8 Surprising, Depressing, and Hopeful Findings From Global Survey of Environmental Attitudes

Not everyone is finding it easy to be green.

You tote your own bag to the store, bicycle to work, switched from burgers to quinoa, and replaced the cracked screen on your smartphone rather than buy a new one. You are a green machine.

Now do better.

The latest Greendex survey, conducted by the National Geographic Society (NGS) and the research consulting firm GlobeScan, shows that although consumers in many countries are adopting environmentally friendly behaviors, others live in wasteful cultures of consumption.

"There's a sort of stagnation," says GlobeScan's Eric Whan. "There's a planetary revolution that needs to happen."

The 2014 online survey of 18,000 people in 18 countries gauged environmental attitudes and habits—and their sustainability—when it came to housing, transportation, food, and consumer goods. The first

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