Clean Cars: All Worry, No Action

Yet is this concern manifested in our daily lives? Are we switching to compact fluorescent bulbs, and composting our kitchen garbage, for instance? Or, sticker-shocked as we are by the rising price of gas, are we switching to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles?

Not exactly. The Globe & Mail reports that two-thirds of those polled say that they've done nothing to "green" their daily commute. In fact, Statistics Canada revealed that last year, sales of SUVs, pickups, and minivans soared to their highest point ever. In addition, most people are not prepared to drive fuel-sipping cars or cut down on air travel.

This seems to be a case of "think one way, do another."

"The low-hanging fruit are what a lot of people are really thinking about," notes Tina Bansal, of the University of Western Ontario. If it's doing something such as lowering the themostat during the winter or not keeping the air conditioner on as long during the summer, that seems relatively easy for people to do. But it's not the little things that matter so much; it's one's overall consumption of resources.

"It takes a long time for awareness about the environment to translate to the fact that you're going to go out and buy a new car," Len Kubas, a Toronto retail consultant, observes.
Mr. Kubas, who drives an 8-cylinder car, says, "We probably have 10 of those screwy fluorescent bulbs in our house. But I'm not prepared to go and suffer a $15,000 loss on the sale of a perfectly good car just to make a statement that we're going to stop environmental pollution."

Home Depot notes something similar. Sales of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs have zoomed, whereas bigger-ticket items'--such as of lumber cut from sustainable forests--have stayed on the shelves.

Some say that politicians need to market environmental awareness the way advertisers market soft drinks. At the very least, they should be able to meet consumers halfway. If there are no bus lines available nearby for kids to get to hockey practice, for instance, a parent shouldn't feel guilty about driving the kids to the local rink.

"For behaviours to catch up with attitudes, there have to be available options," says Beth Savan, of the University of Toronto's sustainability office.

Yet environmental blogger Andrea Chiu tried to be green when it came to her commute, but gave in and bought an orange Pontiac Wave (pictured) for her daily trek to north Toronto from the suburbs. The bus ride would have taken an hour (compared to 20 minutes in the car). However, even with the new rebate plan in effect for hybrid and other ultra-fuel-efficient cars, she still couldn't have afforded one. So she got the Pontiac, and says, "That's my main source of guilt."