Earth Day | Are young people still green?

Since primary school, we have been talking to them about pollution and climate change. Paradoxically, young people aged 18 to 34 today are as eco-anxious as they are reluctant to make real efforts to reduce their environmental impact, surveys say. Even the most aware find it difficult not to give up when they realize that the problem is so much bigger than them.

September 2019. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate for the climate in the streets of Montreal, galvanized by a teenager, Greta Thunberg.

Since then, polls and studies have shown that young people believe less and less in demonstrations and in the usefulness of sacrifices to counter global warming. What’s the point of depriving yourself of travel when your father-in-law thrives on pickup and watercraft? When the best friend goes to Mexico in the winter, to Paris during spring break and to Brazil in the summer? And meanwhile, in China, India, the United States…

Louis Couillard, head of mobilization at Greenpeace Canada, admits that some mornings are difficult for an activist like him.

The trouble is that weariness does not only relate to demonstrations.

Depriving yourself is too hard

According to the 2023 Responsible Consumption Barometer of the ESG UQAM Responsible Consumption Observatory, 49% of young people aged 18 to 24 “are not ready to deprive themselves of certain pleasures” to reduce their environmental impact (comparedly at 37% all ages combined).

Feelings of helplessness and discouragement are also evident. No less than 46% of respondents aged 18 to 24 said they agreed with the statement “the environmental situation is so gloomy that I believe nothing is possible anymore” (i.e. 14 percentage points more than for the sample complete).

When hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets, “but governments do not take the necessary measures, it contributes to a feeling of exhaustion,” notes Shirley Barnea, spokesperson for Pour le futur Montréal, which organizes the demonstration. this Sunday for Earth Day in Montreal, at the foot of Mount Royal.

In his opinion, the time is therefore no longer so much for somewhat guilt-inducing speeches as for the search for collective solutions, through large-scale measures taken by governments, “such as the imposition of taxes on air travel , which could be increased after the first annual trip, for example,” says Shirley Barnea.

Young people clearly do not want to deprive themselves of traveling, we submit. Shirley Barnea responds that “it’s hard not to enjoy your youth when the adults around you aren’t doing the right thing. »

Marc-Antoine Vachon, holder of the Transat Chair in Tourism and professor of marketing at UQAM, notes that of all age groups, it is people aged 18 to 34 who are the least inclined to have ecological scruples. related to travel.

The Léger survey carried out for the Chair of Tourism bears witness to this. Young people aged 18 to 34 consider it less likely to reduce their future air travel than those aged 34 and over (41% compared to 50%).

No less than 73% of respondents to a 2021 Léger survey say they are ecoanxious, notes Mr. Vachon – “but they do not adopt the behaviors that are among those that would have the most impact” to limit the damage.

As a university professor, this is obvious, continues Mr. Vachon. Gone are the days when, late in life, you made your first trip to Europe – ah, Paris!

“Today, it is not uncommon for my students to have already been to Bali. »

Ecologically, it’s not great, but sociologically, travel, “it’s important to open our eyes to the world”, argues Mr. Vachon.

The Chair of Tourism also notes that “Quebecers are tired of hearing about the environment”.

Elsewhere, youth no greener

In all this, Quebec is not at all distinct. According to a study carried out in France by the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions, young French people are the most concerned about climate change, but their behaviors “are not more ecological than those of their elders , we can read in the document. Fewer of them sort their waste, buy local and seasonal vegetables or even reduce their electricity consumption.”

On a daily basis – a question of budget, perhaps? – however, fewer young people own a car. But in France, “28% of 18-24 year olds have taken the plane two or more times during the year, nine points more than the average”, it is still written.

A study carried out by the Sotomo Research Institute on the Swiss also reveals that of all age groups, young adults aged 18 to 35 currently have the largest ecological footprint, mainly due to their frequent plane travel. .

In Quebec, according to the Metrix Plan from the firm Comscore, which specializes in consumer research, it was women aged 18 to 24 who, of all age groups, were the most likely to have purchased an item of clothing or makeup and beauty products in the 12 months preceding the collection, in 2023. Among men, those aged 25 to 34 were the most likely to have purchased clothing in the preceding months.

Caroline Boivin, co-founder of the Responsible Consumption Observatory, refuses to be defeatist. True, young people are not more frugal than their elders. But certain behaviors seem well and truly integrated, such as shopping in a thrift store, “a behavior that has become a norm” among the younger generation.

“For example, young people all have their own water bottle and they are very aware of the fact that we need to consume less meat. »

For the rest, she notes that her work leads her to note that many young people say that they lack the information to consume responsibly.

Lack of information? When their teachers and textbooks have always been dealing with these issues?

In fact, note M^me Boivin, what young and old alike must realize, “is that green products are rarely 100% green, or they may be in some aspects, but less so in others. Green options reduce environmental impact compared to conventional options, but do not eliminate it completely.”

For example, she adds, “even if the distance traveled by local products is less, they still have to be transported to consumers, which obviously has impacts on the environment.”

Green is not “black or white”, and you have to learn to navigate with a certain uncertainty.

But above all, she concludes, “the most important gesture for the environment is the reduction of consumption. And that’s easy to forget with the multiple product offerings, eco-friendly or not.”

Without us realizing it, she notes, with age, we accumulate all kinds of information, points out M^me Boivin.

“I myself have been delving into these questions for 15 years and I am still learning every day! The devil is in the details. »

For example, what exactly can we put in the bin? Is the electric car totally a good idea? And no, by using bamboo straws, beeswax wrappers and buying yet another reusable water bottle because we think it’s pretty, we’re not helping the planet, ultimately.

Read the text “These eco-friendly objects that we overconsume”

“Consumption is necessary,” notes M.^me Boivin. The big question is knowing where to draw the line between too much and enough… and having fun, a little. »

Read “Young people doing their best”