3 New Zealanders’ Sustainable Actions/Behaviours continued

3.3 Water use

New Zealanders are currently engaging in around half the sustainable actions/behaviours they could be taking with regard to water use (an average of 2.9 from a list of five prompted actions, please refer to Table 16 for the full range of sustainable actions).

Despite this, almost all respondents (94 percent) reported that they regularly ‘had showers instead of baths’, while two-thirds (63 percent) reported that they regularly ‘made use of mulching materials in summer’ and ‘only turned the dishwasher on when there was a full load’.

However, in comparison, very few respondents reported re-using the water from their washing machine (10 percent).

While there were no significant differences by gender, those in the oldest age group (60+ years) were significantly more likely to report that they ‘made use of mulching materials in summer’ and ‘reused the water from their washing machine’.

Table 16: Sustainable actions/behaviours – water use

Now thinking about your household’s water use. Can you tell me which of the following things you do regularly, out of habit?

Base =	Total 1000 %	Male 472 %	Female 528 %	18 to 29 153 %	30 to 39 230 %	40 to 49 217 %	50 to 59 225 %	60+ 175 %
Have showers instead of baths	94	94	94	97	96	93	93	93
Make use of mulching materials in summer	63	60	65	47	55	63	71	76
Only turn the dishwasher on when you have a full load	63	65	61	59	67	69	68	52
Water the garden less frequently in summer	58	52	63	58	65	56	47	61
Reuse the water from your washing machine	10	8	12	7	6	7	9	18
Other	2	2	2	2	3	1	1	4
None of these	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	2
Don’t know	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Refused	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

Many respondents (67 percent) reported engaging in sustainable actions with regard to water use because doing so ‘is good for the environment’. In addition, more than half (58 percent) identified that they did these things because ‘it is good for the garden’.

While there were no significant differences by gender, there were by age. For example, those in the youngest age group (18–29 years) were significantly less likely (and those in the 60+ age group were significantly more likely), to report dealing with water in a sustainable manner because ‘it is good for the garden’.

Table 17: Sustainable actions/behaviours – water use – reasons

And for which of the following reasons do you do these things? Is it ...?

Base =	Total 994* %	Male 467 %	Female 527 %	18 to 29 153 %	30 to 39 229 %	40 to 49 215 %	50 to 59 225 %	60+ 172 %
It’s good for the environment	67	63	70	62	63	72	69	67
It’s good for the garden	58	60	57	44	50	61	62	74
To save money	35	35	35	46	43	33	34	21
Because it’s what your friends are doing	5	5	5	8	6	4	3	2
Habit	3	3	3	7	3	3	1	3
Other	8	9	7	6	8	5	9	11
Don’t know/no particular reason	4	4	4	4	6	5	3	1

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

* Sub-sample based on those respondents whose household deals with water in at least one sustainable way.

For some, dealing with water in a sustainable manner was constrained by factors such as ‘not having a dishwasher’ and ‘not having a garden’ (these reasons account for 10 percent and 6 percent respectively).

With this in mind, the most commonly perceived barriers again, were associated with the inconvenience and time associated with engaging in sustainable actions in terms of water use (28 percent) and a general lack of knowledge about what more to do (26 percent).

There were no significant differences by gender. However, those in the oldest age group (60+ years) were again, less likely to report not performing these behaviours because of the time and hassle associated with doing so (Table 18).

Table 18: Sustainable actions/behaviours – water use – barriers

And for what reasons are you not doing these things/not doing more of these things?

Base =	Total 1000 %	Male 472 %	Female 528 %	18 to 29 153 %	30 to 39 230 %	40 to 49 217 %	50 to 59 225 %	60+ 175 %
Takes too much time and is a hassle	28	28	27	38	32	26	27	17
Don’t know what else, or what more you can do	26	26	27	19	28	23	26	35
Don’t have a dishwasher	10	7	13	14	8	9	8	12
You simply forget	10	10	10	17	13	12	5	4
Don’t have a garden	6	7	5	9	5	5	7	4
Restricts your lifestyle	4	4	5	3	3	6	7	4
Don’t see why you should because hardly anyone else is doing it	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	1
It’s unhealthy	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	0
It’s mainly up to the Government and business	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Other	8	10	6	6	8	12	8	7
Don’t know/No particular reason	19	19	19	16	15	17	22	23
Refused	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

3.4 Purchasing groceries and other items

The area with the longest list of prompted sustainable actions/behaviours was with regard to the purchasing of groceries and other items (i.e. non-major purchases). Again, New Zealanders are regularly engaging in just over half of these actions (an average of 5.7 from a list of 10 prompted actions, please refer to Table 19 for the full range of sustainable actions), with moderate frequency.

