SC Johnson and GfK Roper Consulting partnered on a special set of survey questions about green attitudes and behaviors for American consumers, resulting in some fascinating insights.

This special survey, which was funded by SC Johnson and was part of the 20th Anniversary Green Gauge® survey, examined how American consumers’ environmental knowledge affects their actions and behaviors.

Among the results:

• 75 percent of American consumers say they feel good when they take steps to help the environment, a positive sentiment that is reflected by their increased environmental actions.

• When compared to 1990, Americans are now two times as likely to sort trash to separate garbage from recyclable materials and buy products made from or packaged in recycled materials.

• While 48% of those surveyed are concerned for the environment, they admit there are more important issues to be addressed today – 41% list economic security is their number one concern, followed by environmental problems.

• Asked who should take the lead in addressing environmental problems and issues, 38% picked “individual Americans” and 29% picked “business and industry.”

• Both financial incentives and penalties (both rank at 49%) have a greater influence on consumers’ green behaviors than pressure from family, friends and government – with celebrities having the least reported impact at 7%. 

• In 1990, 39% of American consumers surveyed said they were very confused about what’s good and what’s bad for the environment; in 2011, the number of people with the same response dropped to 18%. 

This new study and its findings follow up on a pioneering study commissioned by SC Johnson in 1990, called The Environment: Public Attitudes and Individual Behavior. Executed by GfK Roper, the 1990 study provided insight into the future of America’s commitment to preserving and protecting the environment, and was the precursor to the Green Gauge® Report – the first, large-scale survey to measure both green attitudes and behaviors.

SC Johnson's Commitment to the Environment

Funding these questions and understanding consumers is just part of SC Johnson's ongoing commitment to the environment. We have been working to do what's right with our products and processes for decades. As just one example, many of our trigger-bottle cleaning products are already sold in bottles with 50% post consumer recycled content, but we've gone a step further and launched concentrated cleaner refills that use less packaging.

We also expanded this website to offer a Green Choices section that provides families with information to help make daily changes to help the environment.

Find Out More

For more background information on SC Johnson's environmental actions, check out this summary or click thru the Sustainability section of this site.

You can download the full GfK Roper/SC Johnson report here.

Read SC Johnson's press release about the report here.