It’s Not Easy Being Green: An Investigation into the Effectiveness of ‘Ecological Citizenship’ as an Explanation for Pro-environmental Behaviour.

Abstract

The UK government has committed to ambitious sustainability targets, and it is clear that individual people’s actions have a large role to play in achieving these targets. However, while some individuals do appear to be trying to live more sustainably, the majority are not. The author wondered whether the emerging field of ‘ecological citizenship’ could explain the actions of those that
are making efforts. If so, it could be used to develop more effective strategies to encourage sustainable lifestyles.
An in-depth questionnaire and online discussion involving people who were identified as engaging in sustainable lifestyles were used to gather information
on behaviour, motivations and attitude. Results showed that the group were engaging in many activities that they believe reduce their effect on the
environment and collectively had strong pro-environmental attitudes. Furthermore, in line with the characteristics associated with ecological
citizenship, they were often motivated by a sense of non-reciprocal responsibility to others. This responsibility was extended beyond national
boundaries, to those spatially and temporally distant. Feelings of responsibility to the non-human world were also strongly evident.
Therefore, while it is acknowledged that the motivations of this group were multiple and complex, often the principles of ecological citizenship did apply.
This shows that the theory could be of use within the UK (and elsewhere) as
one method to encourage sustainable lifestyles.