New American Dream - Conscious Consumer Survey Results

In August of 2008, the Center for a New American Dream collaborated with Boston College researchers Juliet Schor, Amory Starr, and Margaret Willis, to survey affiliates of the Center about conscious consumption. The detailed online questionnaire asked participants about the decisions they make in their everyday lives to reduce and change their consumer habits, the goals and values that motivate them, and the actions that they are taking socially and politically in their communities to support a more just and sustainable world. Over 1800 affiliates participated.

The vast majority (87%) of respondents reported that they had made some change to their lifestyle to make it more sustainable, and of those, many had made an effort to consistently reduce energy use, drive less, reduce their use of plastic water bottles, and reduce meat consumption, among other actions (see Table 1 for several of the items included in the survey).