National Geographic rates “green” countries

By William Atkins
Thursday, 08 May 2008 18:14

Science - Climate

The National Geographic Society conducted its "Greendex" survey to find out how environmentally friendly countries are across Earth. Sorry, U.S.—you flunked! Go stand in a corner of the world!


The international polling firm GlobeScan was hired by NGS to conduct an online survey between January 11 and February 13, 2008.

The conclusions of the survey were released on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, in the report entitled “Greendex 2008: Consumer Choice and the Environment—A Worldwide Tracking Survey.”

A copy of the NGS survey is found at: “Greendex,” along with additional information.

The survey was conducted in fourteen countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and the United States.

Fourteen thousand consumers (respondents) were polled (each were eighteen years or older), one thousand in each of the fourteen countries. The people surveyed were selected to reflect a representative cross-section of consumers for their respective countries.

Such characteristics as age, education, and gender were taken into account. Only people with Internet access were polled.

Its purpose was to annually “measure and monitor consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption around the world.” The year 2008 is the first year of the NGS survey so will be used in the future as a base year.

The fourteen countries selected represent 55% of the world’s population and account for 75% of the energy consumption of the world.

Various consumer behaviors were included in the survey based on environmental sustainability. The Greendex used four major components in the survey: housing, transportation, food, and goods.

Housing questions measured such variables as method of heating and cooling of the home, number of home members, and size of home.

Transportation questions measured such characteristics as ownership of motorized vehicles, size of vehicle, distance driven per day, use of public transport, use of bicycles, walking habits, distance from home to work, and the use of other means of transportation (such as air and train).

Food questions measured such activities as eating locally produced foods; growing and raising your own foods; and eating fruits, vegetables, chicken, beef, seafood ,and bottled water.

The questions involving Goods took into account methods of waste disposal, along with the use of televisions, refrigerators, dishwashers, and laundry machines. It also asked preference for reusable goods over disposable products, and the amount of recycling done by the home members.

We already know who was ranked the lowest. But, how did the other countries do in the survey? Please read on.