Neighbours drive us green with envy
Neighbours drive us green with envy
0 Comments | Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland), The, May 23, 2008
Byline: Lindsay McIntosh
THE net curtains still twitch, the eyes still peer over the garden hedge, but the focus of neighbourly envy has shifted from the shiny car in the drive to the solar panels that heat the house.
Britons are no longer concerned with keeping up with the Joneses – but rather the Greens, the self-sufficient, up-to-the-minute environmentalists whose gardens are increasingly awash with planet-saving gadgets.
The most envied status symbols spied over the fence, according to new research, are home-grown vegetables and egg-laying chickens. Wildlife areas and eco-friendly plant-watering systems also boost residents’ standing on the street.
The study, by the DIY retailer B&Q, found the UK will spend an estimated GBP 3.8 billion in the next year boosting their green garden credentials with water butts, solar-powered garden lighting, ponds and compost bins.
And in a forecast of a nation modelled on The Good Life, two in three of the 1,300 people polled claim they plan to grow their own fruit, vegetables or herbs this year.
They say it is not just green envy which is sending them to the DIY store, but also the omnipresent guilt at their non-environmentally-friendly behaviour and the lack of eco-products in their gardens and homes.
Nearly eight in ten would like to be greener in the garden, with the majority claiming that cost is the biggest factor against it.
Rachel Bradley, B&Q’s social responsibility manager, said: “This is one example where oneupmanship over your neighbours is actually a positive thing. It’s encouraging that people seem to be shunning traditional status symbols and are instead hankering over items that provide us with the new ideal of green living.
“However, it’s interesting that most still cite cost as the key factor in not going green, when a water butt and solar lighting are cheap these days.”
Dr Dan Barlow, acting director of WWF Scotland, said the results were “very encouraging”.
“It would be great if keeping up with the Greens in the street took over from aspirations based on the newest car or biggest fitted kitchen,” he said.
And Stuart Hay, the head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s great news to hear that people making green lifestyle changes are also inspiring their neighbours to do the same. This goes to show that any personal changes you make can go on to have a much larger effect.”
As well as the green habits of their neighbours spurring them on to create a mini environmental nirvana, celebrities are also influencing Britons’ priorities.
And it is those across the Atlantic who they think are setting the best example
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