"Greening the greys": in it for the long haul?
16/03/2007
I met Dr Gary Haq, author of the report “Greening the Greys,” at City Screen in York the other week. After securing his bicycle we sat down for coffee in the Café Bar. I was feeling quite virtuous; I’d travelled by bus and train to the meeting and felt I was doing “my bit” for the environment.
Our discussions were developing when we were interrupted by a gentleman who passionately argued that a more hard-line approach was needed to reduce carbon footprint. His “attack the wealthy, let them know how much they’re destroying the planet; make them feel guilty” felt very much like using a sledge hammer to fell the forest rather than crack the nut. If only the solution was so simple.
Let’s take a look at Dr Haq’s report which generated significant media coverage. The research revealed that people aged 50-64 , the so-called “baby boomers,” have the highest carbon footprint in the UK compared to other age groups. This is particularly to do with their high dependency on the car, holidaying abroad and eating out. The calculations were based on average emissions.
However, there is nothing average about the baby boomers. They represent an incredibly diverse age range and are, as such, very difficult to target meaningfully. One of their defining features is that they are so fragmented in terms of attitudes, values and life events that there is very little “typical” about them.
However, from an analysis of attitudinal data, produced by the independent think-tank Demos, a few years ago, the baby boomers do have two distinctive generational characteristics, individualism and liberalism. These two factors are, in my view, key to forming some kind of understanding of the motivations of this diverse group.
Their individualism is particularly prevalent in their demand for consumer goods and services (they are after all celebrated as the creators of consumerism) and personal choices. Their children continue the consumerist obsession and demand for choice. Their individualism is juxtapositioned against the collectivist approach of the older generations, an approach which they have rejected, and which was so vital to survival in the war years, the “make do and mend” mentality and the “Dunkirk spirit”.
They are seemingly not prepared for any form of consumer sacrifice as their quest for self-gratification intensifies with age. Their parents and grandparents’ generations however offered the ultimate sacrifice to preserve their way of life and secure that of the generations to come.
On top of this, there is also evidence that they are more anti-establishment than the generations above and below them. They are less trusting of authority and suspicious of science and technology (hence their scepticism and cynicism about the Government’s approach to green issues. This is also possibly reflected in their response to Dr Haq’s own report).
Their innate liberalism is based on the right to make choices about their personal lifestyle, whatever the consequences. They started the “permissive society” where anything goes and this continues today.
Interestingly, the initial research from Demos suggested that the baby boomers are also pioneering ethical customers, 23% have boycotted a company’s product on ethical grounds (compared to 13% of older generations and 16% of younger). As a demographic group, baby boomers are the most wealthy and powerful cohort in British society.
If they applied their potential power and influence to green issues, this should perhaps give us some comfort?. However, the Demos research shows that whatever their aspirations, there is scant evidence “that they are prepared to put their money where their mouth is”. Some are “doing their bit” , the majority however are disillusioned by politics or the possibilities of collective action.
So whilst the baby boomers have shaped and formed society, their approach to individualism has helped to create the “because I’m worth it” mantra, the focus on self, and the right to choose. If the baby boomers maintain this approach and continue seeing environmental issues, such as attempting to reduce carbon footprint, as an affront to their personal liberty or as an unwarranted interference by “officials”, where does that leave us and where do we go from here?
Thankfully, I have been generalising. There is a small resistance of responsible individuals, the “conscience consumer”, prepared to put the jack boot into our obsession with self. They are not yet ready to surrender to the enemy of carbon emissions without a fight. They believe in a collective solution because “we are all worth it”. But, they do need other consumer allies urgently to vote with their feet, thereby triggering back-up from big business and extras forces from the Government.
So, if you are even considering reinforcements (and I’ve got to say I’m still only thinking about it) how prepared are you personally to address the really hot topic, air travel? Are you like some, cramming in as many foreign trips abroad to get the “experience” before you become an air passenger pariah? Or are you actively reducing your air travel or looking for carbon friendly alternatives, longer trips by train for example.
The older generations in particular, because they have more time, could grasp the opportunity to redefine “long haul” in a responsible way. We’re not just worth it, we’re also all in this for the long haul.
Judith Cork runs her own consultancy, Judith Cork Consulting, helping organisations to maximise the opportunities from the ageing population. Her website link is below, as is one to the Greening the Greys report.