Sideways News

The research was launched to mark Energy Saving Week

Families in the UK are increasingly likely to be nagged about doing eco-chores, a new study conducted on behalf of the Energy Saving Trust has revealed.

The poll, which was conducted by ICM Research to mark Energy Saving Week, highlighted that 77% of British mothers admit to pestering their partners and offspring about green issues such as turning out lights and not leaving appliances on standby.

However, it seems that this extra encouragement is often called for, with 39% of British youngsters admitting that they are the most wasteful members of their families and the UK's kids coming out behind children in France, Spain and Germany regarding energy-wasting acts.

Within the UK it was found that mums north of the border are more likely to encourage green behaviour than their counterparts in England and Wales.

The study also revealed that UK residents are more aware of green issues than their European neighbours, with more than two-thirds getting full marks on a climate change IQ test.

Energy and climate change minister Joan Ruddock said: "I'm not surprised British people know more about climate change because we are leading the world in cutting carbon emissions to prevent global warming. This effort puts the UK in a strong position ahead of the Copenhagen summit negotiations in December."

Energy Saving Trust chief executive Philip Sellwood added that Brits need to put their knowledge about climate change into practice and take more measures to save energy in the home.

To help achieve this, the trust will be holding Climate Change Academies across the UK over the coming week.

Energy Saving Week was launched today (19th October) and runs until the 25th of the month.

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