How much do we really care about climate change?
It is sometimes comforting to believe that most of us actually think about climate change and take action to reduce our own impact on global warming. How much of this is wishful thinking is becoming more apparent. Bart Becht, chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of vanish, Dettol and Cillit Bang seems to think people merely say they care about the environment and climate change. He believes consumers are happy to talk about making changes to reduce carbon emissions, but when it comes to making the necessary changes they are far less willing to do so. He said “If you ask me, would a consumer buy a product that is more carbon neutral than others? The answer is no…The consumer frequently thinks this is a big issue, but that it is not their problem.”
His company has changed the packaging of Air Wick Freshmatic from plastic to cardboard, but when they questioned consumers they found consumers preferred the plastic packaging because it looked better. Well, if consumers feel cardboard is not as attractive as plastic, I say tough. The manufacturers should do the right thing for the environment and people will buy their products anyway. Consumers should never be given the higher carbon emission option.