For example, many respondents reported that they ‘bought New Zealand made goods’ (77 percent), ‘read food labels for healthy products’ (72 percent), ‘bought appliances and electrical products that are energy efficient’ (68 percent) and ‘bought goods that are environmentally friendly’ (66 percent).

Significant differences were found by both gender and age. For example, females were significantly more likely to report that they ‘read food labels for healthy products’ and ‘used green bags at the supermarket instead of plastic bags’. Respondents in the older age group (60+ years) were significantly more likely to report that they ‘grow their own fruit and vegetables’, but were significantly less likely to report that they ‘buy food in bulk’.

Table 19: Sustainable actions/behaviours – groceries and other products

Now thinking about when you buy groceries or other things. Can you tell me which of the following things you do regularly, out of habit?

Base =	Total 1000 %	Male 472 %	Female 528 %	18 to 29 153 %	30 to 39 230 %	40 to 49 217 %	50 to 59 225 %	60+ 175 %
Buy New Zealand made goods	77	72	80	72	74	81	77	79
Read food labels for healthy products	72	61	82	62	68	71	74	81
Buy appliances and electrical products that are energy efficient	68	66	71	55	65	74	73	75
Buy goods that are environmentally friendly	66	62	70	68	63	68	63	67
Buy goods with little packaging	56	50	62	55	51	59	59	57
Use green bags instead of supermarket bags	56	47	64	49	51	55	56	66
Grow our own fruit and vegetables	56	55	57	47	51	52	61	68
Buy food in bulk	46	48	44	53	55	49	38	34
Buy products made out of recycled materials	45	41	49	45	47	48	45	41
Buy organic products/food	35	32	38	42	32	31	26	41
Other	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	2
None of these	1	1	1	1	1	2	0	2
Don’t know	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Refused	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

While many respondents attributed their behaviour to the perceived health benefits associated with purchasing groceries and other products in a sustainable manner (54 percent of respondents identified this as a reason for their actions), the most commonly mentioned factor was again because doing so is ‘good for the environment’ (65 percent).

A reasonable proportion of respondents also mentioned additional benefits associated with engaging in sustainable behaviour when purchasing groceries, etc. such as ‘the products are better/perform better’ (42 percent) and ‘to save money’ (41 percent).

There were no significant differences by gender. However the oldest age group (60+ years) were significantly less likely to attribute their actions to the money they would save.

Table 20: Sustainable actions/behaviours – groceries and other products – reasons

And for which of the following reasons do you do these things? Is it ...?

Base =	Total 987* %	Male 465 %	Female 522 %	18 to 29 152 %	30 to 39 227 %	40 to 49 213 %	50 to 59 224 %	60+ 171 %
It’s good for the environment	65	61	69	58	65	67	70	68
Because it’s good for you and your family’s health and well-being	54	47	60	56	58	59	46	47
The products are better/perform better	42	38	46	44	39	44	41	42
To save money	41	42	40	52	48	40	38	28
It’s what your friends are doing	7	6	8	14	9	6	3	2
Habit	1	1	1	3	0	1	1	1
Other	3	3	3	1	2	3	4	4
Don’t know/no particular reason	3	3	2	1	1	3	4	5

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

* Sub-sample based on those respondents who deal with buying groceries or other things in at least one sustainable way.

One of the major barriers respondents identified with regard to being sustainable in relation to groceries and other products was the cost associated with doing so (27 percent). Other commonly mentioned reasons included the fact that it ‘takes too much time and is a hassle’ (24 percent), ‘not knowing what else, or what more to do’ (22 percent), and to a lesser extent ‘simply forgetting’ (12 percent).

While no significant differences were found by gender, respondents in the younger age groups (18-29 years and 30-39 years) were significantly more likely to report that they did not engage in sustainable actions in relation to groceries and other products because ‘it costs too much’ (Table 21).

Table 21: Sustainable actions/behaviours – groceries and other products – barriers

And for what reasons are you not doing these things/not doing more of these things?

Base =	Total 1000 %	Male 472 %	Female 528 %	18 to 29 153 %	30 to 39 230 %	40 to 49 217 %	50 to 59 225 %	60+ 175 %
It costs too much	27	25	29	39	38	30	19	11
Takes too much time and is a hassle	24	23	25	25	26	30	26	14
Don’t know what else, or what more you can do	22	22	22	14	18	20	26	32
You simply forget	12	11	13	15	14	12	10	9
Restricts your lifestyle	4	4	4	5	4	4	5	3
Lack of availability or variety of eco-friendly products	4	5	3	3	7	4	4	3
The products don’t perform as well	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	3
It’s mainly up to the Government and business	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
Don’t see why you should because hardly anyone else is doing it	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Other	7	7	7	7	3	8	6	10
Don’t know/no particular reason	15	16	14	13	12	10	17	22
Refused	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.

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