household trash. Remarkably, public interest in recycling is significant: 47% declare desire to sort waste if they had an opportunity. At the same time, 11% would not do that. A further 33% sometimes bring hazardous waste (batteries, mercury-containing lamps, electronics) to drop-off points; more often, however, Russians do not do that (65%).
More than half of respondents (54%) do not buy biodegradable products but 35% would do that if they could. A majority (83%) do not donate to nature foundations, natural reserves or environmental organizations but 55% would help such organizations if they had an opportunity.
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on December 18, 2018. The survey involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Which of the following do you do (or not do)? And if you do, how often? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of total respondents) | |||||
| I always try to do this | I rarely do this, only from time to time | Now I do not do this but I would like to do this if I had an opportunity | Now I do not do this and I would not like to do this | Don’t know |
Using energy-saving lamps | 79 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
Avoiding water waste, reducing energy and gas consumption | 74 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Giving up the car and switching to public transport, bicycles or moving on foot | 40 | 22 | 12 | 22 | 4 |
Participating in landscaping and gardening activities, green clean-ups | 32 | 27 | 30 | 11 | 0 |
Waste sorting (separating at least one kind of recyclables: paper/glass/plastic) | 27 | 13 | 47 | 11 | 2 |
Bringing hazardous waste (batteries, electronics, mercury-containing lamps) to drop-off points | 23 | 10 | 57 | 8 | 2 |
Replacing plastic bags with paper or textile bags | 16 | 22 | 42 | 18 | 2 |
Purchasing products made from biodegradable and recycled materials | 10 | 26 | 35 | 19 | 10 |
Participation in environmental protest activities (against deforestation, factories’ construction, etc.) | 5 | 7 | 47 | 37 | 4 |
Donating to nature foundations, natural reserves, environmental organizations) | 3 | 11 | 55 | 28 | 3 |
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