Reducing environmental impact now shapes consumer behaviour

T-shirt made of 100% and hundred percent organic materials. Customer with responsible and nature and eco friendly values looking for clothes in store or shop. Holding label and price tag with text.

Environment concerns are spurring change in consumers’ shopping habits, a recent survey by Consumer NZ shows.

Sue Chetwin, Consumer NZ chief executive, said six out of ten Kiwis agreed environmental considerations were very important to them and they now look for “greener” products.

Chetwin said 47 per cent of consumers were opting to get goods repaired rather than replaced, up 43 per cent from their previous survey.

The new Consumer NZ survey found demand for organic produce had risen as well. One in five consumers said they regularly buy organic when available.

Chetwin said the ban on single-use plastic bags had led to a sharp rise, about 44 per cent, in the proportion of consumers regularly taking reusable bags when shopping. That’s doubled to 88 per cent.

Fifty-two percent said they “always” or “usually” tried to avoid products with too much packaging, up from 42 per cent in Consumer NZ’s 2018 survey.

However, Chetwin said consumers wanting to do the right thing faced major hurdles sorting genuinely greener goods from the fake.

The survey found 72 per cent of consumers thought it was hard to find which products really were better choices, an increase from 68 per cent.

About 69 per cent of consumers said companies weren’t doing enough to reduce the environmental impacts of their products.

Chetwin said trust in green claims remained unchanged. Only 51 per cent felt environmental claims could be trusted.

She said that finding isn’t surprising.

“We routinely uncover products making bogus ‘green’ claims,” Chetwin said. “The companies making them are not only misleading consumers but they’re also breaching the Fair Trading Act.”

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