Members of the general public are looking for strong leadership from government to help them make the ‘‘right‘‘ environmental choices, says a report from consultants Brook Lyndhurst.. The report, from the London-based research consultancy Brook Lyndhurst, is based upon the results of a survey of 1,015 UK residents commissioned from ICM. The results show:

that the British public already feel well informed about how they could ‘‘do their bit‘‘ for the environment - but they don‘‘t actually do many of these things they are looking for a strong lead from central government, and think that clear interventions - including eco-taxes - would be a fair way of helping people to act in more environmentally-friendly ways however, the public‘‘s views towards the car are different. Significant barriers prevent individual consumers from having, making, or even wanting, the ‘‘sustainable choice‘‘ and changing people‘‘s attitudes towards their cars will be exceptionally difficult.

"The people of Britain don‘‘t behave in a very sustainable way," said Brook Lyndhurst Director, and report co-author, David Fell. "When you look at our recycling rates, at our use of renewable energy, at our dependence on cars, it‘‘s not just that we are poor in comparison with many of our European partners; it‘‘s that most of us have lifestyles that somehow manage to despoil the environment and promote social inequality at the same time."

The report explores why the British public behave like this, and what might be done to improve things across a range of environmental and social issues.

The results indicate:
information and awareness are not enough. 80% of the public already feel ‘‘reasonably well informed‘‘ about what they could do to be more environmentally-friendly
the young and the old are different in both their environmental attitudes and their environmental behaviour. For example, 68% of retired people claim to recycle paper & glass all the time, compared to just 36% of those aged under 25
the British public is ready for robust intervention from government - including eco-taxes - to promote and protect the environment. For example, 73% believe it would be fair to charge variable VAT on electrical appliances on the grounds of energy efficiency.
Mr Fell commented: "The general public, irrespective of age, class, gender or ethnicity, seems to accept that it would be fair if environmentally ‘‘good‘‘ products were made less expensive and, at the same time, environmentally bad products were made more expensive." the car, however, is the exception to this. 68% of respondents think it would be unfair to increase the price of petrol to reduce the amount we drive.

Mr Fell concluded: "The public realise that they have some ‘‘bad habits‘‘; and they know that someone, somewhere, has to make some hard choices. They are looking to government to help, and to make it much more straightforward for them - us - to make the environment-friendly, sustainable choices that we all know are needed."