The over-50s are more consistent in protecting the environment.
The shopping cart as a ballot paper for a better world: around a half of German online users take this approach. 50 percent prefer products produced in a socially and/or ecologically responsible manner, for example, without child labor, or in accordance with ecological principles. The majority also shop in an environmentally-conscious way, although with a clear generational divide. Whereas the over-50s are consistently environmentally conscious in their actions, the percentage of under-30s who shop in an environmentally conscious way, while still high, drops by 10 to 15 percentage points. Thus generally nine out of ten over-50s say they think about energy efficiency when buying electrical appliances, or reducing their personal energy consumption, compared with “just” three out of four (76 percent and 78 percent, respectively) of the under-30s. When buying regional/seasonal products, the difference between the two groups is as much as almost 20 percentage points: 86 percent of the over-50s, but just 67 percent of the under-30s buy seasonal or regional products where possible, which tend to be more environmentally-friendly due to shorter transport distances. Recycling is on the agenda in Germany: 90 percent of people surveyed say they throw their paper and plastic waste in the recycling bin. The cell phone is the poor cousin of recycling: although the handsets contain valuable raw materials, it is relatively rare for them to be recycled. 57 percent say they usually recycle their old cell phone. However, based on the total number of old cell phones and the recycling quotas, it is likely to be much lower than this.
